Catholics believe that even non-Catholics/Christians can be saved? Why? Because of God’s salvific Will. God desires that all men be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
If God did not provide a means for the salvation of all men, his ordaining Will would be in vain. This is a logical impossibility in consideration of the nature of God.
So God must provide a means of salvation for those who are ignorant of Christ through no fault of their own.
Salvation is an enormous topic. In its simplest formulation, and normatively speaking, we must repent, believe and be baptized.
But how do we know what to repent of? How do we repent? What earthly authority can tell us? How do we know?
The same questions can be asked about “believing.”
Jesus tells us that if we love Him we must believe everything he teaches.
How do we know what Christ taught?
The Bible is one source, but it cannot be the only source, because if we reject the authority of Christ’s Church and It’s charism of infallibility, we reject the institution that wrote, compiled, canonized and preserved the Bible. This would put the inerrancy of the Bible in doubt.
More importantly, Jesus never mentions “Scripture alone” as the sole rule of faith. Rather, He warns us against failing to “listen to the church,” (we will be regarded as non-Christians) because the Apostles and their successors have the power to “bind and loose,” given to them by Jesus. This was a rabbinic term meaning indisputable ecclesiastical authority. Christ’s Church is “the pillar and foundation of truth.”
So normatively, in order to be saved, a candidate for entry into the Church must believe whatever the Church teaches dogmatically, be baptized, repent of his sins through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and receive the Eucharist. Once a member of the Church, the candidate must remain in a state of grace by receiving the Sacraments regularly and worthily, including Confession, especially when one is conscious of having committed a mortal sin.
While on earth we can have a moral certainty of salvation, we cannot have absolute certainty.
Paul speaks of working out his salvation in fear and trembling, and Jesus commands us to remain in Him.
He did not say work out to assure your salvation........or ...work out to be saved....
He said they were to work out what they already had.. their salvation ...For it is God that works out His will in you ... for His pleasure ..(Phil2:12)
God does not work IN those that are not saved ...
We don't need someone to tell us if we've repented because they don't know our heart. Nobody needs authority to tell us that.
More importantly, Jesus never mentions “Scripture alone” as the sole rule of faith. Rather, He warns us against failing to “listen to the church,” (we will be regarded as non-Christians) because the Apostles and their successors have the power to “bind and loose,” given to them by Jesus. This was a rabbinic term meaning indisputable ecclesiastical authority. Christ’s Church is “the pillar and foundation of truth.”
You have been corrected on that error many times already but still persist in it. It does not seem to have sunk in. That is not an admonition to listen to the church, but rather a comment about settling disputes among believers and the final step in the process.
The pillar and foundation of something are supposed to be the support of it and the Catholic church does not support the truth os Scripture but rather changes it at it sees fit.
The Catholic church's claims regarding the Bible are not legitmate and do not thereby give the RCC the power or right to make the claims of authority over all believers or its claims of being the way of salvation.
Jesus, a PERSON, saves me, not an organization or religious system.
Oh?
Kinda makes the 'list' moot!