So, Apryl, from your post, are you saying that there is no way to know you are saved?? Im honestly not trying to argue what you say, but I just dont understand quite what you are saying…do you believe that no one can know UNTIL they die…
I am a Baptist. Just happen to go to a Baptist church. I more consider myself a Bible believing Christian. I know that I am saved and am going to spend an eternity with Jesus Christ. In your church, is that a prideful assumption?? I just have not understood where the Catholic church basis their salvation. Thanks already for your answer! God bless!
Hi Blessed Hope. Your nickname actually is relevant to your question. We have hope, lively hope, blessed hope that we will find salvation.
What you say you have certainty of is not called prideful assumption, but presumption. Catholics believe three things are necessary for Salvation, faith, hope and love, or charity. We must worship God in faith, hope and love. Most Protestant groups follow Luther’s doctrine that all that is needed is faith. Think about it. If he is right, then a soul can go to heaven without loving God. Faith and love are different.
On the way of salvation the first thing that happens to a soul is receiving the gift of faith. Faith when exercised leads to hope. Charity or the love of God in the soul is the crowning gift. If one has not known charity it is impossible to understand. It is like a person born blind understanding green and red and blue. If their eyes are opened they immediately see it.
Faith, hope and love are called theological virtues, because they come from or relate directly to God. He gives them to us. Even though He might use some preacher’s words to your ears, the work in your soul to hear the truth of the gospel is God’s. He opens your ears so to speak and you receive faith. Paul says faith comes through hearing.
We can not be saved unless we put our hope in God. There are two sins against the theological vitrue of hope. They are kind of opposites from one another, or are on the extreme ends of hope. One is despair. The other is presumption. Despair is a sin against the Holy Spirit. If we die despairing, that is giving up on the power and love of God to save us we are lost. It is like refusing to accept the gift. The opposite of despair is presumption. Presumption is like placing ourselves above God. We don’t ask for mercy, but demand it or think we can command God to save us. We think He owes us salvation and have a right to it, rather than it be an unmerited gift of grace.
Jesus says He entrusts people with treasure. They must use it, work with it, invest it to increase it. If we bury it in the ground He says He will come back and take it from us and give it to someone else. It is kind of a use it or lose it deal. What that says is you have some responsibility to use your faith, or do some work with it and give some return. So the scripture says faith without works is dead. What you do with your faith is not only important, but critical to your salvation.
If that is true then what is it that you must do? You must love God and neighbor. By God’s grace we have the ability or power to do that. So we can say salvation is by grace alone. If we look within our souls and see that we do not love, then we can know we are not saved, yet. We are works in progress, being saved, we hope.
If I look in my soul and know I do love I know I am saved right now. I do not know what I might do tomorrow. I might be a seed that sprouted up in thorny or rocky ground that will wither or be choked out. I do not trust myself. I trust God, but not me, So I cling to God and continue to beg Him for His grace. Keep me from the snares of evil Lord.
