Key to Salvation

I was reading John MacArthur's Hard to Believe when i came across this passage. I find it hard to believe that the Catholic Church can mislead so many people in the expository of the doctrine of salvation.

The Catholic chruch believes people can be saved without the gospel, as a story in the Los Angeles Times showed. The newspaper quoted Pope John Paul II saying, "All who live a just life will be saved, even if they do not believe in Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church." The Pope continued, "The gospel teaches us that those who live in accordance with the Beatitudes, poor in spirit, the pure in heart, those who bear lovingly the sufferings of life, will enter God's Kingdom."

Many people reject the biblical teaching that salvation comes only in response to faith in Jesus Christ. They insist that the heathen are saved if they just live good lives - if they're poor in spirit, pure in heart, and do what's right. As long as they are sincere, what they believe doesn't really matter.

THis has been in the fabric of Roman Catholicism for centuries. That is why Catholic apologist Peter Kreeft, who wrote the book Ecumenical Jihad, can say that there are Buddhists, Hindus, Confucianists, Muslims, atheists, and orthodox Jews in heaven: sincerity and goodness are the ticket to God's kingdom, not believing in the Christ of the gospel. THrough innate goodness, they naturally reason themselves into a knowledge of God, please Him, and earn their salvation, whether they ever set eyes on a Bible in their lives or not.

THere can only be one response from me after reading this...utter rubbish and blasphemy to our Lord.

Jesus said that no one can go to the Father except through Him. He is the only path to salvation.

i was wondering if the Pope do even know the existence of the 10 commandments that God has given Moses. (These people idolises and remembered the wrath of God upon those who bow down to idols in the Old Testament?)

Take a look at Matthew 7:21

There are actually much more to react against this absurd comment this Pope has made in accordance to the Bible... but i have to stop here as i'll be leaving for Taiwan soon... shall continue when i get back. =)

Salvation

Entrance into the kingdom requires earnest endeavor, untiring energy, and utmost exertion, because Satan is mighty, his demons are powerful, and sin holds us fast. God can break that hold and free our hearts to respond. The kingdom is not for weaklings and compromisers; it is not for the half-committed, the lovers of the world, or the shallow disciples who want to hold on to the stuff that perishes. The kingdom is for those who are willing to affirm their desperate need for salvation from sin and seize the offer of grace.

John MacArthur "Hard to Believe"