One Way

I was online reading some forums tonight when I came across this story about how Pope Benedict XVI has declared that the Catholic Church is the only true church and that Catholicism provides the only way to be saved. I've seen different denominations before try to declare the same thing (I grew up in one of those kinds of churches, so there are many).
Of course, there is no foundation for what he says. It's as untrue as the idea that all people who go to church are saved (they're not, because the Bible clearly tells us that there are true and false believers in the Church, both now and then). I responded back to the forum where I originally found this link and this is what I had to say. In a nutshell: Church doesn't save you. Jesus does!

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There is no biblical support to the idea that there is only one church through which we can be saved. If we want to truly understand how a person is saved, we have to go to the Bible, first and foremost. We don't just go by what a particular church tells us how we're saved, unless what they're stating can be backed up in the Bible. That's why God has given us the Bible so we can know with certainty how to be saved, and not just take "someone else's word" for it.

A person is saved through faith in Jesus Christ only (John 3:16 among many other scriptures). A person isn't saved by "living a good life", either, because how can a person define what is "good"? My view of "good" may differ than what your view of "good" might be. The Bible says we've all fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and our good deeds are as "filthy rags" in the sight of a pure and holy God (Isaiah 64:6). None of us can "save ourselves" because man is sinful and imperfect. We can't attain a perfect life (be totally without sin), and that's why God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die and pay the penalty for our sin. We have to accept that by faith, ask for forgiveness of sin, and repent of our sin. He alone is what saves a person, not the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Association, or any other religious church affiliation.



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God's Love in One Word.
Jesus.
www.PassTheWord.net