Pride is the chief of the capital sins, and from it proceeds “presumption,” which consists in trusting too much in oneself, in one’s own lights.
To the question “Can you be sure of your salvation?” an Evangelical web page answers:
|
You can be sure! Are you sure you are going to heaven? If you are like most people, you will hesitate to say “yes.” Thinking that it is presumption. But in reality, can anyone be sure? Well, the Bible has good news for you. You can be sure. The truth is that God wants you to be sure. And it is not as complicated as you think. http://www.faithalone.org/seguro.html |
Moreover, Rick Jones says in his book “Understanding Roman Catholicism” that the Catholic Church “once again opposes the Word of God” when it points out in the Catechism that presumption upon the divine omnipotence or upon the divine mercy is a sin against Hope:
| In taking this position, the Catholic Church once again opposes the Word of God:
“These things I write to you, that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God.” |
This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about Hope:
|
Hope 2090 When God reveals himself and calls him, man cannot fully respond to the divine love by his own powers. He must hope that God will give him the capacity to love him in return and to act in conformity with the commandments of charity. Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing and of the beatific vision of God; it is also the fear of offending God’s love and of incurring his punishment. 2091 The first commandment is also concerned with sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption: By despair , man ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God, for the help to attain it, or for the forgiveness of his sins. Despair is contrary to God’s goodness, to his justice —for the Lord is faithful to his promises— and to his mercy. 2092 There are two kinds of presumption . Either man presumes upon his own capacities (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God’s almighty power or upon his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit). |
Hope is one of the theological virtues, together with Faith and Charity, mentioned by Saint Paul (1 Cor 13:13). If “faith alone” suffices for salvation and one is already “saved, always saved,” why is Hope necessary? Why does the Bible mention it?
Is it true that the Bible says we are “saved, always saved”?
Well, from the words of Saint Paul, it does not appear that he said any such thing:
“But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, having preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.” 1 Corinthians 9:27
“For although my conscience accuses me of nothing, I am not thereby justified. He who judges me is the Lord.”
1 Corinthians 4:4
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12
And above all, the letter to the Philippians is very important for seeing whether Paul “presumed” to be “once saved, always saved”:
“But the things that were gain to me, these I now count as loss for Christ; and indeed I count all things to be loss because of the sublime knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose love I have sacrificed all things and count them as dung, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own justice, which is of the Law, but that justice which proceeds from God, which is founded on faith and comes to us through the faith of Christ; that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to him in his death, and if by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead .” Philippians 3:7-15
Let us make a first reflection here. Saint Paul says “if by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.” If by any means I may attain? That is to say, Paul does NOT “presume” that he will attain the resurrection of the dead.
Saint Paul goes on to say:
“Not that I have already attained it , that is, that I am already made perfect , but I follow after, if by any means I may lay hold of it , forasmuch as I myself have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”
Hold on! Another halt. Not that he has already attained it? Not that he has already reached perfection? We see once again that Paul does not “presume” to have reached the goal, which is Christ.
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have attained it yet ; but, forgetting the things that are behind, I press on toward the things that lie before me, (looking) toward the mark, toward the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus.”
My! The matter grows more and more difficult for our Protestant brethren. Once again he says “I do not think I have yet attained it.” Now let them not come out with the “interpretation” that Saint Paul is speaking here of four-hundred-meter dashes… The goal is Jesus, and Paul says he does not think he has attained it.
And as a final clincher he says:
“And as many of us as are perfect, let us be thus minded.”
That is to say, the “perfect” must act as he does and not “presume” to have attained the goal, which is Christ Jesus.
Now, after reading all this, can anyone say that the Catholic Church “once again opposes the word of God”?
On the Evangelical web page http://www.faithalone.org, in connection with this theme of being sure of being saved, always saved, they state:
| Many people believe that in order to remain saved they must do the will of God. But Jesus Christ said that it is really a matter of his doing the will of the Father on the cross. Jesus promised that whoever believed in him would never hunger or thirst. He promised that he would never cast out anyone who came to him, and that he would not lose a single person who believed in him. If someone having faith in Jesus were to lose his salvation, then Jesus would have failed to keep his promise and would have failed to do the will of the Father. Christ’s eternal gift can never fail, for any reason; he guarantees it. |
This assertion is totally contrary to the word of Christ:
So we could go even further: not only “many people,” but also Jesus:
“Not every one who says to me: ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my heavenly Father.” Matthew 7:21
Clearer than water: whoever wishes to enter the Kingdom of Heaven must do the will of God. But Christ adds further:
“Many will say to me in that day: ‘Lord, Lord! Did we not prophesy in thy name, and in thy name cast out demons, and in thy name work many miracles?’ Then I will say to them: I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of iniquity.”
It is not enough to go to an Evangelical church and say “Lord Jesus,” “Hallelujah,” “Praise the Lord,” “Glory to thee, Lord.” One must do the will of God.
And what is the will of God?
That all men be saved; but in order to enter eternal life, Jesus tells us that we must keep the Commandments:
“But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments.” “Which?” he replied. Jesus said to him: ‘Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; honour thy father and thy mother; and: thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’” Matthew 19:17-19
How different the words of Christ sound compared with the teachings of the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther:
“Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly… No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day.” Martin Luther, letter to Melanchthon, August 1, 1521
Sin is the death of the soul. Christ does not give us license to “murder” our soul a thousand times a day. This is to tempt God and is contrary to the Scriptures.
If you like to look into the teachings of the Fathers of the Church, find out whether any Father of the Church taught this false creed of “saved, always saved.”
You will waste your time, because you will not find it. “Saved, always saved” is another “Protestant addition” to the sound doctrine taught in the Church.
Finally, I have read on an Evangelical web page a discussion of “the anguish of Catholic salvation,” and it was this title that moved me to write this article. I would like to clarify that we Catholics do not feel anguish over our salvation.
We Catholics have FAITH in Christ Jesus, HOPE that rests upon the divine promises made in Jesus, in which are implied the mercy, the faithfulness, and the help of God, and CHARITY which, according to Saint John of the Cross, “obliges us to love God above all things.”
To have HOPE is not the same as to PRESUME. We Catholics do not “presume” to be “saved, always saved.” Presumption is a sin against Hope (1 Cor 13:13). We Catholics have humble HOPE in the promises of Our Lord, who taught us to pray in the Our Father: “Thy Kingdom come” and “deliver us from all evil.”
HOPE is humble; PRESUMPTION is proud. God abhors pride:
Prov 8:13: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth , these I hate ”
On the other hand, he exalts the humble:
He has shown might with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He has put down the mighty from their throne and has exalted the humble. (Lk 1:39-56)
Author: Beatriz Aparicio
