Romans 1:16 - "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and to the Greek."
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 - "Now I make known unto you, brethren, the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand....For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures: and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures."
Romans 5:8-9 - "But God commendeth His charity (love) towards us; because when as yet we were sinners, according to the time, Christ died for us; much more therefore, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from wrath through Him."
Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death. But the grace (gift; unmerited favor) of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Ephesians 2:4-9 - "But God, (who is rich in mercy,) for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ, (by Whose grace you are saved), and hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places, through Christ Jesus. That He might shew in the ages to come the abundant riches of His grace, in His bounty towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man may glory."
Romans 10:8-13 - "But what saith the Scripture? The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart. This is the Word of faith, which we preach. For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For, with the heart, we believe unto justice; but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith: Whosoever believeth in Him, shall not be confounded. For there is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek: for the same is Lord over all, rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved."
1 John 5:1, 13 - "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. And everyone that loveth Him who begot, loveth Him also who is born of Him. These things I write to you, that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God."
It is clear that Catholics, like Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, etc., are taught they are sinners, that they need to trust in Jesus Christ's finish work on their behalf (the Gospel), and that having done so, they have become children of God! And just as clear is the fact that churches, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, etc., consist of members who are genuinely born again, AND members who are ignorant of the Word of God, and think they will get to heaven by their behavior! In other words, one can not claim to be saved because he or she is a member of the Catholic Church, any more than one could make that claim due to membership in any other church - Salvation, a gift of God to all who will accept Jesus Christ as Lord, is an individual relationship between man and God!
Therefore Brother Van Impe is correct - he, and I, have spiritual brethren in all churches!
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