{"id":37969,"date":"2019-11-11T21:30:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T03:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/?p=37969"},"modified":"2019-11-12T01:40:22","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T07:40:22","slug":"who-is-saved-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markmallett.com\/blog\/who-is-saved-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Saved? Part II","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“WHAT<\/strong> about those who are not Catholic or who are neither baptized nor have heard the Gospel? Are they lost and damned to Hell?” That’s a serious and important question that deserves a serious and truthful answer.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BAPTISM \u2014 STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN<\/p>\n

In Part I<\/a>, it is clear that salvation comes to those who repent from sin and follow the Gospel. The doorway, so to speak, is the Sacrament of Baptism through which a person is cleansed of all sin and regenerated into the Body of Christ. In case someone thinks this is a medieval invention, listen to Christ’s own commands:<\/p>\n

\n

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:16). Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. (John 3:5)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Admittedly, to an outsider today, Baptism must appear as a lovely “thing we do” that results in a nice family picture and a good brunch afterwards. But understand, Jesus was so serious that this Sacrament would become a visible, effective, and necessary<\/em> sign of His saving action, that He did three things to underscore it:<\/p>\n

\u2022 He was baptized himself; (Matt 3:13-17)<\/p>\n

\u2022 water and blood gushed forth from His Heart as a sign and source of the sacraments; (John 19:34) and<\/p>\n

\u2022 He commanded the Apostles to: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit…”<\/em> (Matthew 28:19)<\/p>\n

This is why the Church Fathers often said, “Outside of the Church, there is no salvation,” for it is through the Church that the sacraments, willed by Christ, are accessed and administered:<\/p>\n

\n

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\u2014Catechism of the Catholic Church, <\/em>n. 846<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But what of those who are born into Protestant families? What about people who are born in Communist countries where religion is prohibited? Or what of those who live in remote regions of South American or Africa where the Gospel has not yet reached?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

INSIDE THE OUTSIDE<\/p>\n

The Church Fathers were clear that one who deliberately rejects the Catholic Church has placed their salvation in jeopardy, for it is Christ who established the Church as the “sacrament of salvation.”[1]<\/sup><\/a>cf. CCC, n. 849, Matt 16:18<\/span><\/span>