By Mike Gendron.
http://www.progospel.org/default.asp?sec_id=180014816
For 34 years, Evangelist Mike Gendron was a devout Roman Catholic and a strong defender of the "one true church."
In 1981, at an evangelistic seminar, Mike heard for the first time that salvation is not by works or sacraments, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. He also discovered the Bible must become his authority in all matters of faith.
I have found that many Roman Catholics reject the gospel of the Bible because of their strong religious faith.
Why? Because they are trusting their religion - their denomination - to get them to Heaven. Many of them hold a strong loyalty to an empty belief system and say, "I was born a Catholic and I will die a Catholic."
They are convinced that the Roman Catholic Church is the church Jesus founded.
Tragically, Catholics have been indoctrinated with a fatal flaw.
They have been taught that salvation is dispensed through the sacraments by an installment method. Instead of passing from spiritual death to life, their salvation is said to be received piecemeal, a little at a time.
This is why they are utterly dependent upon their priests for salvation.
Wrongly, they have been taught that their priest administers baptism for regeneration and justification; he hears confession to absolve sin; he offers the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist; he imparts the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of Confirmation; he gives Last Rites for those who are dying; and he offers Mass for Catholic souls suffering in Purgatory.
None of that aligns with what the Bible teaches. By the supreme authority of God's Word, we can see that all of these teachings are completely false.
Salvation from the power and punishment of sin is instantaneous, unconditional, and eternal. It occurs at the moment our sovereign God brings to life those who are spiritually dead in their sins (Eph. 2:1-5).
He graciously grants repentance and gives the gift of faith to those who humbly receive and believe Christ and His Word (John 1:12-13; 2 Tim. 2:25; Jas. 4:6-8).
The Lord Jesus calls those who are heavily burdened by legalistic rituals to come to Him for rest. To everyone who embraces Him with empty hands of faith, He offers an eternal relationship in exchange for their empty religion.
When God opened the Apostle Paul's eyes to the light of the gospel, he quickly realized that religion could not save him. Clearly, no one had more reason to boast about his religious activities than Paul.
For Christ's sake, Paul suffered the loss of all things and counted them as rubbish, in order that he may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
Paul exchanged his religion for a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He exchanged his futile attempts to become righteous with the gift of Christ's righteousness that comes by faith (Rom. 5:17). He exchanged everything he was doing for what Christ had done!
Salvation (getting saved) is a one-time prayer of acceptance of Christ for paying all of our sins when He sacrificed Himself on the cross and rose again from the dead. It launches us as His forgiven kid.
To get saved, we must call out to the Lord in a simple prayer like this -
Dear God,
I am a sinner.
Others have sinned greater than I have but, nevertheless, I stand before you now as a lost sinner, deserving of Hell.
I choose to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became a man.
I choose to believe that He allowed Himself to be put to death, that He arose again on the third day, and is alive today.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ shed His blood and died to pay the penalty for our sins, and I believe that.
Father, I want to be cleansed of all my sins right now.
I know that Jesus Christ died to make me right with God, and that I am forgiven for all my sins, and will go to Heaven when I die.
Right now, at (time and date)____________________________, I bow down at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, and I am dumping all of my sins there. And I mean ALL of them!
I ask that the blood of Jesus Christ wash away all my sins - past, present and future.
I believe that the blood of Jesus Christ has now washed away all my sins - past, present and future.
I am sorry for my sin, God, and I accept your forgiveness.
Right now, I declare that I am a Christian. I pledge my allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I ask, Father, that you will make me aware of when
I want to sin, and give me the courage to say No.
I ask, too, that you will help me understand the Bible, and to make the rest of my days on earth count for eternity.
I pray all of this in the name of Jesus Christ - my new Lord and Savior - amen.
So, now that you are saved (AKA “born again)…
1. Begin attending a church that teaches from the Bible alone.
2. Do good works.
