What Protestants say: How Catholics should respond

Chapter 1: Are you born again?

DO YOU NEED TO LEAVE THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?
By: Admin Jess

A Catholic sent a PM on our page seeking help as his friend is already decided to leave the church to convert as a BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN.

Do we really need to leave the church and become Born Again? Here is my advise to this brother.

I would like to make it clear that I don't hate my friends who are members of BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN church. I just feel the need to speak my stand as a Catholic.

There is a need for us to be BORN AGAIN but it does not literally mean being a member of a man-founded denomination called BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN.

Here is why:

When we received the sacrament of BAPTISM, we were already born again of water and spirit. John 3:3 does not talk about the protestant church BORN AGAIN CHRISTIAN. It talks about the spiritual rebirth and again, it took place during BAPTISM.

PROTESTANTS miss the fact that baptism gives us new life/new birth because they have a poor view of the grace God gives us through baptism, which they think is just a symbol. But Scripture says that baptism is much more than it.

Acts 2:38
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

When Paul was converted, he was told, “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16).

Peter also said “God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. BAPTISM, which corresponds to this, now SAVES you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:20–21).

St. Peter himself says that BAPTISM SAVES US. And so Catholics are indeed saved upon BAPTISM.

So if we were born again of water and spirit and were saved through baptism why is there a need to leave the Catholic church to literally join BORN AGAIN church? John 3:3, 7 does not mean we have to be a member of Born Again Church. It simply means rebirth of water and spirit and it is acchieved thru Baptism.

Why stay as a Catholic? Born Again Christian church just like Baptist say that they are already SAVED. And this too good to be true doctrine that is so sweet to listen to attracts the mind of a weak Catholic.

Are Catholics saved? Yes we are saved. The teaching of salvation in the Catholic church is different from that of which is being taught in Born Again Church.

For them, SALVATION is something that is finished. For us Catholics it is something that is DONE, BEING DONE, and is YET TO BE DONE. Or simply, PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE.

SALVATION DONE
1. WE HAVE BEEN SAVED. Christ's death on the cross was the perfect sacrifice.

Romans 8:24
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?

Ephesians 2:5-8
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realm
s in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his
kindness to us in Christ Jesus..8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

SALVATION BEING DONE:
2. WE ARE ALSO BEING SAVED - For salvation is not something that is done already because if so, everyone could have just been waiting for the end of time being excited of getting to heaven.