Christ Alone

It is often called the plus religion because Catholicism teaches that you are saved by faith plus works, by grace plus merit, by Christ plus other mediators, according to scripture plus tradition, and for the glory of God as well as the glory of Mary and other saints.

When you look at the Roman Catholic plan of salvation, it is a salvation of works and sacraments.

In the Roman Catholic plan of salvation, baptism cleanses an infant from original sin.

And that is the sacrament of regeneration as well as justification. That it starts them off on this plan, on this track.

Along the way, however, they can commit these small sins, venial sins, which plunges them back down, and heaven forbid they commit a mortal sin, which knocks them completely off the plan of salvation.

He must now receive sacraments. He must confess his sins to a priest, which is the sacrament of penance.

And then he must be re -justified by doing good works, by doing penance.

And once he is re -justified, then he must maintain his salvation through sacraments.

And if, in the end, if they have enough people praying for them, and if they do enough time in purgatory, they might possibly get to heaven.

How they get to heaven is based on what they do, rather than what Christ has done. But the

Bible teaches, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, the work has been done. He saves you totally, completely, perfectly.

And even though, yes, we sin and can repent, the sacrifice of Christ has paid for those sins.

And so there is assurance that he has saved you, he has plucked you out of the world, you're in the palm of his hand, and nobody can pluck you out of his hand.

And so that's why the Reformers cried the five solas, that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to scripture alone, all for the glory of God alone.