Someone said:
Once a person believes, the grace is received by them, he is saved.Is this true? Basically, "No." But it depends upon how one interprets the word, "believes".
St. Augustine put it this way. The God that made you without your help does not will that you should be saved without your participation.
According to Protestant doctrine, believing only entails a verbal confession that one accepts the word of God. This is what is called the doctrine of "faith alone." According to some Protestants, all one needs to do is make this confession and at that instant in time, they are saved.
Frequently, these same Protestants will admit that a person who does not obey the Commandments of God is truly not a faithful person and is therefore, not saved. But for some strange reason, they don't recognize that this admission debunks the teaching of faith alone.
I hope that is plain enough for all to understand. Faith without works is dead.
Ok, so what if a man understands that belief requires us to act upon our faith. If a man acts upon his faith, is it true the following statement true?
Once a person believes, the grace is received by them, he is saved.The correct answer is, "I don't know." This really frustrates Protestants. But as Catholics, we recognize that we are fallible human beings and we neither judge our own salvation nor anyone elses. We leave those judgments to God.
In addition, one act of faith does not salvation make. A man does not simply make one act of faith and become a saint. That person must persevere in good works until he dies.
So, the correct answer is that God alone knows whether anyone is saved. And we don't know if we are saved unless God reveals that to us in a special revelation.
Sincerely,
De Maria
Romans 10:9-10 is one of the clearest statements on belief and salvation. Three requirements must be met:
ReplyDelete1) confess Jesus as Lord. This is a verbal acknowledgement about Christ to others.
2) believe in your heart. This is a deep personal conviction that Jesus is his sovereign. This is an ongoing condition in a person's life that is manifested in repentance and obedience to Christ.
3) believe in the resurrection. This is to believe that Christ died for his sin and rose again. Christ's rising from the dead shows that God accepted the death of Christ for our sins.
It is on this basis that a man can know he is saved.
AnonymousMarch 4, 2013 at 11:03 AM
ReplyDeleteRomans 10:9-10 is one of the clearest statements on belief and salvation.
True. But it doesn't stand alone. It is not the entire Gospel. It must stand in context with the rest of Scripture.
Three requirements must be met:
1) confess Jesus as Lord. This is a verbal acknowledgement about Christ to others.
True. This is part of the ritual before one is Baptized.
2) believe in your heart. This is a deep personal conviction that Jesus is his sovereign.
This is also true. If one doesn't believe and yet is baptized, he is condemning himself:
Mark 16:16
King James Version (KJV)
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
This is an ongoing condition in a person's life that is manifested in repentance and obedience to Christ.
Absolutely true. That is why faith alone is dead. In order to be saved, one must obey Christ:
Hebrews 5:9
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
In order to obey Christ, one must keep the Commandments:
John 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
3) believe in the resurrection. This is to believe that Christ died for his sin and rose again. Christ's rising from the dead shows that God accepted the death of Christ for our sins.
It is on this basis that a man can know he is saved.
There is much more than that.
Here is what Romans 10:9-10 says:
King James Version (KJV)
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
We see this process in action when the Jailer asks:
Acts 16:29-31
King James Version (KJV)
29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Protestants stop reading right there. But the lesson continues:
32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
Therefore, confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, means to be BAPTIZED. Because in order to be Baptized, one must first believe. As the Scripture also says:
Acts 22:16
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
But that is not even the beginning. In order to call upon the name of the Lord and come to faith, one must first be called:
Romans 10:14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
And then when called, one must study to show himself approved:
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
And then, one must repent and do works meet for repentance:
Acts 26:20
But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
And then one requests Baptism:
Acts 22:16
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
And then one perseveres in well doing:
Romans 2:7
King James Version (KJV)
7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
To the end:
Matthew 24:13
King James Version (KJV)
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.