Salvation Terminology 101

Inspiration for this blog:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevinwax/2012/05/15/is-it-biblical-to-ask-jesus-into-your-heart/

A very interesting read, and it ties in perfectly with my blog title, so how can I not blog about it? 🙂

Now, I realize that I am Catholic, and that this is a debate among Protestants, but having a background in IFB and Wesleyan circles, I must weigh in on this debate, which quite frankly, I am happy is being had. (I know that sentence has way too many commas… I’m over it.) Southern Baptists are stirring up some very interesting discussion when it comes to the terminology used regarding salvation. First of all, this isn’t a new debate, but one that has been going on- and causing division- for hundreds and hundreds of years among all Christians. It is really surprising to me that the Southern Baptists (champions of the “altar call”) are talking about it. Nonetheless, as previously mentioned, I am happy they are discussing it.

If you grew up in a church like I did, the “sinner’s prayer” was a formulated prayer (based on, but not verbatim in Scripture) that one prays in order to be “saved.” I would argue that this idea of salvation is one-dimensional, excruciatingly basic, and limited to selected Bible verses. Notice: I didn’t say that it was wrong to say this prayer, however, if one thinks that this prayer fully encompasses biblical salvation, they are terribly mistaken. The “sinner’s prayer” typically looks like this:

Dear Lord, I believe that you sent Jesus to die for my sins and that he rose again. I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my heart. I accept you as my Savior. Amen.

This prayer follows the “Romans Road” ideology and is mostly based on Romans 10:9-10. The Bible, however, does not say that this specific prayer is the gateway to our salvation. This prayer has good intention no doubt, but it is a man made formula. I am definitely not doubting the sincerity of those who pray this prayer, but the fact is: a prayer doesn’t save us, God’s grace saves us. The “sinner’s prayer” is not the be-all-end-all. One may truly have a conversion by reciting this prayer, and receive God’s saving grace. One may also receive God’s saving grace by going through a process where they learn the truth about Jesus and accept it over a period of time. This idea that you must say a prescribed prayer, mark it on the calendar, and refer to it as “the day I accepted Christ” or you aren’t truly saved, is ridiculously erroneous, very often gives false assurance, and even more so, limits God with man-made rules of salvation, disguised as being “biblical.”

What is important is how we live. Whether we say a prayer or go through Confirmation, the process itself doesn’t save us. The grace that our loving God gives us through the shed blood of Jesus saves us. This “One-and Done” mentality of salvation which comes about through the “Sinner’s Prayer” ideology contradicts Scriptural salvation. Consider this from the Catechism (with obvious Scriptural references):

161 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. Since ‘without faith it is impossible to please God’ and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life but ‘he who endures to the end.’

Salvation requires an active participation from us, the saved. Jesus says that those who endure to the end will have eternal life. As a Catholic, I believe God has given us the Church to teach us truth, feed us spiritually, and nourish us with the Sacraments. The center of my faith is Jesus, who is present in the Eucharist. This Sacrament gives me the strength to “endure to the end,” but it requires my participation.

My Christian brethren, salvation comes through obedience and repentance… and not just once. Another excerpt from the Catechism:

1431/35 Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all of our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time, it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is… accomplished in daily life by… taking up one’s cross each day and following Jesus.

So why am I happy that the Baptists and other evangelicals are talking about the shallowness of some of their terminology regarding salvation? Because there is so much more to it than a one-time prayer, and it is encouraging to see that being realized by some. True conversion and salvation is not found in methods, phrases, and prayers, but rather in our daily trusting, acceptance, and active participation in God’s marvelous grace.

My Faith Journey (Part 3)

I hope it’s okay that I am using a friend of mine’s question that he brought up in my last entry. It is actually a really great segue into the next part of my spiritual journey. I brought this question up earlier:

Would God create a Church where he desired us to be in disunity, even about the smallest of things?

My friend, Jeremy, asked me to expound upon this, and this was my answer:

          “I believe this is a question that all Christians should ask themselves. It seems simple, but at the heart of the issue is biblical interpretation. How was Scripture interpreted in the early Church? Who interpreted it? Was it the Church or individuals? What was the result, and what did the early Church believe and teach? The fact is, for hundreds and hundreds of years, the Church was unified because Christians believed that Christ gave authority to the Church to teach and interpret Scripture. Fast forward to the Reformation and after: Individual interpretation becomes prevalent, and thus we have thousands and thousands of denominations because of people becoming dissatisfied with their sect of Christianity saying “I don’t agree with that,” or “The Holy Spirit doesn’t guide ME to believe that way…” A new group is formed, and the process repeats. It’s still happening today. The Church essentially bought into a secular individualism that destroyed Christian unity (not completely). So, my point is, if Christ desired us to be in unity (which I think we all can agree to that), then that means that there has to be a Church where we can be in unity. We must seriously look at the early Church, the pioneers of our Faith, study and understand what they taught and believed, and ask ourselves how this applies to us today.”

In short, the answer is “no,” God does not desire for his Church to be torn apart, yet that’s what we have. I began to really ponder this. I researched the early Church, what they wrote, what they believed, what they taught. I won’t go into specifics now; I’ll save that for future posts. But, the fact is, early Church teaching points to Roman Catholic theology. Did early Church Fathers believe in: Infant Baptism? Check. True Presence in the Eucharist? Check. The true meaning of “the communion if Saints?” Check. And many, many other doctrinal positions. Why is this important?

These were the Spirit-led Christian men who assembled the books of the New Testament. These men, these teachers and theologians whom we trusted through the power of God to put together the Holy Scriptures believed ^these^ things. The New Testament (which is the same for Protestants and Catholics) was canonized somewhere around 400 AD. 400 years of Christianity existed before that. This was only a few generations removed from the actual time of Jesus.

The early Church was given the authority from Christ to teach and interpret Scripture, not the individual Christian believer. The Bible says that “the gates of Hell shall not prevail” against the Church.

To me, it was important to really examine what these men believed if I was going to trust that the New Testament which I believe is 100% infallible, was assembled by them. I am not saying that these men were infallible, but Christianity was unified in belief at this time. There was ONE Faith, and this one Faith believed the previously mentioned dogma. The next question I had to answer: What Church looks like this today?

…

And thus, I found myself in a nearly one year battle, wrestling with the idea of becoming Catholic. I prayed HARD about what God’s will was for me. I sought advice from pastors, priests, friends, family, authors… but when it came down to it, I knew where I was being called. God was leading me to the Catholic Church.

I dropped hints to my friends and family. I was ready for someone to talk me out of it, but the circular reasoning of Protestantism never satisfied my yearning for truth. There was a period of about a month between when I decided I would start RCIA, and when I actually told someone that. (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults is the process by which one fully comes to understand the Catholic Church and her teachings, similar to but not exactly like the Protestant equivalent of membership classes.) This month was one of the most trying periods of my life. I didn’t want to leave behind the richness of my Protestant Faith. I am sure this was in part due to a certain amount of comfort I had there, but I think even more so, it was due to the “problems” I saw in me becoming Catholic. At this point, I was theologically Catholic, so that wasn’t the issue. My mind was there, my heart was not. I was going to miss southern gospel music, Fanny Crosby, the Wesleys, extemporaneous prayer, potlucks, hymn sings, campmeetings, my “evangelical” spirit, Alistair Begg, and sooo much more.

I know, this seems trite, especially to cradle Catholics. But these things were (and still ARE) a very important part of me. I shared what I was thinking with a priest that I spoke to during this time period. His response was not what I expected. He said simply:

Bring all of that with you. We need it.

Whoa. You mean, I don’t have to leave everything behind? My heart was convinced. My mind was convinced. Years, prayers, talks, books, fights 🙂 and many tears later, on December 14, 2011, I met with Renee at Communion of Saints Parish, and shared with her my desire to become Catholic. I started the RCIA process on January 9, 2012. I was confirmed and received Eucharist on April 7. My first full day as a Catholic was April 8, Easter Sunday.

After years of journeying, I was finally Home.

—————————————————

I wrestled with many of the big differences in Protestant and Catholic theology. It was not an easy process. I chose not to go into detail about this in my previous entries. I would like to tackle these things separately, and give them each an entry or two of their own. Baptism, Eucharist, Confession, just to name a few.

I will close with this: I, as a Roman Catholic, live solely for the glory of God. I cling to the mysterious and unfathomable love of God. I am saved by the amazing grace of Jesus Christ.

And this relationship requires my daily conversion.

 

 

My Faith Journey (Part 2)

At this point, I decided to pray. I had a specific prayer that I would recite as often as I remembered that went something like this:

Dear Lord, it is my desire to know truth. Among all of these different ways to believe, please show me Your truth.

During my sophomore year at IWU, I began to research denominations and doctrines, ask questions, and discuss differing views with friends and professors. My mind began to shift. I knew towards the end of my sophomore year, that my theological beliefs no longer aligned with the brand of Baptist I was taught growing up, but I still didn’t know what that meant. I desired to belong to a church. I wanted to be able to say that I was a part of a specific denomination, but I never could reach a point where my beliefs lined up with one particular sect of Christianity. My positions on certain doctrines were not concrete quite yet. I knew that in one area, my thinking had really shifted. Growing up IFB, I had always been taught about the Ordinances of the church; Communion and Baptism. Communion was something that we did quarterly, and Baptism was for already proclaimed Christ followers (Believers Baptism). Even more so, these were not sacramental, meaning, they were strictly symbolic- no grace was received through them. This opposes a majority of Christianity that holds a sacramental view of Communion and Baptism. Presbyterians, Lutherans, Catholics, Episcopals, Wesleyans, Methodists… Needless to say, through much research, Bible study, and prayer, my thinking had shifted to the sacramental view. When I was in high school and began to really comprehend what Communion was, I always thought:

There has to be more to this than just symbolism!

I honestly was ignorant to the fact that other Christians believed that Communion was a Sacrament. And now, I believed that it was. Now I was able to narrow down the list even further. My junior and senior year came around, and I was really considering joining the Wesleyan Church. There is so much richness in Wesleyan theology, which has roots in John Wesley, methodism, and the Anglicans. Unfortunately, many Wesleyan churches today have become hyper-evangelical and forgotten their high church roots. The Wesleyan Discipline describes Baptism (which they believe can be done at birth or as an adult) and Communion as Sacraments. I once had a conversation with a well-educated Wesleyan who argued that Wesleyans do not believe in the sacramental view… Wow. C’mon, know your faith!!!

Alas, I did not agree with certain Wesleyan doctrines, and I wanted to join a church only if I could express full agreement in their statement of faith. This seemed like a lost cause, but I kept praying for truth. I kept asking God to put me where He wanted me. I kept seeking God’s will.

The summer before my senior year was the first time I ever considered Catholicism as an option. And when I say option… I mean it was a VERY distant option. I worked as an RA at IWU for the Upward Bound program that summer and my fellow male RA was… well, I don’t know if he was Catholic or Anglican or searching or what… but he sure sounded Catholic to me. We had many, many in depth conversations about faith. Our conversations centered around the historical Church (pre Reformation) and what they believed and taught. Though I had heard it before, very informatively he explained to me the idea of the Church being an authority when it came to doctrine, biblical interpretation and matters of faith. This made sense to a small part of my brain, but the rest of my brain wasn’t convinced, much less was my heart. We debated for hours that summer. It was good for me.

I know this is a short entry, but I need to get to bed! To be continued, again.