There are many of us who have loved ones in the Roman Catholic Church, and we worry that their eternal destiny may be in jeopardy because they stand with the Catholic Church and their doctrines.

What if they genuinely love Christ? What if they are unable to let go of their traditions? What if they are staying in the church out of peer pressure?

In the following section, we will attempt to answer these pertinent questions.

My Catholic friend claims they are in a “relationship with Christ.”

The modern Catholic has learned to deflect from the age-old Protestant question of whether salvation is based on good works or a relationship with God.

Now, many informed Catholics respond by saying that they are saved through a relationship with Christ, not through works.

While this may sound encouraging, we shouldn’t just stop there. Instead, we need to dig deeper and probe further with questions like, “please define for me what do you mean by your relationship with Jesus Christ?” Or “please explain to me if there is anything that you need to do that contributes to that salvation?”

We shouldn’t assume they know what it means to have a relationship with Christ and believe in Him. Neither should we let them get away with superficial answers.

If you want to discover what they truly believe, you should keep probing them and asking them to explain the gospel message to you. This also applies to all other Christians as well. Simply professing Christ, without any theological understanding of what that means is useless.

Are people who have accepted Christ but still follow Roman Catholic traditions/rituals/practices able to enter heaven?

It is possible for many faithful Christians to be saved and remain within the Roman Catholic Church. However, their salvation is not due to the Catholic Church, but rather despite it.

What does that mean?

Roman Catholicism does not grant Christians the grace to become children of God; it is God’s mercy that does. So even though there are flawed doctrines and traditions, the Spirit of God can still perform a sovereign work in directing them to the truth and knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

There are times when well-intentioned people who have practiced certain religious habits for years (such as saying the rosary) find it difficult to completely break away.

There is a similar incident in the Bible when Paul preached the gospel in Corinth, and many believed and came to faith in Christ, but they had difficulty breaking some of their pagan habits. And so Paul wrote to them in 1 Corinthians (vs 10:21), saying, “You can’t come to the Lord’s Table and then go to the idol temple.”

It is understandable that certain rituals and traditions that give honor and respect to society and the family are hard to discard overnight. It takes time to set aside old habits, and sometimes if a person passes away (while in the process of sanctification), they may not have had enough time to fully disassociate or walk away from the church’s practices.

It is not a person’s perfection here on earth that earns them a place in heaven; rather, it is their faith in Christ. This is also true for the thief on the cross (Luke 23:33-43). Due to his imminent death, he didn’t have time to change his old habits.

So as we understand, while the teachings of the Roman Church might be a matter of grave concern, there might still be many within the Roman Catholic Church who trust in Christ alone for their salvation and do not subscribe to the way of salvation that their church prescribes.

It is also true that many within Protestant churches do not fully comprehend or believe the Reformed doctrines of grace.

There will always be some inconsistency among the brethren, but it is usually on secondary issues and not on any of the primary doctrines of Christianity.

Catholics who fully embrace all the primary doctrines of the Christian faith are more likely to be saved.

What are the implications of accepting Christ but remaining in the Catholic Church?

It is possible for individuals to come to faith in Jesus Christ and discover His teachings without leaving the Catholic Church. There can be reasons for this, such as the need to continue ministering to those left behind, or peer pressure from family and society. 

When it comes to their eternal salvation, the Bible does not specifically differentiate between which religion one must belong to or not belong to in order to be saved. In other words, a person can still be saved even if they were Catholic (or anything else) because salvation is about believing in the truth of the gospel and not in a particular religion.

However, the issue concerning this question extends beyond salvation because true believers must be in a Bible-teaching church for personal growth and sanctification.

Believers are called to study God’s word and seek His truth diligently. Therefore, those who choose to ‘remain’ in a different religious environment will constantly struggle with finding the truth that edifies them.

Finding a local church that prioritizes the word of God is essential for a persons spiritual growth and needs.

See the below verse from the book of Corinthians; 

1 Corinthians 10:21 (NKJV)
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.

Here, Paul urges the Corinthian church to make a decision. They cannot be partakers of truth and also share in the table of demons.

Christians who wish to attend a Catholic Mass are required to repeat “Amen” after the priest when he lifts the Eucharist. In doing so, you would be affirming the church’s teachings, which a true Christian cannot do with good conscience. It would still be fine if you were silent and didn’t respond, but then again what are you doing there? If you aren’t participating?

In some cases, staying in a particular church environment may feel like a place of comfort due to habit, while in other instances, it might be driven by peer pressure from family or society. Nevertheless, Christians are ultimately responsible for their own spiritual growth and that of their families. This means aligning their desires with God’s will and standing firm for the truth where it matters most.

The decision to remain or leave is not an easy one, but it requires careful consideration of our priorities.