What Is Saved?

[infinitelord1]

ive recently been going to a little protestant church near the area i live in. i am curious about what there idea is of being saved. so i asked the pastor. he didnt really give me a solid answer.
my thought is this...if the soul is eternal wouldnt that make it outside of the realm of time? I would think yes. if it is out side of the realm of time then there shouldnt be any stipulations on when it can reach the point of salvation. furthermore, the soul never ages. once it is created, it will exist for the rest of eternity. knowing all of this...wouldnt it be possible to reach the point of salvation while being alive? im starting to wonder this. i think that what protestants mean by being "saved" is that they are in communion with jesus christ. in other words, they have a relationship with him. from what i gather...they do not believe catholics have this relationship. they believe that catholics believe that we get into heaven simply by doing good works or participating in rituals such as communion. i, being raised catholic, was raised to believe that the definition of salvation was a combination of faith, hope, and charity. i would like to add that jesus did say that life is replenished through doing good things or something along those lines. im just wondering why protestants dont think catholics have a relationship with jesus christ. are they seeing something that we are not seeing? or are they just brainwashed? i cant figure it out. this whole relationship with jesus christ thing is really catching my interest though. it kinda makes sense in a way. how do catholics maintain a relationship with jesus christ? is it simply by recieving the eucharist?

[eagle_eye222001]

[quote name='infinitelord1' post='1699734' date='Nov 11 2008, 07:31 PM']ive recently been going to a little protestant church near the area i live in. i am curious about what there idea is of being saved. so i asked the pastor. he didnt really give me a solid answer.
my thought is this...if the soul is eternal wouldnt that make it outside of the realm of time? I would think yes. if it is out side of the realm of time then there shouldnt be any stipulations on when it can reach the point of salvation. furthermore, the soul never ages. once it is created, it will exist for the rest of eternity. knowing all of this...wouldnt it be possible to reach the point of salvation while being alive? im starting to wonder this. i think that what protestants mean by being "saved" is that they are in communion with jesus christ. in other words, they have a relationship with him. from what i gather...they do not believe catholics have this relationship. they believe that catholics believe that we get into heaven simply by doing good works or participating in rituals such as communion. i, being raised catholic, was raised to believe that the definition of salvation was a combination of faith, hope, and charity. i would like to add that jesus did say that life is replenished through doing good things or something along those lines. im just wondering why protestants dont think catholics have a relationship with jesus christ. are they seeing something that we are not seeing? or are they just brainwashed? i cant figure it out. this whole relationship with jesus christ thing is really catching my interest though. it kinda makes sense in a way. how do catholics maintain a relationship with jesus christ? is it simply by recieving the eucharist?[/quote]





Wow. Lot of questions. I don't have a lot of time, but I will try to answers some.

[quote]i think that what protestants mean by being "saved" is that they are in communion with jesus christ. in other words, they have a relationship with him. from what i gather...they do not believe catholics have this relationship.[/quote]

Many non-Catholic Christians believe in Sola Fide, the theory that as long as they believe in Jesus and accept him as their personal Lord and Savior, then they are good. Not sure what you take on this idea, I would be interested what you think on this. This is the main essence of non-Catholics becoming saved though.

[quote]im just wondering why protestants dont think catholics have a relationship with jesus christ.[/quote]

Non-Catholics do not believe Catholics are going to heaven for a variety of reasons or that we lack in a relationship with Jesus for a variety of reasons. The biggest being we worship Mary and the Saints---------which we don't but that is another argument. They also do not believe in the papacy, and therefore seeing us following the anti-Christ. Another top reason is they mistakenly believe that we believe we get to heaven solely on good works.

[quote]how do catholics maintain a relationship with jesus christ? is it simply by recieving the eucharist?[/quote]

I would initially say no as you also need to keep yourself away from sin as sin distances one from God and Catholics believe that something big such as a mortal sin is taking a big step from God. This is another debate between Catholics and non-Catholics. What are your thoughts on sin?

As for achieving salvation, you will probably find this link helpful.
[url="http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0502sbs.asp"]http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0502sbs.asp[/url]

Hopefully this answers some of your questions. If not, ask and I or someone else will respond.

[thessalonian]

I take Jesus's body, blood, soul and divinity in every time I receive the Eucharist. I offer my day to him every day and pray throughout the day for various things and just in praise of him. How is that not a relationship. Protestants seems to like to judge other's relationships with God. Why do they see the good that we (catholics do) and just give glory to God for it is he that is doing it in and through us by his grace (eph 3:20-21). We recieve that grace through the sacraments. They are food for the journey, manna in the desert of life. They are not magic or works. Well they are works but the works of God, the brining forward of the grace earned on the cross 2000 years and applying it to our lives. To be saved means to be in grace. To have faith and be recieving his grace for your lives so that you can accomplish what he has ordained for you to do "saved unto good works". There are Catholics at varying levels of this and I don't judge each individual for all are needed to accomplish the work of the Church.

[Apotheoun]

Salvation is [i]theosis[/i] (i.e., divinization), and [i]theosis[/i] is brought about by participating the sacraments, which then empower a man to live a virtuous life in conformity with the will of God.

[RandomProddy]

[quote name='infinitelord1' post='1699734' date='Nov 12 2008, 01:31 AM']if the soul is eternal wouldnt that make it outside of the realm of time?[/quote]

Souls are created entities in time and didn't necessarily exist before creation.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='infinitelord1' post='1699734' date='Nov 11 2008, 08:31 PM']knowing all of this...wouldnt it be possible to reach the point of salvation while being alive?[/quote]

We can definitely experience a foretaste of eternal salvation, but our souls cannot arrive there until after we have died and are judged.

[quote name='infinitelord1' post='1699734' date='Nov 11 2008, 08:31 PM']i think that what protestants mean by being "saved" is that they are in communion with jesus christ. in other words, they have a relationship with him.[/quote]

That's one way of looking at it in "Catholic" terms. However, not all Protestants use this kind of language to describe justification (i.e. being "saved"). This is mostly seen among Baptist and non-denominational Christians.

[quote name='infinitelord1' post='1699734' date='Nov 11 2008, 08:31 PM']from what i gather...they do not believe catholics have this relationship.[/quote]

What you've gathered comes from a small segment of the most extremist form of Protestantism. Some Pentecostals are better described as pseudo-Christian as they deny the Trinity is three Persons in one God. That aside, contrary to the popular belief of Catholics who think all Protestants are like these hard-core Southern Baptist Brother Jed types preaching hellfire and damnation upon all who don't repent immediately and "get saved," most Protestants integrate some level of reason into their faith and accept Catholics as fellow Christians in spite of our many -- and real -- theological differences.

[quote name='infinitelord1' post='1699734' date='Nov 11 2008, 08:31 PM']this whole relationship with jesus christ thing is really catching my interest though. it kinda makes sense in a way. how do catholics maintain a relationship with jesus christ? is it simply by recieving the eucharist?[/quote]

The Eucharist is part of it, since in Communion we allow God to love us and to return that love, but there's also the matter of devotion through prayer and good works. We should take time every day to spend even a couple minutes in prayer, giving thanks and praise, and praying for whatever concerns us. And the Gospel commands us to action, which includes everything from putting in an honest day's work, seeking to buy goods for which workers were paid a living wage, honoring our parents and other relatives, praying for mothers considering abortion, serving the poor at a soup kitchen, and visiting the elderly in a nursing home. The way we treat the lowly and unseen or overlooked is how we treat Jesus. It makes perfect sense that He communes with us in the lowly, mundane, and too-frequently ignored (or even abused) form of the Eucharist.

Edited November 13, 2008 by LouisvilleFan

[Ziggamafu]

Catholics, like Prots, enjoy a personal relationship with Jesus (or at least the opportunity for one). The difference is that while their reception of the Lord is strictly spiritual, invisible, and subjective, our reception is both spiritual and physical, invisible and visible, subjective and objective by means of the liturgy and the sacraments.

We win. That is all.

[TIWW]

[quote name='infinitelord1' post='1699734' date='Nov 11 2008, 07:31 PM']ive recently been going to a little protestant church near the area i live in. i am curious about what there idea is of being saved. so i asked the pastor. he didnt really give me a solid answer.
my thought is this...if the soul is eternal wouldnt that make it outside of the realm of time? I would think yes. if it is out side of the realm of time then there shouldnt be any stipulations on when it can reach the point of salvation. furthermore, the soul never ages. once it is created, it will exist for the rest of eternity. knowing all of this...wouldnt it be possible to reach the point of salvation while being alive? im starting to wonder this. i think that what protestants mean by being "saved" is that they are in communion with jesus christ. in other words, they have a relationship with him. from what i gather...they do not believe catholics have this relationship. they believe that catholics believe that we get into heaven simply by doing good works or participating in rituals such as communion. i, being raised catholic, was raised to believe that the definition of salvation was a combination of faith, hope, and charity. i would like to add that jesus did say that life is replenished through doing good things or something along those lines. im just wondering why protestants dont think catholics have a relationship with jesus christ. are they seeing something that we are not seeing? or are they just brainwashed? i cant figure it out. this whole relationship with jesus christ thing is really catching my interest though. it kinda makes sense in a way. how do catholics maintain a relationship with jesus christ? is it simply by recieving the eucharist?[/quote]

Catholics maintain their [i]relationship[/i] with the Lord, through prayer.personal, communal and the Sacraments.and as members of the " Mystical body of Christ, the Church."