As I’ve preached and ministered in different areas, I’ve had the opportunity to have some great interactions with Roman Catholics. During several of these conversations, I noticed the same pressing issue resurface: It may be articulated differently, but they usually say something about having conflicting thoughts or confusion about their Catholic faith. They often have the same question many others do: How can I be saved for eternity? I want to move past the manmade confusion and contradictions about salvation and point you to the hope and eternal security found in the Jesus of the Bible.

For this article, when I use the word Catholic, I’m referring to Roman Catholics and the Roman Catholic Church. I have Catholic friends who are some of the kindest people I know. I have family members who are former Catholics. Believe it or not, I occasionally enjoy listening to Catholic radio, not as a fault finder, heresy hunter, or for entertainment, but as a born-again Christian who is genuinely interested in what Catholics believe and why. If I named some well-known personalities from Catholic radio I listen to, you’d easily recognize them. The point is that I’m not against Catholic people or anti-Catholic, but I am certainly opposed to the false teachings and spiritual deception of the Roman Catholic Church.

I’ve had plenty of opportunities for spirited debate and agreeing to disagree with Catholics. The problem is that well-intentioned people want to focus on what is generally framed as evangelical, fundamentalist, or Protestant objections. Some people become pseudo-Catholic apologists trying to prove they are correct, just as some Protestants do. They focus on arguments about Mary, purgatory, Saints, councils, Papal authority, and traditions. That’s not to imply that differing views on these subjects aren’t vitally important because they certainly are. But they all generally point to the spiritual elephant in the room of every Catholic and Protestant; It’s the subject of salvation and how to obtain it.

There are numerous differences between what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and what the Bible says about salvation. It becomes patently one-sided when proof texts are used, Bible verses are taught out of context, and manmade traditions usurp the simple gospel. On one side of the scale is God’s unchanging word, the Bible. On the opposite side of the scale are the Bible, the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, and the living magisterium, the Pope, in communion with the Bishops, along with the Eucharistic Jesus, who is a different one that the Bible warns about Matthew 24:26.

The space in this article doesn’t allow me to document the numerous differences between what Catholic tradition teaches about salvation and what the Bible clearly states. I will cover a few of the glaring unbiblical differences between the works-based salvation through observing the sacraments of baptism, penance, and the Eucharist instead of the free gift of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.

First, on page 320 of the Catechism, regarding the “necessity of baptism,” it states: By baptism, all sins are forgiven. This contradicts what the apostle Paul said about the forgiveness of sins in Ephesians 1:7. A Catholic should ask: Who will I believe, the Vatican or the Bible?

Second, The Catechism teaches that salvation comes through the sacrament of penance. Page 367, paragraph 1460 states: It (the penance) must correspond with the nature and gravity of the sins committed. It can consist of prayer, offerings, works of mercy, service of neighbor, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices, and the patient acceptance of the cross we must bear. Regarding penance, paragraph 1461 states: Indeed, bishops and priests, by virtue of the sacrament of holy orders, have the power to forgive all sins.

The manmade tradition that we must work according to the nature and gravity of our sins to be forgiven contradicts Ephesians 2:8-9. It contradicts Jesus’ words on the cross when He said, “It is finished.” The Catechism states that bishops and priests can forgive all sins, but the Bible demonstrates that God alone forgives sins. Mark 2:7, Luke 5:21, and 1 Timothy 2:5. Catholics should ask: Who is correct, the Vatican or the Bible?

Third, the Catechism states: The Eucharist is also offered as a sacrifice in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God. It is called the Holy Sacrifice because it makes present the one sacrifice of Christ the Savior and includes the Church’s offering. Regarding the Eucharist, the Catechism also says: The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: “The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different.” “And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner… this sacrifice is truly propitiatory.”

Is Jesus being sacrificed repeatedly at every Mass as taught in the Catechism, or did Jesus die “once for all” as the Bible says in Hebrews 10:10-14? Catholics should ask: Is the Vatican correct, or should I trust God’s word?

One of the main concerns Catholics have is knowing for sure that they are going to heaven, or, to put it another way, am I saved? Many Catholics aren’t sure they are going to heaven, and I’ve heard this articulated from former Catholics and fellow Bible teachers. The sentiment is the same and centered on a dear Roman Catholic person holding their rosary beads, believing in a false Eucharistic Christ (a different Jesus), and wondering if they will have to atone for their sins in purgatory, Catechism page 268-269, paragraphs 1030-1032.

But the Bible teaches Purgatory can’t expiate sins; only a blood sacrifice can. Hebrews 9:22. Jesus said, It is finished, so you don’t have to trust in the false Eucharistic Christ, only in the true Jesus of the Bible, Matthew 27:45-46 and John 19:30. The Catholic Church teaches: If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law are not necessary unto salvation, but superfluous; and that, without them, or without the desire thereof, men obtain of God, through faith alone, the grace of justification;-though all (the sacraments) are not indeed necessary for every individual; let him be anathema.

This contradicts the words of Jesus in one of the most well-known verses in the Bible, John 3:16.

If you are a Catholic, please consider the simplicity of the gospel. Today, you can be saved for eternity if you put your faith in Jesus, not in traditions or a manmade church. If we come to Him with a sincere, contrite heart, He will forgive us. The Bible says to repent, which means confessing your sins and changing your direction. It’s a change of mind; God’s right, and I was wrong. Romans 10:9-10 tells us how to become born again and be saved.

Will you consider what I’ve written in this article? I’ve made every effort to lay my personal opinions aside and compare what the Bible says about salvation to what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. Jesus is coming soon, and God’s wrath will fall upon everyone who doesn’t know Him, religious or not. Please come to faith in the Jesus of the Bible while there’s still time. If you do, you can have peace knowing that you have fellowship with Him here and will spend eternity in heaven with Him: no uncertainty, continual guilt, or worry that you haven’t done enough to make it to heaven.

Dear Catholic friends, If you have questions about the differences between what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and what the Bible teaches and want further information, I’ve included several solid biblical links below the article. If you decide to come to saving faith in Jesus today, I’d love to hear from you! Please write to us so we can praise God with you for your new life in Him. Please find a Christ-honoring Bible-centered church. If you are a Roman Catholic who has just come to saving faith in Jesus, here’s timely biblical encouragement in your new walk with Jesus:

“It is possible that there are some Catholics who are my brothers and sisters and have come to faith in Christ. When they do, they come into a deep conflict between what they now know is the truth of the word of God and what the Catholic Church teaches. They don’t want to leave because of family, friends, and this has been their life, but they can’t stay.” — Dave Hunt -The Berean Call

All for Him,

Howard

Resources of hope for the Catholic heart:

Podcast episode: Hope for the Roman Catholic Heart, click here

Video by Dave Hunt: The Counterfeit Christianity of Roman Catholicism, click here

Book by Roger Oakland: Another Jesus? The eucharistic christ and new evangelization, click here

Video by Dr. John Barnett: Why I’m not a Roman Catholic, click here

Video by Jan Markell and Mike Gendron: Unity With Babylon, click here

 

Every human being has their own unique relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

Or a lack of a relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

All who reject Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life have either a total lack of relationship or a skewed relationship with the Creator, based on the teachings of one of the numerous false prophets and/or false messiahs that Jesus Himself prophesied would come along to deceive many (Matthew 24:11).

Everyone who accepts Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life and repents of their sins and is forgiven then receives the gift of the Holy Spirit and begins a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

This personal relationship develops over a lifetime into one of intimate trust, an ever-deepening faith, and a peace that passes all understanding.

“He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it” (Philippians 1:6).

Whoever truly believes that Jesus paid the penalty in full for their sins and places all of their trust in Him as their Lord and Savior opens the door for the Lord to come in and begin that good work in you.

Along the way, as He is being faithful to complete His good work in you, He will teach you many wonderful truths and bestow upon you numerous beautiful, heavenly gifts.

So many wonderful gifts are bestowed on all who seek first the Kingdom of Heaven. Gifts that can be considered life’s greatest treasures. Gifts that will last for all eternity. Gifts such as discernment to make right choices, as well as the desire to make those choices based on what is pleasing to God, who is Holy. Also, gifts such as patience and perseverance to study His Word and learn of His ways and His plans and of history. His Story (2 Timothy 3:16).

You will be filled with joy as you learn from “He who declares the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10).

Then there are gifts such as compassion and forgiveness that are born out of what the Apostle Paul referred to as the greatest gift of all, which is love (1^st Corinthians 13:13).

The Creator of the universe Himself will teach you what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).

He will show you personally what it means when He says, “It is better to give than to receive.”

He will transform your heart to fully understand what He actually did on that cross on behalf of us all, where He literally fulfilled the words that He had spoken when He said, “Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Yes, when a person seeks first the Kingdom and freely allows their heart to be transformed by God into a heart like the heart of Jesus, that person will, in time, come to understand and embrace fully the depth of the meaning of these words: It is not the will of God that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).

Gifts such as these lead to wisdom. Wisdom that is sorely needed in a world that rattles on its metaphorical hinges due to unsaved mankind’s total lack of wisdom.

What is wisdom?

1. The dictionary defines wisdom as a noun, meaning the ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.
2. Common sense, good judgment.
3. The sum of learning through the ages, knowledge.

That is all true, and from a biblical sense, we could add a few things, such as:

1. When in doubt, ask yourself this simple yet enormously important question: What would Jesus do? What would Jesus say?
2. What is the will of God in the matter?

True wisdom is to be found in the answers to those questions.

True wisdom is always in tune with the will of God.

The chaos and disharmony we observe on planet Earth today are a direct result of mankind pursuing not after the treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven but rather chasing after the countless deceitful lies of Satan and the ways of and lures of the world and of the flesh.

The worldly ways that always lead to and result in utter foolishness.

Not just hilariously laughable foolishness, as depicted in Psalm 2:4, but disastrous foolishness that morphs into deadly wickedness.

Seek to learn the ways of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you do, you will find wisdom along with all of the other beautiful eternal gifts bestowed upon you by our Heavenly Father through His Son, with perfect at all times assistance from the Holy Spirit.

Seek Ye First the Kingdom of Heaven, and all things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).

Compared to eternity, life on Earth is exceedingly short. By comparison, it is merely a puff of smoke, a wisp of steam, or a passing vapor (James 4:14). Now you see it, and now it is gone.

Years ago, a band called Kansas captured the idea of life on Earth being short with a song called “Dust in the Wind.” “All we are is dust in the wind.”

Our Heavenly Father has mercifully offered an alternative to our lives ending up as of no more significance than dust in the wind. Or a puff of smoke, or a wisp of steam, or a passing vapor.

He has offered us eternal life in resurrected bodies that will not age, will not get sick, will not die, and will not be tempted by sin (1 Corinthians 15:53-55).

His promises for our future include these words:

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and it has not entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Whosoever will perish does so of their own free will, for it is not the will of God that any should perish.

Whosoever will declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10).

None who accept God’s free gift of salvation, which leads to eternal life, will ever be reduced to “dust in the wind.” By seeking ye first the Kingdom of Heaven which is also the Kingdom of God, all things will be added unto you. And some of the “All things that are added unto you” are so wonderful that our Heavenly Father has not even revealed them to us yet.

The beyond-amazing awesomeness and perfect integrity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ensure us that eternity and the place that Jesus has been preparing for all who love Him is going to be more wonderful and more enjoyable than anyone has ever imagined, or even possibly could imagine this side of the Rapture.

Hope to see you in paradise,

Rick Segoine