By Elizabeth Prata*
Over a billion Catholics are in spiritual bondage to their heinous religious system. There are many things they lack spiritually but I can think of three to address that we can point them to. First, we can point to Christ and the Bible to help them overcome what it is they lack: knowledge of grace, assurance in their salvation, and trust in Jesus to fulfill all He has said.
~~~~~~GRACE~~~~~~
The simple truth at the center of a born again believer’s faith is surrounded by Grace- that Jesus descended from heaven, lived as fully man and fully God for 33 years, died on the cross as the lamb sacrifice for our sins (taking upon His shoulders the wrath of God), was buried and three days later rose again. This is the Gospel.
Any person who believes these facts, and confesses them, is saved. (Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8). It is a free gift of Christ due to His work on the cross.
The Roman Catholic system has overlaid so much on top of these simple facts, and corrupted the Gospel so thoroughly, it is hard to untangle unless a person does one thing- looks at Christ. He is the giver of grace and it is grace through faith that you are saved. A struggling Catholic can be led to these verses and sermon on these verses. More on Grace, defined and explained, here. Bible verses on Grace, here, and still others, here.
Romans 5:15- But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Ephesians 2:8- For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God
One way to help a Catholic is to point them to grace. They need to be drenched in the facts of grace to cut through the demonic noise in their spirit. Share with them these and other verses about grace, and sermons that speak of the Grace of God.
A Catholic has no assurance of their salvation. First, they are taught they need to work to maintain it. Salvation in the Catholic system is something you earn “by those very works which have been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of this life and to have truly merited eternal life.” (source)
It must be spiritually disquieting, to say the least, to know that they must rely on our own selves to attain or to maintain salvation- and to never know where you stand for sure. Committing a “mortal sin” constitutes a rupture in a person’s link to God and they become unsaved. It is the worst thing to happen, but there is a chance they can go to Purgatory after death for a period of time to have the mortal sin cleansed out of them. Purgatory is another made-up doctrine that provides a safety net as a last chance effort.
Either way, a Catholic is never completely assured of entering heaven. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines purgatory as a “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven,” which is experienced by those “who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified”. The grace of God and the work of Jesus on the cross was not enough you see. The gap is supposed to be filled by the Catholic either by maintaining a perfect standard of holiness, or by waiting in purgatory for it to be purged out.
We not only have assurance, Jesus IS the assurance. Hebrews 11 is a record of that very thing, the assurance we have that is in us and that IS Christ.
Faith, hope, grace… Gills Exposition says-
“And were persuaded of them, and embraced them; they had a full assurance of faith, that what was promised would be fulfilled; and they took a kind of possession of them before hand, as Abraham did of the land of Canaan, by sojourning in it; as did also Isaac and Jacob; and all of them by faith embraced the Messiah, and dealt with, and laid hold upon his blood, righteousness, sacrifice, and grace, by which they were saved, as New Testament saints are.”
Here is a video on the Divine guarantee of eternal salvation
Send them to verses which speak of assurance. Here is a page listing them.
If you put faith in a man, no matter how many assurances he gives you, man will let you down. Popes die. Popes resign. Priests sin. Bishops fall. Trusting in a religious system and the people within it for your absolution, or your salvation, will become a stumbling block. The born again believer’s faith is a direct relationship with the One who is perfect, loving, and steadfast in His promises. He is the Head of the Church. He cannot fail.
However, since a Catholic is taught that the atonement of Jesus was not enough, it makes it hard to fully trust a savior who did not complete the work and left it to fallible man. It is one reason that Catholic dogma states that popes are infallible. But as we know, they are. As a matter of fact, the Catholics install Mary as co-redemptrix, needing two saviors to get the job done. No, wait, three; Mary, Christ, and pope. No wait, four, Christ, Mary, Pope, and Catholic person working toward eternal reward.
And since unregenerated man populates the halls of the Vatican and on down through Cardinals, Bishops, and priests, they sin because they are under bondage to satan. We have seen, oh, how they sin. Scratch the veneer of holiness and the corruption will come out.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27).
How earth-shaking it must be for a Catholic to put trust in a system that depends on man, and then those very men are seen to be homosexuals, pedophiles, money-launderers, greedy land or money accumulating men, and much more. If they cannot trust an altar boy with a priest, how will they trust their everlasting soul to the Pope?
Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1 NIV)
Solomon wrote words to the wise, saying “That your trust may be in the Lord,” (Proverbs 22:19). It is wise to trust the Lord!
Isaiah 12:2 says, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
Help a Catholic whose world is rocked by misplaced trust in unregenerate men to once again turn to the Lord and trust Him. Once they see that the Lord never lets them down they can begin to renew their trust in their regenerated brethren.
Our opportunity is that as ambassadors of Christ, we can be His light and share the truth. We share the truth in love, that the RCC is false, and we share the Good news, that there is a way out- the simple Gospel of Grace.
Further Reading:
A Timely Critique of the Catholic Church
Exposing the Heresies of the Catholic Church: Grace vs. Works
The Pope and the Spirit of Antichrist
Exposing the Heresies of the Catholic Church: The Pope
Exposing the Heresies of the Catholic Church: Mary Worship
Each entry is concise and biblical. Please take a moment to review them, and see for yourself what the egregious errors are from this longest-running false church on earth are about.
You cal also read more here at Christian Research and Apologetics Ministry’s main page on Roman Catholicism.
*A version of this essay appeared on The End Time in 2013
the-end-time.org 
Reblogged this on Truth2Freedom's Blog.
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Catholics do not rely on themselves to be saved. Pelagianism is a heresy. God is the one who gives us grace to act virtuously and saves us. The pope and bishops are not necessarily saints, but we trust in God that His Church will not fail. We don’t have assurance, but we have hope—the theological virtue by which we confidently expect, with God‘s help, to reach eternal felicity as well as to have at our disposal the means of securing it. The title “Co-Redemptrix” does not deny Christ as our sole Savior. She is the one who most perfectly cooperated in his salvific work.
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Agree that God gives the grace that opens eyes to see one’s sin and is the initiator and sole agent agent of salvation. However, Catholics corrupt grace by introducing mans’ works to it, first to rely on themselves to maintain salvation: (must perform good works-CCC 2010, 2068, 2080; must participate in the sacraments (CCC 1129). This nullifies His sole agency in the totality of salvation from beginning to end. (justification, sanctification and glorification).
The pope and bishops are definitely not saints, having perpetrated the Catholic heresies throughout the ages, one of them being that the Pope is “vicar” or vicarious substitute for Christ on earth and the infallible head of His church on earth. (CCC 883, 895, 88& Lumen Gentium 18). The Pope is not. Jesus is the head of the church on earth AND in heaven.
If you deny that Jesus is sole agent of salvation, absent Mary and absent personal contribution of good works and participation in sacraments, at whatever level, then you have no hope. Romans 4:1-5 speaks to this, What shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ’And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.
The title “Co-Redemptrix” by its own title denies Christ as our sole Savior.
Mary is the one who most perfectly cooperated in his salvific work? If that is so, why did she say she needed a savior? (Luke 1:46). She knew she was a sinner, like the rest of mankind. If we were to give out rewards for pursuing holiness, and we will receive rewards, I’d say that Paul exceeded Mary in obedience and vigorous work in honoring Christ by discipling His people and establishing His churches. But is not for us to saw who participated “most perfectly”, that is for Jesus to decide.
Finally, no one “cooperates” in his salvific work. He is sole agent. Salvation is of Jesus ALONE.
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Hi Catholic of Honor,
Thanks for your reply. I chose not to post it, because I notice the same pattern with you that I have engaged with other Catholics and people of other false religions. I used scripture and your own words from the CCC, and the reply tended avoid engaging with specifics from my reply and to drift into other topic and discussions. The fact remains, the post was about how Catholics are lost: they (you?) are lost because you add works to salvation, thus corrupting salvation by grace alone. Catholics preach and believe in a different Jesus than the Man-God of the Bible – whose work was NOT sufficient on the cross, but continues as o perform the sacraments. Catholics include Mary as co-redemptrix, diluting the work of Jesus alone as sovereign; among other heresies such as the pope substituting infallibly for Christ as head of the church on earth. These beliefs are false because the Bible speaks against them or not of them, and must be repented of before any further discussion can happen. We’re on different planets so to speak, and will remain so until the blindness in your eyes has been lifted. I don’t say this to be mean, not at all. I am sure you are a kind person, but your eternity is at stake, so I speak forthrightly.
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Hi Catholic of Honor,
As mentioned, another long discussion won’t resolve anything. Our two worldviews are universes apart. Mine in Christ and yours, not. You need salvation, not more discussion. 🙂 Thank you. Regards, and the very best to you.
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An excellent, very detailed resource that I’ve used to help Catholics see the difference between what their church teaches and what the Bible says, is http://www.justforcatholics.org
It is Biblically solid, written by a Maltese man who was formerly Catholic.
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