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"Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church (THE CATHOLIC CHURCH), but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation."
Thus, some tribe in the middle of the Amazon who has never heard of Christ may be saved by God's grace because such people "try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience."
OK, so what about the folks who have heard the Gospel of Christ?
What does the Catholic Church have to say about their salvation?
In short, if I'm one of those Amazonians you mentioned above and tomorrow I show up on the steps of a Catholic Church and say "What must I do to be saved?" What answer will I get?
OK, so what about the folks who have heard the Gospel of Christ?
What does the Catholic Church have to say about their salvation?
In short, if I'm one of those Amazonians you mentioned above and tomorrow I show up on the steps of a Catholic Church and say "What must I do to be saved?" What answer will I get?
The answer would be if God is in your heart... if you have lived a Christian life...even if you have not realized it... you are saved...
The answer would be if God is in your heart... if you have lived a Christian life...even if you have not realized it... you are saved...
What about partaking of the Eucharist? You can't just "show up at the door of a Catholic Church" and expect to be fully counted as a Catholic. You have to go through a conversion process known as RCIA. You have to be confirmed in the church and be baptized (if you haven't previously received a valid baptism) before you can take communion.
What about partaking of the Eucharist? You can't just "show up at the door of a Catholic Church" and expect to be fully counted as a Catholic. You have to go through a conversion process known as RCIA. You have to be confirmed in the church and be baptized (if you haven't previously received a valid baptism) before you can take communion.
What are you talking about? This is about who will get to heaven... What does RCIA have to do with going to heaven? Would you please take a minute and read the actual posts so I don't have to repeat myself?
How does God get in your heart? How do you live a "christian" life, how could you not realize it? Scripture?
Take the Amazon example... someone who has no idea of who Christ is... yet they are kind, loving, all that is good... They are living what we would consider to be a Christian life without really understanding that they are... without having read scripture...
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Thus, some tribe in the middle of the Amazon who has never heard of Christ may be saved by God's grace because such people "try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience."
yet they do not know who Christ is by name... but they know him by heart... by conscience...
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When outsiders who have never heard of God's law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God's law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God's yes and no, right and wrong. (Romans 2:14,15, The Message).
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God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8
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What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean' ... the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean'. Matthew 15:11,18
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This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God. 1 John 3:19-21
NO ONE CAN KNOW FOR CERTAIN WHETHER THEY ARE GOING TO HEAVEN UNTIL THEY DIE.
There, I said it.
So, everybody better start acting right!!!! You need to be found "spotless and blameless" according to God's Word.
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