Protestants say they don’t need The Only Church Jesus Founded because of this passage from Rom 10:9-18 “Brothers and sisters: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The Scripture says, No one who believes in Him will be put to shame. There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him.
For everyone who calls on The Name of the Lord will be saved.”
Is getting into Heaven as simple as believing that God raised Jesus from the dead and saying “I believe in Jesus!”?
Many Protestants conclude “I’m home free! I believe in Jesus in my heart. And, I am one who “calls on the name of The Lord”. That means, “I will saved.” Therefore, I am going to Heaven. The Bible says so.”
Many Catholics, our minds somewhat dulled by the false idol of equality with which we’ve been infected, have a hard time responding. We think of the vastness of Church, the Bible it provided, its doctrines, theology, and the wonders of the Catechism. We are concerned, and often appalled, because if they stop too soon, and understand too little, they will be lost among the cacophony of 43,000 Pastor Bobs, each saying “Give me some money.” for reasons they’ve invented.
Catholics heed Mt 5: 18 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Catholics are “jot and tittle” people. “If Jesus said it, it’s the law, and we believe we should obey that law. Jesus said in John 6:53, ‘If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood you do not have life in you.’ We do that by taking Communion because at every Catholic Mass since The Last Supper, priests who are Ordained in a living link with Jesus and The Apostles provide that Holy Food.”
“Oh, I don’t believe that!”, Protestants respond.
The Catholic replies, “But, if you say you believe in Jesus and Jesus says ‘If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood you do not have life in you.’, then you are disobeying He in Whom you say you believe.”
Then, a Catholic may ask: “Do you believe that Jesus had the power to found a Church that would provide His Body and Blood to believers forever? Isn’t that why He said: ‘Verily, verily I say unto you thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you The Keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.’ If intentionally ignoring The Only Church Jesus Founded does not make your belief a sham, certainly it must indicate that you have farther to go than merely saying “I believe in Jesus.”
The popular psychological label “bi-polar” fits those who say they believe, but avoid the greater truth that they only believe in their own belief. That is why it is reasonable to ask, are Protestants bi-polar?
