Can Roman Catholics be saved?

Pastor Mike’s Answer (edited)

Yes, a Roman Catholic can be saved through repentance and faith in Christ. Salvation depends on Christ and the gospel, not on the denominational label a person uses.

The serious difficulty arises when someone knowingly relies on the Roman Catholic sacramental system, church tradition, and ecclesiastical authority as the means of salvation. The Reformation centered on this issue: whether sinners are justified by grace through faith in Christ or through a system that adds sacramental and institutional requirements.

There are Catholics whose actual trust is in Christ rather than in the full theology of Rome. As believers grow in Scripture, however, Pastor Mike expects them to recognize increasing distance between biblical teaching and distinctively Roman Catholic doctrines and to seek a church governed by Scripture alone.