Are Catholics 'saved' Part 2

I want to continue posting the conversation I had with a young man who is seeking to better understand the Catholic faith. I had a couple of comments from the last post and I agree 100% with you that he AND we continue to seek to understand the Catholic faith better. It is a life-long process that even the most holy persons, such as John Paul II, spend their lives growing in understanding.

In the last part of the conversation that I posted a few days ago, 'Joe' had stated that "proclaiming Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior guarantees me my salvation." Our conversation continues from there:

Fr. Chris: “What happens after you proclaim Christ as your Lord and Savior?”

Joe: What do you mean? “I have accepted Christ. I am saved.”

Fr. Chris: “So someone is saved even if they go out and commit murder as long as they have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior?”

Joe: Well, no. If he did that then he really didn’t accept Chris as his Savior or he wouldn’t have sinned like that.

Fr. Chris: “So if I understand you correctly, that once you have accepted Christ as your Savior then you don’t sin any more?”

Joe: Well, no. You still sin, but you don’t commit such terrible sins like murder.

Fr. Chris: “What sins could you commit that would show that you didn’t accept Christ?”

Joe: “Sins like murder or adultery or stealing.”

Fr. Chris: “What about lying? Would lying mean you didn’t accept Christ?”

Joe: “Well...no. Lying is not something that would mean you didn’t accept Christ.”

Fr. Chris: “Why? Isn’t it one of the Ten Commandments just like murder, adultery or stealing?”

Joe: “Well…yes it is but it doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t accept Jesus as your Savior.”

Fr. Chris: “So how can you know what sins cause you to lose salvation or if you’ve committed a sin that will lose you your salvation?”

Joe: Um…I don’t know. You would just know…others would know.

Fr. Chris: So then by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior you are not necessarily guaranteed salvation. You might do something later in your life to lose that salvation but you are not sure what would cause you to lose it.

Joe: “I don’t know. I guess you could lose that salvation, but I’m not sure. It seems kind of confusing to me now. Can I ask my pastor about that?”

Fr. Chris: “Sure. Feel free to ask your pastor about any of the things we discuss. I just want to try to help you understand what Catholics believe. I don’t want to confuse you or anything.”

I am going to stop there for now as our discussion begins to go in a different direction from here. I will endeavor to make my next post on this on Monday or Tuesday. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 04:57 | link | comments (3) |

Comments:

#1  12 October 2007 - 15:15

 

Father Chris,

There is a lot of information in this blog from him. I have to commend you for staying on point with him.

I hope you gave him food for thought. He is truly confused by the word "saved".

As sinners, we ask forgiveness to God for what we did that was not pleasing to Him.

Father Chris, you were right to ask him about levels of sin. That is a subject for another blog though.

Thanks for the great blog!

Julie

Anonymous

#2  13 October 2007 - 13:25

 

Greetings!

Good insights! I think YOU could have sat down with this man because you are right on track. In fact, the next part of our conversation I am going to post is about the word 'saved' and it is very interesting.

I have two more parts of the conversation to post from our original conversation but he did email me to say he has been very satisfied with the comments and that they have given him some good things to think about. So, it is YOU who are also helping this man with your insights and both he and I thank you for that.

God bless,
Fr. Chris

crossman

#3  15 October 2007 - 10:40

 

Father Chris,

Thanks for your kind words for me. I don't think I would have the level of insight that Joe is requiring to stay on point like you have with him.

I have thought about Joe this past weekend and when reviewing the readings from yesterday, especially the reading from the Second Letter from Timothy...This part was made for him and his interpretation of "saved":

This saying is trustworthy:
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.

I think Joe thinks, maybe believes, the last line a little too much. God will always be faithful to us no matter what we do to Him. That is why we ask for forgiveness.

Being "saved" is just one piece of the huge puzzle that He created for us and it's up to us as Christians to figure out what "saved" is and can be in our lives.

Does this make sense?

Julie

Anonymous

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