Ask Powerball

Powerball:
I have to ask you straight out, do you believe that non-catholic Christians are saved?

Ahhhh, another loaded question. The cheap way out is to say it is not I who decides who is saved, but I won't take that way out.

It's a tough road to travel. Catholicism and Protestantism is not just saying the same thing in different ways. However, once emotion enters the debate nothing is really accomplished. Let me try my best to avoid that and just answer the question.

Catholics and Protestants agree on major issues. Our differences come at fundamental turns in theological development.

Protestants and Catholics believe that salvation is by grace alone, such that all people who will be saved are saved by Christ, and we can rightly say that God is the initiator of salvation and the one who brings the work to completion. Salvation is a free gift and we do not earn it through our works.

Protestants and Catholics also both see faith as a necessary component of salvation. We must trust the one who started the work in us to bring it to completion.

However, Catholics speak of salvation in terms more akin to a process. There is not a single moment which one can point to where you are instantly saved. You can be in a state of Grace but it's not the same as being granted salvation. That is why I am personally against the "sinners prayer". It may be a starting point for some but I think it's a misleading assurance. Indeed, to the Roman Catholic, as long as you are alive on earth, God is still working out your own salvation with you.

Therefore, I don't believe anyone is saved (Protestant or Catholic) before the end of their life. There is God's initiation (baptism) and then there is the response of the human person. This is not a one time deal, but an ongoing relationship made possible by what Jesus did on the cross. With the Protestant, the Catholic wants to emphasize that we need to trust God in this process, which is what faith is. However, the Catholic does not see faith as a single act on a particular date where you know that you have already been saved.

Now if I said right off the bat that I don't believe Protestants are saved I would have been flooded with email. I may be still. You have to understand what that really means before being offended makes you deaf to my words. I also don't believe that I am saved yet. I know someone will email me in BOLD TYPE LETTERS "It is Finished" so save yourself some time. That was Christ speaking about the path to salvation.

The "born again" experience begins with baptism, but continues throughout life until death. Only at the moment of death will the final result be known with absolute certitude. You can debate, and believe all you want, but no one can deny that you won't really know until that moment.