ARE WE SAVED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?

Matthew 19:25-26, “When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

According to Jesus Christ in the scriptures, it is impossible for man to save himself, but it is possible for God to save man.

There is a dangerous false doctrine today that is leading multitudes of Catholics to hell, and that is the claim that salvation is only available to members of the Catholic Church. According to them, no one outside the Catholic Church is saved.

“The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism explains: ‘For it is through Christ’s Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained.’” -1994 Official Roman Catholic Catechism, p. 215, no. 816

According to the scriptures, a church is a congregation or assembly. It is NOT the building itself. Hebrews 2:12 uses the word “church”, while Psalm 22:22, quoted in Hebrews, uses the word “congregation.” This is NOT a translation error, it is a synonym. The same applies to the word “assembly.”

Psalm 22:22, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.”

Hebrews 2:11-12, “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.”

Therefore, since the Catholic “Church” claims that it is the source of salvation for sinners, it is essentially saying that you cannot be saved if you are not part of the Catholic CONGREGATION, or ASSEMBLY.

Friends, this is nothing more than a heretical doctrine of a religious club. The scriptures do NOT teach us to join a congregation in order to be saved! Rather, the scriptures teach that we are saved only by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ!

John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Acts 4:10-12, “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

It is Jesus Christ who is the mediator between God the Father and man, NOT a religious congregation!

1 Timothy 2:3-6, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” 

JESUS CHRIST IS ETERNAL LIFE!

John 11:25-26, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

In John 11, Jesus tells Martha that he is the resurrection and the life, that whosoever believes on him will never die. The death Jesus refers to is spiritual: whosoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour will never perish in the fires of hell, though they die physically. They have everlasting life.

John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”

There are some false teachers in the world who deny, or have denied, the Biblical doctrine of eternal security, such as Phil Kidd, Dan Corner, John Wesley, Jacob Arminius, and others. To deny eternal security is to deny God’s free gift of salvation! We just read from Jesus himself that his sheep shall NEVER perish!

According to the scriptures of the Holy Bible, Jesus Christ IS eternal life. If you have not eternal life, you have not Jesus Christ!

1 John 1:1-3, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

We read in 1 John 1:1-3 that the Word of life was with the Father and was manifested unto his people. This is also taught in John 1.

John 1:1-18, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”

Going back to 1 John 1:2, we find that ETERNAL LIFE was manifested unto the people. Eternal life is the Lord Jesus Christ himself; he is the Word of God.

John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Revelation 19:13, “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God.”

Jesus is God manifest in the flesh.

John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

Jesus is the Lamb of God.

Genesis 22:8, “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.”

John 1:29-36, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me. And I knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples; And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!”

According to 1 John 5:20, Jesus Christ IS the true God, and eternal life. If you have not eternal life, you have not Jesus Christ! If salvation can be lost, then Jesus Christ is not your Saviour, and you have made God a liar!

1 John 5:4-13, “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

1 John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.”