Why do Catholics continue to follow mans teaching instead of “the word of God” (the Bible). God has left His word so we will not go astray, that is all we need. Salvation is for anyone who comes to God through Jesus Christ, repents of their sins,and receives Him as their Lord an Savior. My Bible says who soever will may come. We will be judged by the word (the bible) in the end, not by what the church (man) teaches. Read Ephesians Chapter 2 verses 8-9. I know Christ as my personal Savior. Ralph
Ralph,
Your bible is correct. Whoever will may come. The Catholic church is open to anyone who wants to enter.
And whether you recognize it or not, if you enter heaven through the bible, you most assuredly have entered thanks to the Holy Catholic church, whose inspired members wrote the books of the New Testament and whose hierarchy, also under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, defined the canon. Had it not been for the Catholic Church, there would be no bible for you to follow.
The Catholic Church offers two major advantages to its members that they can get no where else. First of all, the church has the full deposit of Faith from the apostles, passed down through the generations. This provides the proper interpretations of the bible and augments it with the apostolic tradition that was not contained within the 27 books of the new testament. This is extremely important in understand God;s will from man and therefore to avoid sin. The Second benefit is that the Church provides the sacraments in Christ’s name that provide the graces necessary to be saved. This includes baptism, the real presence in the eucharist, and of course, the sacrament of reconciliation, which makes allows the sinner to return to grace.
And by the way, Its is very strange that “bible protestants” think that the Ephesian 2 8-9 are somehow condemnations of the Catholic position, This just shows how little they understand about the Catholic position or the proper interpretation of the bible.
Here it is :
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast.
Let me explain how this fits within the Catholic sotierology.
For Catholics, Jesus’ sacrifice provides initial justification upon Baptism into the Faith. What this means is that the effects of original sin are washed clean. This is done completely without any merit by men and is a complete gift on the part of Jesus for all men that are baptized. So you can see how this fits with Ephesians 2:8-9.
Now for Catholics, if you were to die immediately after baptism, you would die in the state of Grace and be saved. In fact, until you fall from grace by turning away from God through sin, this remains the situation. Unfortunately, man does sin. Fortunately, God is merciful and has provided forgiveness of Sin aand the ability to regain grace through the sacrament of reconciliation. To be reconciled, an individual needs to be contrite, confess, be repetent and do penance. For the Catholic, in net, life is a journey toward holiness that can only be demonstated with works of love. If we end live in a State of Grace, we will be saved…