Most Protestant denominations that I’m aware of have communion with the body & blood.
John 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
that’s not what people asked the apostles. they asked how they could be saved. and the answer was not you have to be a roman catholic.
if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved (Rom 10:9).
For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Eph 2:8).
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us (Titus 3:5).
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21; Rom 10:13).
First of all, Protestantism is essentially a religion based on a book – i.e., over 30,000 often-incompatible interpretations of the Bible – a Bible compiled by the councils of Rome, Hippo, and Carthage in the fourth century, and confirmed by Pope Siricius. Unfortunately, in many Protestant versions, parts of the Bible are missing – e.g. the epistle of James, who emphasized (to Luther’s dismay) that faith without works was empty, and the book of Maccabees, which supports the doctrine of Purgatory. (It would certainly be helpful to Protestants if, somewhere in the Bible, it were declared that the Christian religion should be based on sola scriptura.)
First of all, I know a retaliation thread when I see one. That paragraph alone should tell you this blogger is not the religious expert he imagines himself to be. He bases his article on straw men and then gleefully ignites them!
Protestant denominations that have ritual commemorations of the Lord’s Supper (not just coffee and doughnuts, or grape juice and wafers), but, following the path of the Protestant reformers, deny the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence, end up at most with what Catholics who do not receive communion at Mass sometimes call a “spiritual communion.” But they are missing what Catholics, if they are properly prepared, experience in receiving the substantial body and blood of the Redeemer and allowing him to operate as He wishes in the secret recesses of their souls.
Pretty sad that he only gets worse the more one reads his post. Yes, ANYONE can be saved who receives Jesus Christ as Savior and believes on Him. One doesn't HAVE to be a Roman Catholic church member, either, in order to receive the gift of eternal life by the grace of God THROUGH faith.
I'm surprised at you, NKP_Vet, I thought you told me you were done with posting provocative, Protestant-bashing threads. Didn't you learn your lesson from the last time?
By the blood of Christ and without man’s foolish traditions and dogma.
I don’t have any sort of a mental picture of anybody getting into heaven on the basis of theology....
According to Peter, it’s pretty simple ...
Acts 2:37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
It if faith in Christ given by God, an something you can’t earn through works, sacraments, etc.
Religious experience will not save a person, but being “born of the spirit” (John 3) will!
I guess as a compassionate former “cradle Catholic,” who is now an evangelical Christian I will ask you are you born again?
Life Vests...
Answer-
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
This applies to Catholics too...
That's what Catholicism has become for many people and it's costing the Church adherents.
I grew up Pentecostal and my experience was very different. There was a lot of emphasis on trying to achieve a direct connection to and experience of God.
Now I won't claim that I'm still a born again Pentecostal. But I regard the experience as essential to my views of God and spirit. I had moved through a period of atheism, but I couldn't shake the idea that there was more to reality than just the material world and I haven't stopped trying to learn about the nature of God and what God is.
My wife, on the other hand, is a pure atheist at this point and sees little difference between the rituals of Catholicism and voodoo.
And she's not the only former Catholic I know like that.
There's something about Catholicism that kills spiritual curiosity and freedom. It seems to me to be the religious analog of the secular, bureaucratic, and soul killing government university where there are official truths that can't be questioned and authorities tell you what to think.
We do not worship the church. We worship the Triune God who gave us salvation in the sinless life and death of Jesus. It is a gift that was paid in full on the cross, when our Savior said, “It is finished.” We lack nothing for our salvation and are living in eternal life already. Praise to our gracious God!
This is not Catholic.
Good last paragraph in that article.
“When I, a ‘cradle Catholic,’”
Perhaps, instead of being a “cradle Catholic”, you should attempt to be an “educated Catholic” and read the Bible. Believing made-up stuff is not doing you, or your eternal soul, any favors. Go directly to God’s Word for your information; all else is invented by men.
John 6:
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”