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“...charge laid only by RC’s...commit any sin with impunity...”

It was the founder of protestant doctrine and tradition (Luther) himself who wrote that sola fida means that one can now sin with impunity.

Luther wrote:

“If adultery could be committed in faith, it would not be a sin” and

“Sin boldly ...”

Once saved always saved is NEVER mentioned in the bible. To return to the topic, that is the reason that in the Lord’s prayer we ask our Father to forgive us our trespasses because we are in ongoing need of forgiveness, not because we are already saved.

In fact the opposite is true: Hebrews 6:4-8

For fellow Catholics: I have been saved (Romans 8:24) I am being saved (2 Cor 2:15) and I hope to be saved (Romans 5:9-10). Salvation is a process that requires cooperation, not a done deal. The Catholic position accurately accounts for ALL of the scriptures on the topic, not just one or two.

The best examples are Judas and Satan himself, both who believed, sinned and most definitely are NOT saved. Lucifer is still in hell, and most likely Judas, although we don’t know definitively who is in hell because we are not God.

Is the response that they somehow weren’t saved to begin with? This is not very comforting, since we all sin and so must now constantly question whether we really were saved, especially if the sin is serious.

That is why confession was instituted. John 20:21-23

I think you’ve misrepresented Luther. When Luther said “sin boldly” in a letter to Phillip Melanchthon, he was in no way giving license to sin. That letter was an indictment of who we are as human beings. Because of our fallen nature, Luther knew we would continue to sin until the end. He wanted people to understand their poverty before the Lord. He wanted them to understand they are in utter bondage to sin.

If you want to bash Protestants, continue misusing that phrase as you did. But if you want to understand Luther’s real teaching on sin (and the Bible’s), read his book “The Bondage of the Will.”

All that said, even if Luther did teach it was okay to sin, that’s not a good argument because while Luther is admired for breaking Rome’s grip and helping to recover the gospel, he is not the Protestant standard.

This is what Luther actually said:

“If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong (sin boldly), but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2 Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.”