How do Protestants who say Catholicism doesn't teach the true Gospel understand a Catholic person’s faith in Jesus?

Question

On Protestant theology, Sola Fide is understood as:

Sola fide—the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works—is simply recognizing what is taught over and over in Scripture—that at some point in time God declares ungodly sinners righteous by imputing Christ’s righteousness to them

But I hear many Protestants, such as John MacArthur, who claim that Catholicism doesn't teach the true Gospel:

As long as the Roman Catholic Church continues to assert its own authority and bind its people to “another gospel,” it is the spiritual duty of all true Christians to oppose Roman Catholic doctrine with biblical truth and to call all Catholics to true salvation.

But how can this be? I think that every (faithful and informed) Catholic you meet on this site and in real life will say that they have faith in the resurrection of Christ and his teaching. So on the view of Sola Fide, can’t Catholics still be expected to go to heaven since they express faith? Or am I missing something here?

Answer 1

(Well taught and informed) Protestants don't make such unqualified statements as "All Catholics are heading to hell". Instead we say that many Catholics are not yet saved, as of course are many people in Protestant churches. And we would say that the saving Gospel of the person, life, and work of Jesus Christ is neither taught accurately nor clearly in Catholic Churches. But wherever the scriptures are read and listened to then God is at work, and many people have true saving and justifying faith even if their understanding of that faith is imperfect. I include myself in that of course!

So to the specific doctrine of Sola Fide, Justification by Faith Alone, I have written an answer to another question showing the continuing dispute between Catholics and Protestants over the exclusivity of Faith, so I won't go into more detail about that here. Protestants would say that anyone with saving faith is saved, but that doesn't mean that they understand or accept the doctrine of Faith Alone.

The closest secular analogy to the Protestant doctrine of Justification is a judicial pardon. A governor/president may issue a pardon purely out of their mercy, but the person who receives the pardon may mistakenly believe it is because of the pleading of their family, or the acts of service they made to the community, or donations made to a charity or a political party, or even their personal character or physical appearance. The pardoned person believes this, but their beliefs do not determine the reality of why they were pardoned. Those wrong beliefs may however upset or offend the pardoner.

Likewise we may believe that God saves us for many various reasons, but that doesn't determine what the reality of our salvation is. But it could be disappointing to God if we believe he has saved us for reasons contrary to scripture.

Answer 2

As a protestant, I think Roman Catholicism is full of heresies. I also think Roman Catholic churches probably have at least some, if not many, Christians in them.

The problem with the RCC is when it puts things in the way of faith. The idea that you have to do penance to "pay" for your own sins (which sure looks like a form of works-righteousness), or that Mary and/or other Saints are of equal or greater importance than Christ. The question comes down to whether any particular individual actually lets any of these things replace, or come before, a faith in the saving power of Christ.

In other words:

• If you trust in Mary (or Peter, or...) to intercede on your behalf...
  • (and / or)
• If you have faith, but believe you must also avoid certain sins and/or jump through specific hoops (i.e. penance) in order to "make up for" those sins...

...then you aren't relying on faith alone in Christ alone. That isn't Sola Fide, and protestants would call it heresy. The first also goes against Solus Christus. The second also goes against Sola Gratia.

Mike Winger has a series of videos on Catholicism from an Arminian perspective; you can find him on YouTube or at https://biblethinker.org. Even if you don't agree with his theology (I, personally, agree with him on many, but not all, topics), I think his videos could serve as a good explanation of the Protestant perspective on Roman Catholicism.

I should further note that Protestant understanding of Roman Catholicism may or may not even be correct. But you didn't ask about correctness, but about why Protestants "claim that Catholics will be condemned to hell". For that, the Protestant understanding of Roman Catholic theology is what matters, and not what the RCC actually teaches. (Or what individual Roman Catholics believe, which, as noted, is not necessarily the same thing.)

Answer 3

OP: "So on the view of Sola Fide, can’t Catholics still be expected to go to heaven since they express faith? Or am I missing something here?"

What you are missing is the Catholic's defining of a difference between the initial act of meritorious grace (justification) and the continuing acts required to merit that grace (sanctification). In theological terms, it is the Catholic and Protestant very different answers to the question of how is one justified and how is one sanctified?

Both denominations (Catholic and Protestant) would agree that Justification is the initial act of salvation given solely by God (faith alone). There is nothing you can do to earn this initial act. We are saved by grace through faith; it is a gift (Eph. 2:8).

2010 Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Catechism of the Catholic Church

After this initial initiative, the two vastly differ on sanctification.

For the Catholic, your works, motivated on love and Spirit, merit (work) the graces needed for eternal life.

Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. -ibid-

For the Protestant, your works, also based on love and Spirit, are an expression of your salvation already intact. The following verses of Ephesians define this.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10

The Protestant says, We are (present tense) His. We walk in good works, not from a salvific point of view to merit His graces, but because He created us in Christ Jesus for this very purpose.

The Catholic says, we were (past tense) His, and we might be (future tense), if our works merit it.

As to the question of going to hell, it is a question about the gospel.

In Gal 1:8-9, the Apostle declares in the strongest manner that the Gospel he preached was the one and only way of salvation, and that to preach another was to nullify the Death of Christ. Vines

No one knows the heart of a person, but God. The Protestant faith in God begins with (all sins paid for) justification done by God and ends with (walk out your salvation) sanctification done by God. The Catholic faith in God begins with justification done by God and ends with sanctification done by you.

Answer 4

"Faith" in both the Bible and common usage includes both belief in someone's reliability, and reliance on them. Saving faith is both belief that Christ's life, death, and resurrection provide everything needed for salvation, and reliance on Christ's life, death, and resurrection as the grounds for personal salvation.

A Roman Catholic who is faithful to his church's teachings, and tries to live his life by them, will not rely totally on Christ's life, death, and resurrection for salvation (he won't practice sola fide). Instead, the Roman Church teaches, and a faithful Roman Catholic believes, that it is necessary to rely partly on Christ's work, partly on the Catholic Church's work through the Sacraments, and partly on your own good works for salvation.

The Bible is clear that the Old Testament ritual law cannot save you, both in the Old Testament:

[Isa 1:11 KJV] 11 To what purpose [is] the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

[Amo 4:4-5 KJV] 4 Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, [and] your tithes after three years: 5 And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim [and] publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

and in the New Testament:

[Heb 10:4 KJV] 4 For [it is] not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

and Protestants apply the same principle to say that the New Testament Church's work, even the true Church's work (which the Roman Church is not) can also have no merit for salvation.

So anyone who relies on the Church's work for part of their salvation is relying on something that cannot save them.

Similarly, your own works of obedience cannot contribute to your salvation:

[Gal 3:21-22 KJV] 21 [Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

So, again, relying on your own works for salvation will not work. (Many many Protestants make this mistake too!)

Salvation can only come through reliance on Christ's work alone. Paul says of one specific ritual from the Old Testament law:

[Gal 5:3-4 KJV] 3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

If you depend on Christ's work plus anything else for salvation, Christ's work becomes ineffective in your case. Salvation comes by Christ's work alone, and by your dependence on Christ's work alone.

Since the Roman Church does not teach total dependence on Christ for salvation, Roman Catholic's won't hear that message from their Church; so it is the responsibility of those who do understand sola fide to teach it to Roman Catholics, as well as to those in the world and those in their own churches.

Answer 5

I think a big part of the confusion here is that Catholics and Protestants have different definitions of what it means to be "saved".

Roughly speaking:

Protestants believe that faith alone makes you fully "saved".

Catholics believe that faith partially saves you (what they would call "saved") but then you have to do a substantial amount of good works and participate in many church rituals (sacraments) in order to earn your way into heaven (ie full salvation). This is also why Catholicism has the concept of purgatory, so that partially/initially "saved" people who didn't do enough good works can be prayed into heaven by the living. Protestantism has no such concept because it doesn't make sense in their framework, either you are fully saved or not at all.

So with regards to Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Protestants interpret this literally, while Catholics would say this is true of (initial) "salvation" but that you still need to do good works and participate in church rituals in order to get into heaven/be fully saved.

To put it in mathematical terms:

Protestantism

grace + faith + Christ = salvation (full)

Catholicism

grace + faith + Christ = salvation (initial)

initial salvation + good works + ritual + other saints + Christ = full salvation (entrance to heaven)

initial salvation - enough works OR - enough ritual = purgatory

So, from a Protestant viewpoint, true salvation is "by grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone". They have a huge issue with Catholicism adding works, participation in church ritual, and prayers to the saints as requirements for entrance into heaven/full salvation.

Whether Catholics are actually saved is a debate among Protestants. Some believe that as long as you believe Christ payed for your sins, that is enough. Others would say that believing you need to add works to your salvation indicates you don't think Christ fully paid for your sins, which means you don't actually/fully believe in the gospel and thus are not really saved.

Your quote actually covers both of these bases, all Protestants believe that Catholics need to be called to true salvation (all faith, no works) but whether those that follow a "false/flawed" salvation (faith + works) are actually saved is controversial and not addressed by your quote (although I certainly can see how you thought that is what it implied). As a Protestant myself, I think you will find most Protestants are less interested in arguing about whether Catholics are actually saved and more interested in trying to get Catholics to drop the belief they need to earn their full salvation.

---

There is still a decent amount of variability in views even among Protestants that believe Catholics are not saved. Most of these views, however, boil down to aspects of Catholicism that Protestants see as directly contradicting scripture, especially those that pertain to salvation. This includes

• Praying to anything other than Christ or the Father
• Belief that salvation is applied to believers by the church
• Belief that any form of ritual or act is needed to ensure salvation
• Belief that works or human effort need to be added to salvation
• Belief in purgatory

Their view is that belief in any one of these things indicates you do not believe in the salvation that the bible teaches. If you do not believe in the salvation that the bible teaches, then you are not saved.

Probably the most common objection is with regard to works. Protestants will point out that Eph 2:8-9 (and other passages) explicitly mention that salvation is not through human works or effort, and that the Bible goes to extensive lengths to emphasize this as a core aspect of both salvation and saving faith. Since Catholics do not believe this, Protestants view this as rejecting a critical aspect of faith and so they cannot possibly be saved.

Some Protestants even go so far as believing Catholicism is a fundamentally different religion closer to Islam than it is to true Christianity. This is because both Islam and Catholicism teach that salvation is a combination of belief, faith, good works, church attendance, and ritual observance, and that it is impossible to know if you have done enough to merit salvation until you have died and your soul is weighed/judged. This is in stark contrast to what Protestants view as true Christianity: faith alone being sufficient and an absolute guarantee of salvation regardless of your past, present, or future deeds.

Answer 6

Some things off the top of my head:

• RCC (Roman Catholic Church) promotes the creation and worship of statues and images
• RCC teaches to pray to Mary, apostles, etc, instead of exclusively to the Trinity
• RCC elevates men (e.g. the Pope) as objects of praise and authority other than the Trinity
• RCC adds to the bible
• RCC upholds tradition with equal or greater value to scripture
• RCC has many examples of people who take the name but not the living of a Christian (e.g. infamously known more than any other group for history of sexual abuse)

I personally believe the spirit of sola fide is in statements like:

• "I do not need certain wealth or status to receive salvation"
• "I do not need to pay money for my sins"
• "I do not need a 365 day streak of sinlessness before I can receive salvation"
• "I do not need another man's approval for me to receive salvation"

I believe this statement was established to encourage people's faith and to separate their faith from external abusers who might say the opposite of the statements above.

Another interpretation of sola fide could be "I can be as sinful, heretical, and unbiblical as I want, as long as I have that key phrase that still gives me righteousness before God in Christ." I do not believe that was the intention of sola fide.

---

Note 1

The statements made above are not fact-checked, they are merely anecdotal impressions I've had (which is the way most people form opinions, so it's a good example I suppose)

---

Note 2

My personal stance is that I hold the protestant faith, and while I definitely see corruption in the Catholic Church as a system/entity, I see some good people there.

I do not believe "Catholic" as a label is sufficient condemnation before God, but rather that He is the Righteous Judge who is capable of a more nuanced understanding than the "catholic=bad" some people have.