Many non-Catholic Christians think that Catholics don't know the Gospel. I think part of that comes from the ability to articulate the Gospel like many evangelicals have learned to do and also how evangelicals view salvation.
SALVATION ( It's important because the Gospel points to salvation. ):
Evangelical response: "I was saved at Bible camp when I was 10 years old. How about you, Mr. Catholic, when were you saved?" In other words, it happened at a point in time whereas Catholics don't typically articulate salvation that way. A common type story that an evangelical may or may not share is that "I drifted from God in my late teens and early 20's during college and lived a life of sin, but re-dedicated my life to Christ at an altar call after college."
A Catholic may say I have been saved ( turned to Christ ), I'm being saved ( work out your salvation with fear and trembling ) and I hope to be saved ( endures to the end ). As this Catholic example might work for a lot of non-Catholics who believe salvation can be lost because like Catholics many non-Catholics do believe one must endure to the end because one can reject God and turn from Him even after being SAVED.
THE GOSPEL:
If a Catholic is asked, "Will you explain the Gospel to me?" There are some Catholics who may respond in a way that the one asking the question is pretty satisfied with and other Catholics that may stumble over their words. However, Catholics know the Gospel whether they can clearly articulate it as well as an evangelical or other non-Catholic Christian.
Here's a really short version of the Gospel:
God sent His only begotten Son Jesus.
Jesus shed His blood on the cross for the sins of the world.
Jesus rose from the dead.
Jesus wants us to repent of our sins and follow Him.
Jesus has promised everlasting life to those who follow Him.
Do Catholics know the 5 points above? YES!
Does the Christian faith go deeper than the 5 points above? YES!
Do you really have to take someone down the *Romans road ( *Evangelical path leading up to sinners prayer )? NO!
Now, let's flip the Gospel around to action:
Do you believe God sent His only begotten Son Jesus?
Do you believe Jesus shed His blood on the cross for the sins of the world?
Do you believe Jesus rose from the dead?
Do you want to repent of your sins and follow Christ?
Is that it? Does it stop there? You just shared the Gospel and the person turned to Christ.
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Now What?
Where do you go from here if you shared the Gospel with someone who took action by turning to Christ and is ready to continue their Christian journey?
As a Catholic, if you shared the Gospel with someone and they are ready for the next step put the person in contact with your Priest and/or the RCIA director. But follow up with your contact to make sure he or she took the step or whether someone got back to them. A personal introduction face-to-face or even by email might be a better way to move things forward. In addition, you should either begin to walk with them in their Christian faith like a sponsor does in RCIA or at minimum, introduce them to a Catholic you know who can walk with them as they grow in the Christian faith.
As a Catholic, you likely know that it works differently for a fallen away or former Catholic depending on whether they are Catholic in name because of infant baptism vs. going through a far deeper prior Catholic experience. Be there for the former Catholic, introduce him ( or her or them ) to other Catholics you know and put the former Catholic in touch with your Priest. It brings me great joy when I hear of people returning to the Catholic Church which I believe is the fullness of the Christian faith.
Advice To Catholics....
Stand firm in your faith, know your faith, live your faith, don't be swayed by slick talk from the reformation which was really ending up being a defection from the Catholic Church. Some former Catholics will post online how they have been BORN AGAIN and now they are a Christian but used to be a Catholic. If you know your Catholic faith and live as the Catholic Church actually teaches ( not what people assume ), you don't have to be BORN AGAIN the evangelical way by saying a short sinners prayer and leaving the Catholic Church.
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Let's look at some evangelical advice after someone comes to Christ:
VERBATIM from a Non-Catholic friendly website: "Next, I strongly recommend that you read the Bible regularly, talk to Jesus daily in prayer, and seek to find a church that teaches and focuses on Jesus as Lord, Jesus as Savior, and sticks to the Bible alone."
The advice was given online and there is similar advice given on Christian radio and TV. There are likely some giving this type of advice face-to-face. My issue with the advice is finding the right church and one that sticks to the Bible alone.
Yes, Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Savior. Daily prayer is important. Reading the Bible regularly is important. FYI, Catholics know Jesus is Lord and Savior. Faithful Catholics pray daily. Contrary to what some believe, Catholics read the Bible. Actually even the Catholics who don't physically open the Bible as often as they should, likely still do daily readings or regular readings at Mass which are full of scripture.
How can someone know they ended up in the right church?
There are thousands of non-Catholic churches today and many do not agree with each other yet they stick to the Bible alone. There are continued splits that are often due to disagreement(s) based on Biblical doctrine, but most if not all stick to the Bible alone.
There is fairly regular church hopping among Christians to discover what they "feel" is the right church based on their view of the Bible. A Church can stick to the Bible alone and still teach a very skewed version of Christianity: Do you know who David Koresh was? Do you remember Waco? Branch Davidians practiced a Bible-based back to basics form of Christianity. How can someone ( especially a new Christian ) start Church hopping and end up in a "good Church with sound doctrine?"
Once Saved Always Saved vs. One Can Lose Their Salvation - Which is correct?
This is an area many protestants disagree with each other on and I have included 4 NON-Catholic links: Here's a Once Saved Always Saved View ( and another ) and here's a One Can Lose Their Salvation view ( and another ). Which doctrine is correct?
I feel confident that in either case the teachings are focused on Jesus is Lord, but either one is truly once saved always saved or they are not and must endure to the end.
I think the Catholic Church is the right Church with the right doctrine. There are millions who agree and millions who disagree.
The Bible alone is not a biblical doctrine no matter how you slice it. It was one of the cries of the reformation of the 1500's. The Bible alone not being biblical doctrine is a hard one to swallow until you do a deep dive into scripture, history and sacred Tradition. That's BIG T Tradition not little t tradition. Just click The Bible Alone to read more about it from a former evangelical pastor.
The Bible itself doesn't say the Bible alone is all we need. Even if you believe that The Church is a body of Christian believers and NOT The Catholic Church, as the Catholic Church teaches of herself, did Jesus leave us a Church or a book to read?
The New Testament was not completely written until about 60 years after His death on the cross. Even then, it was not completely put together during that time. If the Bible alone is all we need, how was that possible until the New Testament was completed and assembled? Do you think everyone was walking around with Bibles the day after Christ ascended to heaven? Yes, the Bible is the infallible Word of God and NO I don't think Catholic teachings contradict the Word of God. I love the Word of God, but when you are tempted to say, "Where is that in the Bible?" Think about "Where is Sola Scriptura in the Bible?
If you are a Catholic, don't leave the Catholic Church. If you are a former Catholic, pray about returning to the Catholic Church. If you are not a Catholic, consider becoming Catholic. You can do lots of research on Catholic.com. Beyond that, go to Mass and talk with a Priest.
