An Answer From A Protestant

Salvation by Grace Alone Through Faith Alone: A Theological Critique of Roman Catholic Soteriology

  In the clear light of Holy Scripture, the gospel stands as the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). This gospel is not a system of mediated rituals or hierarchical necessities but the free declaration that sinners are justified, declared righteous before a holy God, by grace alone, received through faith alone, in Christ alone. To this biblical truth the Reformation returned with unyielding clarity, exposing every human addition as a distortion of the sufficiency of Christ's finished work.

     Roman Catholicism, by contrast, has constructed a theology in which the sinner cannot approach God directly in saving faith but must instead pass through the mediation of men and the machinery of sacramental rituals. This is not a minor emphasis or pastoral application, it is woven into the very fabric of its official doctrine. The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the decrees of the Council of Trent leave no ambiguity: outside the visible structure of the Catholic Church and its sacramental system, the ordinary path of salvation is closed. Controlled exclusively by the papacy.

Consider the central claim.   

  Catholicism teaches that justification is not a once for all forensic declaration whereby God imputes Christ's righteousness to the believer the moment he trusts in the finished cross (as Romans 3 5, Galatians 2 3, and Philippians 3 plainly set forth). Instead, justification is an ongoing process initiated and sustained by the sacraments. 

    Baptism is said to regenerate the soul ex opere operato by the work performed washing away original sin and infusing an initial grace. Yet this grace is not kept by faith alone, it is maintained and increased through participation in the other sacraments, supremely the Eucharist, which Catholicism insists is the literal re presentation (and re sacrifice) of Christ under the forms of bread and wine. 

    The Council of Trent anathematizes anyone who says that the sacraments are not necessary for salvation or that they do not confer grace of themselves. Thus the priest becomes indispensable. Only the ordained man, through apostolic succession claimed by Rome, can confect the Eucharist, absolve sins in the sacrament of Penance, and administer the last rites of Extreme Unction. Without priestly mediation, the sinner is cut off from the channels of grace. 

    Confession to a priest is required for the forgiveness of mortal sins, attrition (imperfect sorrow) plus priestly absolution is presented as the ordinary means of restoration. The layperson cannot simply cast himself upon the mercy of God in Christ with a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51), he must submit to ritual, formula, and ecclesiastical authority. This system stands in direct opposition to the apostolic proclamation. 

Have some Scripture evidence:              

   Scripture knows nothing of a sacerdotal priesthood interposed between the believer and Christ, who is himself the one Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5). 

The New Testament knows only the universal priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6), every one of whom has immediate access to the throne of grace through the torn veil of Christ’s flesh (Hebrews 4:14 16, 10:19 22). The moment a person believes the gospel trusting that Christ bore their sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24) and that God raised him for their justification (Romans 4:25) that person passes from death to life (John 5:24). No further ritual is required to complete or maintain that justification. The Holy Spirit himself is the seal and guarantee, not the sacraments administered by men (Ephesians 1:13 14).

   

    The Catholic insistence on ritual mediation flows from a defective view of both sin and grace. By treating justification as a progressive infusion of righteousness rather than a decisive imputation, Rome leaves the conscience perpetually uncertain. One must cooperate with infused grace through good works and sacramental observance, never knowing with assurance whether one has done enough. Contrast this with the biblical confidence: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). Peace is the immediate fruit of faith, not the distant reward of ritual perseverance.

It's just what reformers say! 

   

   The Reformers did not invent this critique, they recovered the voice of the apostles and the early church’s clearest confessions. Augustine himself, though often misclaimed by Rome, thundered against any confidence in human works or merits apart from grace. The true tradition of the church is sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus. In the end, the difference is stark and admits no comfortable middle ground. Either the sinner is saved by resting in the perfect obedience and atoning death of Christ, received by simple faith or he is saved by a lifelong process of ritual observance channeled through an institutional priesthood. The first exalts the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus and brings immediate assurance to the weary conscience. The second binds the conscience to men, rituals, and an unfinished work, robbing Christ of his exclusive honor as Savior. 

     The Word of God is unequivocal: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31). Not participate in the sacraments administered by the Church, but believe. This is the gospel. Anything that requires men and rituals as necessary mediators between the soul and its Redeemer is another gospel, and the apostolic verdict upon it remains unchanged: let it be accursed (Galatians 1:8 9). The call of the Reformation and of Scripture itself is therefore clear: come directly to Christ. He needs no vicar on earth to make him present to faith. His grace is sufficient. His blood is enough. Faith alone receives it all.

This should be your reply to anyone who ever says, "I have yet to meet a Protestant who can show me where the Catholic Church teaches that we can save ourselves apart from God’s grace." .... The very doctrine of Catholicism prescribes ananthama to anyone who does not accept the non-biblical and contradictory pathway through the papacy and their rituals to salvation.. 

Ananthama decided by men, who hold their rituals sacred, who believe they stand between you and salvation. 

Not by God...