re: Actor Shia LeBeouf converts to Catholicism

quote:

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You’re certain that Roman Catholics are not members of the body of Christ? Are not good works to flow from a robust faith in Jesus’s finished work upon the cross? St. James tells us clearly faith absent works is dead. Can’t this be the works our Roman Catholic brothers are writing about? Not salvation by works but works done in service to Christ engendered by faith in Jesus’s blood? I very much hope this is the case.

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The reason why I hold out hope that some (many, even) Catholics are saved is due to a misunderstanding of the role of works in salvation that Rome teaches.

Trust me, I don't hold my position lightly, and I don't believe Catholicism is a false church simply for minor disagreements. I believe that they teach a false gospel, which is why I believe that those who understand what Rome teaches and believe it whole-heartedly are actually outside of saving grace until the repent and put their trust in Christ alone.

I would like to believe that they merely teach that works flow from robust faith in Christ, but that's simply not true. They have a system of theology based upon individual merit that flows from the free will of man. Christ's sacrifice wipes away sin through baptism, but then it's up to man to keep himself justified by living a life of merit, and those sins that are still unpaid for at the believer's death must be cleansed through Purgatory. They teach that when we die, we don't go directly to Heaven to be with God, but that we must pay the penalty for our own sinful actions through years, centuries, millennia even, in Purgatory. That isn't the gospel of Jesus Christ, who paid it all on the cross, but it's a soteriology that teaches that Christ's death only made it possible for us to be justified, but we actually have to pay for our own sins and demerits first.

I agree with your statement that good works flow naturally from a Spirit-filled life of faith, and a "faith" (mere intellectual assent that James describes in chapter 2) that does not produce good works is certainly dead, but that has been touched on in this thread, and Catholics don't teach that works are a biproduct of faith, but that works are separate and work alongside of faith to justify a person before God.

Like I said, I don't take condemnation of Catholicism lightly. I pray that all Catholics will repent of their false gospel and put their trust--their entire trust--in Jesus Christ alone. The entire reason why I've engaged in this thread the way I have is because I know this board has lots of Catholics on it, and few people have challenged them beyond a few pokes at Mary or prayer to the saints. My hope is that the Lord will use my words to both help my Catholic friends see the error of their ways, as well as to help my Protestant brothers see that Rome isn't impenetrable.