Protestantism and "Outside of Church There is No Salvation"

David Cabrera said:

What's your point?

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Whatever is meant of the invisible church it must be made up of those in verse 16.

Put Biblically. The visible church is made up of wheat and tares.

David Cabrera said:

This is a discussion so don't accuse me of anything.

I know that Protestants believe in an invisible Church so does that mean there is no possible non-Christians can be saved?

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If you think a smiling wonderwomen avatar will protect you let me tell you it will not!

Surveys show most Protestants are inclusivists on this question, even in relatively conservative denominations.

David Cabrera said:

This is a discussion so don't accuse me of anything.

I know that Protestants believe in an invisible Church so does that mean there is no possible non-Christians can be saved?

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Salvation is decided by God. All souls whether believers or not will appear before Jesus. Those who have kept the life according the preaching of Jesus no matter what religion they belong to, I believe, will be let in by Jesus to stand before God for His final decision. All hypocrites in Christendom will be rejected.

hedrick said:

Despite the traditional Catholic doctrine, current Catholic thought doesn't actually exclude non-Catholics from salvation. Indeed recent popes have implied that there's a possibility for non-Christians.

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If I may tweak this a little:

David Cabrera said:

I know that Protestants believe in an invisible Church so does that mean there is no possible non-Christians can be saved?

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David, as a card carrying member of the one true invisible Church, I can tell you we welcome all visitors. Locally we meet in the lot on the corner of West and Main. Park your invisible airplane in the municipal lot adjacent to the pharmacy-ample parking day or night. Bring an umbrella. Communion is open for all professing Christians.

I don't know about the church being invisible since I can very much see my church. I suppose what is meant by "The Church". According to the Augsburg Confession article VII:

Our churches teach that one holy Church is to remain forever. The Church is the congregation of saints [Psalm 149:1] in which the Gospel is purely taught and the Sacraments are correctly administered. 2 For the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree about the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. 3 It is not necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies instituted by men, should be the same everywhere. 4 As Paul says, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:5–6).

McCain, P. T. (Ed.). (2005). Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (p. 34). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

I know that Protestants believe in an invisible Church so does that mean there is no possible non-Christians can be saved?[/QUOTE]

I am not a protestant nor catholic, I am a born again Christian John 3:1-21. Its not a invisible church , its that every true believer is what makes up the church Eph 1:4; 1 Thess 1:4; 2 Tim 2:10; Titus 1:1; and yes only those who accept Christ are saved John 14:6

David Cabrera said:

This is a discussion so don't accuse me of anything.

I know that Protestants believe in an invisible Church so does that mean there is no possible non-Christians can be saved?

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The final condition of an individual's spiritual heart is all that matters--not the external path the individual took to get there. Consider what Jesus said about the Jewish religious leaders - Matthew 23:25-26

David Cabrera said:

This is a discussion so don't accuse me of anything.

I know that Protestants believe in an invisible Church so does that mean there is no possible non-Christians can be saved?

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I think Jesus addressed this very question in Luke 10 of who is in the "in-crowd" (i.e. The Kingdom of Heaven) or not when He described a scenario of a priest and a Levite passing by a fatally wounded man which the priest and Levite did nothing. Then along comes a Samaritan, a person considered as an outcast and underclass, a people viewed as a despised fringe group by the dominant society, who shows compassion and love to this half dead man. It was the Samaritan who loved, not the priest or Levite (i.e. Religious zealots).

This is also illustrated more specifically in Matthew 25:31-46 as God has all nations gathered before Him, separating sheep from goats; I think it is interesting the response first from the sheep and then the goats. It had nothing to do with their theological statements/proclamations that approved them to inherit His Kingdom, but by their loving actions that they inherited the Kingdom.

I've always felt like the world is my church.

David Cabrera said:

This is a discussion so don't accuse me of anything.

I know that Protestants believe in an invisible Church so does that mean there is no possible non-Christians can be saved?

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We really do not know what happens to people who have never heard the Gospel. We have a compassionate God, so we may assume He reads the hearts of all men and women. After all, all through the OT God found many worthy and faithful.
Blessings

David Cabrera said:

This is a discussion so don't accuse me of anything.

I know that Protestants believe in an invisible Church so does that mean there is no possible non-Christians can be saved?

Click to expand...

Calvin said he would happily accept this statement of Augustine if only someone would show him the true Church.

chilehed said:

If I may tweak this a little:

Despite the historical understanding of many Catholics, Catholic thought doesn't actually exclude non-Catholics from salvation. Indeed the explicit teaching of the Catholic Church is that there's a possibility that non-Christians may be saved through the work of Christ.​

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Unless they are Lutherans?

David Cabrera said:

Do you believe Salvation is only possible for those in the Church?

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This is an odd question since it seems to imply that those in the Church have yet to be saved. It's the phrase "only possible for those in the Church" that prompts me to think this. Scripture tells me that the Church is made up of born-again people, those who have been saved, not those who may be saved. Salvation, then, isn't merely a possibility for those in the Church but the means of their membership in it.

If what you are asking is actually, "Can people be saved apart from hearing the Gospel and trusting in Christ as their Saviour?" I would refer you to Scripture:

John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Acts 4:12
12 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

Romans 10:13-14
13 for "Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."
14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

David Cabrera said:

There are Protestants who believe salvation can be lost.

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Yes. I'm not one of them.

If a new reader scans these posts, the difference between the visible church and the invisible church should be very apparent and not particularly controversial. It is just the wording that can throw off people who are unfamiliar with these terms.

Albion said:

If a new reader scans these posts, the difference between the visible church and the invisible church should be very apparent and not particularly controversial. It is just the wording that stops people who are unfamiliar with these terms.

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The invisible church is in heaven, the visible one is on Earth. Very simple, as you say. It's a wonder anyone has difficulty with it.

That's fairly close to the actual meaning.

The visible church refers to the local parishes/congregations and all that we normally think of. The invisible church is the sum of all the true believers, wherever they are, and these are known only to God. They are therefore invisible in one sense since they are not assembled together and they are not obvious to onlookers who cannot know for sure who is right with God and who is not.