Have You Been Born Again?
The following is from The
Catholic Digest, August 1983, and is
written by Alan Schreck for the purpose
of showing Roman Catholics how to answer
a personal worker who asks them if they
are saved. This question, with "Have
you been born again?" are the two most
embarrassing questions that Catholics
are asked, and they have to have
special, private instructions from the
hierarchy on how to DUCK these questions
without actually answering them.
In our article on "How to Damn
Your Church Members," we quoted the
Roman Catholic answer given directly by
The Catholic Digest on "Are you born
again?" It amounted to "EVERY BAPTIZED
ROMAN CATHOLIC WAS BORN AGAIN WHEN HE
WAS SPRINKLED." (See article.) This
means that ADOLPH HITLER, Fidel Castro,
and Benito Mussolini were all "born
again."
"How do we accept God's gift of
salvation? The first and most essential
STEP is faith through Jesus Christ.
When the Roman Catholic Church speaks of
good works as A MEANS OF SALVATION it is
expressing the belief it finds in these
passages of scripture (Rom. 2:6, James
2:14,17). Catholics also believe that
God has also revealed the role of the
sacraments, especially Baptism and the
Eucharist, IN HIS PLAN OF SALVATION"
(pp. 69-70).
ARE YOU SAVED?
Well, nobody is saved YET,
including the Catholic writing the
article. He continues: "Baptism then is
also a means of salvation...nor can
Christians neglect the Eucharist.
Catholicism appears to many people to be
a complicated system of beliefs and
religious practices that are a far cry
from the simplicity of the Gospel. Is
observance of these teachings NECESSARY
for salvation? FOR A
CATHOLIC...rejection of these doctrines
could be a form of rebellion against
GOD" (p. 71).
The Catholic hierarchy is "God"?
"Faith, good works, sacraments,
CHURCH TEACHING...ALL THESE THINGS PLAY
A PART IN OUR SALVATION" (p. 72). Well,
are you saved?
WHEN were you saved? WHERE were
you saved?
Well, the Catholic writer
couldn't answer one out of three, but he
still likes to write: "Can Christians
know with certainty in this life that
they will spend eternity with God in
heaven? THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS ALWAYS
TAUGHT THAT WE CANNOT...IT MAINTAINS WE
SHOULD NOT PRESUME AHEAD OF TIME" (pp.
72-73).
How about if you are
PREDESTINATED TO BE CONFORMED TO HIS
IMAGE? (Rom. 8:29).
How about if you were told
nothing could separate you from Him?
(Rom. 8:39)
How about if all of your
Christian teachers knew for certain? (2
Tim. 1:12, 1 Pet. 1:3-4, 1 John 5:10-
15).
HOW ABOUT IF YOU MADE A LIAR OUT
OF GOD IF YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T KNOW (1
John 5:10-13)?
"So, in response to the
question, `Have you ever been saved?' a
Catholic could really give three
answers:
"(1) Yes, I have been saved...I
have a share in God's life, I HAVE A
HOPE OF HEAVEN.
"(2) I am being saved...accept
his gift of salvation MORE FULLY."
"(3) I HOPE TO BE SAVED...I
must persevere in my faith...until the
end of my life" (p. 73).
And there it is, like last
year's bird's nest. Three evasive
"answers" which don't answer anything.
In the first answer the Catholic denied
WHAT HE HAD JUST SAID because he
finished by saying he only had a "HOPE"
of salvation. A man who is saved and
knows it doesn't "hope" he is going to
heaven. HE IS ALREADY SEATED IN
HEAVENLY PLACES WITH HIS RISEN HEAD
(Eph. 2:1-5).
In the second answer, the GIFT
wasn't really ACCEPTED. It is being
accepted "MORE FULLY"--which is
nonsense. It is called a "FREE GIFT" in
Romans 5:16. It is given unreservedly
(Rom. 8:32) to the sinner who believes
on Christ (Rom. 4:1-5) and there is no
more "fully" to it: YOU ACCEPT IT OR YOU
REJECT IT FOR "SACRAMENTS," GOOD WORKS
AND A CHURCH (see Romans 16:26, 10:16).
In the third answer the Catholic
finally told the truth.
No Catholic on this earth who
OBEYS THE HIERARCHY can pull out a New
Testament and show you on the authority
of God's word WHEN he was saved, WHERE
he was saved, HOW he was saved, WHO
saved him, and WHAT he was saved from.
To justify an agnostic "hope of
salvation," The Catholic Digest quotes
Philippians 3:11-13 to prove that the
"PRIZE OF THE HIGH CALLING" (an earned
REWARD for service) is identical with
ETERNAL LIFE, and therefore can be lost,
even by Paul.
Paul was no more afraid of
losing eternal life (see Rom. 8:38-39)
than losing his valve wrenches.
ARE YOU SAVED?
Well, you ARE or you are not (1
John 5:10).
If you are NOT, you know where
you are going (John 3:36, Rev. 21:8).
If you ARE, you know where you
are going (1 Peter 1:4,9).
An agnostic Catholic kept in
bondage by a pagan bachelorhood of
agnostic "priests" is the most pitiful
thing you ever saw on this earth outside
of a concert by Elvis Presley or Michael
Jackson.
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