Is Catholicism a false religion?
Are Catholics saved?
Question: "Is Catholicism a false
religion? Are Catholics saved?"
Answer: The most crucial problem with the Roman
Catholic Church is its belief that faith alone in Christ is
not sufficient for salvation. The Bible clearly and
consistently states that receiving Jesus Christ as Savior,
by grace through faith, grants salvation (John 1:12;
3:16,18,36; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10,13; Ephesians 2:8-9).
The Roman Catholic Church rejects this. The official
position of the Roman Catholic Church is that a person must
believe in Jesus Christ AND be baptized AND receive the
Eucharist along with the other sacraments AND obey the
decrees of the Roman Catholic Church AND perform meritorious
works AND not die with any mortal sins AND etc., etc., etc.
Catholic divergence from the Bible on this most crucial of
issues, salvation, means that yes, Catholicism is a false
religion. If a person believes what the Catholic Church
officially teaches, he/she will not be saved. Any claim that
works or rituals must be added to faith in order for
salvation to be achieved is a claim that Jesus’ death was
not sufficient to fully purchase our salvation.
While salvation by faith is the most crucial issue, in
comparing Roman Catholicism with the Word of God, there are
many other differences and contradictions as well. The Roman
Catholic Church teaches many doctrines that are in
disagreement with what the Bible declares. These include
apostolic succession, worship of saints or Mary, prayer to
saints or Mary, the pope / papacy, infant baptism,
transubstantiation, plenary indulgences, the sacramental
system, and purgatory. While Catholics claim Scriptural
support for these concepts, none of these teachings have any
solid foundation in the clear teaching of Scripture. These
concepts are based on Catholic tradition, not the Word of
God. In fact, they all clearly contradict Biblical
principles.
In regards to the question “Are Catholics saved?”, this is a
more difficult question to answer. It is impossible to give
a universal statement on the salvation of all members of any
denomination of Christianity. Not ALL Baptists are saved.
Not ALL Presbyterians are saved. Not ALL Lutherans are
saved. Salvation is determined by personal faith in Jesus
alone for salvation, not by titles or denominational
identification. Despite the unbiblical beliefs and practices
of the Roman Catholic Church, there are genuine believers
who attend Roman Catholic churches. There are many Roman
Catholics who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus
Christ alone for salvation. However, these Catholic
Christians are believers despite what the Catholic Church
teaches, not because of what it teaches. To varying degrees,
the Catholic Church teaches from the Bible and points people
to Jesus Christ as the Savior. As a result, people are
sometimes saved in Catholic churches. The Bible has an
impact whenever it is proclaimed (Isaiah 55:11). Catholic
Christians remain in the Catholic Church out of ignorance of
what the Catholic Church truly stands for, out of family
tradition and peer pressure, or out of a desire to reach
other Catholics for Christ.
At the same time, the Catholic Church also leads many people
away from a genuine faith relationship with Christ. The
unbiblical beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic
Church have often given the enemies of Christ opportunity to
blaspheme. The Roman Catholic Church is not the church that
Jesus Christ established. It is not a church that is based
on the teachings of the Apostles (as described in the Book
of Acts and the New Testament epistles). While Jesus’ words
in Mark 7:9 were directed towards the Pharisees, they
accurately describe the Roman Catholic Church, “You have a
fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to
observe your own traditions!”
