Home Cultural Issues Other Cultural Issues Apologetics Here’s How to Start a Conversation About Biblical Salvation
Apologetics

Here’s How to Start a Conversation About Biblical Salvation

26
100
0



Greg answers a listener’s question, “As a believer with Catholic relatives, how can I start a conversation about true salvation?”

Listen to the full podcast: https://www.str.org/w/salvation-army-promoting-crt

#StandtoReason #Apologetics #Christianity #Theology #Salvation #Worldviews

————— CALL IN TO THE SHOW —————

Have a question or comment? Call Greg Koukl, live Tuesdays 4-6pm Pacific Time, at (855) 243-9975.

————— SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION —————

If you’d like to submit your question ahead of time for the broadcast, or if you’d like to submit a question for the #STRask podcast, fill out our form at https://www.str.org/training/broadcast.

————— FIND MORE FREE TRAINING —————

Website: https://www.str.org/
Stand to Reason University: https://training.str.org
Stand to Reason Apps: https://www.str.org/apps

————— CONNECT —————

Twitter: https://twitter.com/STRtweets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/standtoreason93
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standtoreason
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stand-to-reason

————— GIVE —————

Support the work of Stand to Reason: https://www.str.org/donate

source

Click to rate this post!
[Total: 0 Average: 0]
Post Views: 100
Tags ApologeticsCatholicismchristianityGreg KouklStand to Reasontheology
Previous Post
1730490677_maxresdefault.jpg

A Philosophical Reason to Think the Universe Had a Beginning — Stand to Reason Podcast

Next Post
1695765779_maxresdefault.jpg

Why You Should Care About Passover

Related posts

Leave your comment

26 Comments

  2. Wow! I finished listening to all of this video and I find it amazing that this Greg Koukl guy gets by with what he is saying without ever being checked by any of his disciples. So please allow me to invite Greg Koukl or any of his loyal disciples to have a discussion on the unBiblical things that was said in this particular video. I would not want to be him when he enters through that door of Judgement and he sees St. Paul and St. John as witnesses to what was said in this video. Sts. John and Paul are both good Catholics and would never have said the things that Koukl said. I do hope that there is a Koukl disciple that is willing to have the discussion. God bless.

  3. The false doctrine of assurance of salvation (once saved always saved) is a doctrine of Calvin that never was taught by the early Church. The Catholic Church has been teaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ since the first century and it is the reformers that introduced another gospel not taught until they came around.
    The 'tips' that you gave in answering the question, might work for a Catholic who knows nothing about their faith, but it is bound to fail with a Catholic who has been proper catechized. Throughout the bible, it speaks to losing our salvation. Add this to what the early Church taught about losing one's salvation, we can see where the idea of assurance of salvation is a false teaching that actually feeds into the sin of presumption.

    The Catholic Church teaches we are saved by grace and through faith, just not by faith alone. Without grace even your faith cannot save you.

  4. 4:40 The Catholic Church teaches you can be confident in your salvation. Just not completely certain, and that’s because the Bible teaches that you can lose your salvation. Your example of the Catholic only being confident immediately after confession is false, because the only way they could lose salvation after confession is if they commit mortal sin, which can’t be done on accident. If any of you have questions on Catholicism from a believing Catholic please reply.

  6. You follow the teaching of the Reformers who taught that through faith alone you receive Christ' righteousness imputed or counted on you, while your sins (past, present AND future) are imputed to Christ who bore them on the cross. You are only righteous externally using that of Christ but you remain sinner at the same time. That explains why you can say that your salvation is secured, you do not have to do anything and your sins will not make you lose your salvation, which you refer as the Gospel. Is this what the Scripture teaches as a whole, and not just based on few cherry picked verses?

    Ezekiel 18:20 says "the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself". How do you reconcile this verse with imputation concept of the Reformers? Ezekiel 33:12 says "the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins" and 1 John 3:8 says "he who sins is of the devil". You should read Heb 10:26-27 as well. How do you reconcile these verses with your belief that because your future sins are also imputed/counted on Christ, they won't make you lose your salvation? Even Paul in 1 Cor 9:27 that he himself could be disqualified (Greek adokimos).

    Contrary to what you said Catholics do not believe in salvation by faith plus works or merits. The difference with that of the Reformers is Catholics believe that to be saved we must be made righteous through Christ (Rom. 5:19). Scripture says righteousness delivers from death (Prov. 10:2, 11:3). We are made righteous by faith as faith is counted as righteousness (Rom. 4:2) and through doing what is right (1 John 3:7). Jesus said in Luke 10:28 "do this (love one another) and you will live". It is not salvation by works as our ability both to have faith (rom. 4:2) AND to do what is right (1 John 3:7) comes and is only possible by grace through Christ. Salvation in Catholicism is by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9) and through sanctification (2 Thes. 2:13). We lose our righteousness through sinning (Ezek. 33:12) which makes our accumulated righteous deeds be forgotten (Ezek. 18:24, 33:18). Moved and enabled by grace we repent and turn away from sin that put us back in our righteous state as our sins will be forgotten (Ezek. 18:21-22, 33:19). When we die in righteous state and face judgment (Heb. 9:27), we will be declared righteous because we are indeed made righteous. In contrast the Reformers taught that we will die still with sins, but those sins won't affect our salvation as they are counted or imputed to Christ.

  9. Greg is very confused. Catholics believe you go to hell if, and only if, you die in a state of mortal sin. You commit a "mortal sin" if the act is a "grievous matter", you know this ("full knowledge"), and you commit the act freely ("full consent'). In other words, by definition a Catholic knows if they're in a state of mortal sin, and so logically they also know if they're not. Therefore, at any given moment the Catholic knows with a good degree of certainty whether or not they would theoretically be saved if they died there and then. The reason Catholics claim not to know ultimately if they will be saved is because they do not know how their future selves will act, and therefore whether or not they will be in a state of mortal sin at the moment of death.

  11. ‘American Gospel: In Christ Alone’ is a helpful movie that has a really great, respectful, and truthful picture of Catholicism (along with other doctrines) compared to what the Bible says the Gospel is.

    Greg, I’ve watched some of your seminars and my husband and I are in the middle of your book ‘Tactics’. Thank you so much for the wisdom and resources you share. I have a lot to learn and I want to start putting them into practice. I know it’s an important part of having it be useful.

  12. Jesus gave authority to the apostles whom he chose, this argument is about their authority. Did they have it or not? this is the argument that the Sadducees and pharisees made. "by whose authority do you do this? Catholics believe in the original church authority because the gospel confirms it.

  13. “There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church — which is, of course, quite a different thing.“ —Fulton J. Sheen

    Feel like it’s very challenging to speak on the Catholic Church without first understanding the doctrine and how it compliments and how it is deriven from Jesus Christ (establishment before the NT was put together, because it had to be put together and passed on by the early Christians) and roots in Judaism

  14. 1. (Catholic view) To be saved (initial): Repent, believe, and be baptized.

    To be saved, if committed mortal sin: repent, believe and penance/confession.

    2. Yes you can know if you’re going to Heaven. It is called examination of conscience. John 15:6, Rom 11:22, Heb 10:28-29, 1 Cor 9:26-27, Gal 5:4, 2 Tim 2:11-13, Matt 24:13.

    If someone chooses to be humble about their answer, doesn’t always mean uncertainty about their salvation but a lack of wanting to exalt, which may be a problem in answering the question but not in going about humility towards the gift of grace and faith received allowing us to make it to heaven.

    – Purgatory is the final purification for those who have died in God’s friendship but still need to be cleansed of their attachment to sin. It makes us pure and ready for the full glory of heaven. Which there is biblical evidence for in 1 Cor 3:15, Matt 5:25-26, 2 Maccabees 12:42-46. If you don’t believe in the term that’s ok, but don’t act like there isn’t a clear indication that nothing unclean/no sin will enter heaven, hence cleansing prior to entering will take place.

    “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24)

    Grace (gift) by faith (gift) working through love.

    “Good works” would not be possible without grace.

    “Works of the law” are possible with and without grace/faith.

    Hopefully this helps, it seems many are confused about this (Catholic and non-Catholics)

  18. Been a while since I touched back home with my old friends in the USA. In case Greg reads these comments, I have always been a big fan of Stand To Reason. I've been living in the Philippines for the last 12 years (and loving it). My older brother (still lives in USA) became Roman Catholic a while back and so I did my homework and concluded that Luther was right and Leo X was wrong. Twice a year I read 2 books that keep me Protestant, Paul's letter to the Romans and Paul's letter to the Galatians. I think Greg will still remember me so greetings my old friend and keep up the good work for Christ.