Response: Whether or not someone goes to heaven is ultimately in God's hands. The salvation of any individual begins in the heart of God (Ephesians 1:4,5,11), and is then is brought about in time through the death of Christ on the cross for all (John 3:16; 1 John 2:1-2) and specifically by the effectual calling of that particular individual to faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit through the preached Word of God (the gospel - Acts 16:31; Romans 3:21-27; Romans 6:23; Romans 10:14). Paul gives the essence of the gospel message in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, “that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.” The appropriate human response to the Holy Spirit's call through the gospel is faith - placing one’s trust in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross for my sin as the basis on which I am forgiven by God (Romans 10:17). On the one hand, this faith is "given" by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:8-9); on the other, it is often experienced by the individual as a decision (John 1:12, Romans 10:13; i.e. the praying of the "sinner's prayer, walking an aisle, lifting one's hand, so on).

Keep in mind that we can never really know another person's heart - whether or not they have genuine faith in Christ. We can only see the outward evidences of faith (what do they say about Christ, how do they live, is their confession of Christ consistent over the long haul, do they love God's Word, do they seek fellowship with others who confess Christ, etc.) and judge on that basis. In the case of a particular person we may have good, strong evidence and so can be confident that they know the Lord and are going to heaven. It is also possible that the evidence may not be so strong (they claim to know Christ but don't live like it; or they run hot and cold in their faith; or they’re from a different branch of Christianity than we are and so they express their faith in Christ very differently than we do, etc.), leaving us to wonder if they are really saved.

Okay, let's try to restate your question about Catholics in light of the above. It becomes something like - Is the gospel message clear enough within the Catholic Church so that the Holy Spirit might use it to create saving faith in the heart of an individual Catholic?

In my opinion (from study of church history and some limited experience with Catholics in U.S.), the answer is "sometimes." The gospel message (Christ is God in the flesh, who died for our sins, and rose again) is certainly a part of the official teaching of the Catholic Church and is certainly taught in many Catholic churches. The problem is that there is so much "other stuff" (Mary and saints, candles, liturgy in Latin, holy days, traditions, the authority of the Pope, the mass and alter, confession and penance, etc.) that the gospel message is often hidden or confused for many Catholics. They may never hear the gospel clearly or if they do they have a hard time seeing it as more important than all the other stuff they are hearing in their church. The result is that there are many Catholics who are not trusting in Christ and His death on the cross, but are trusting in going to mass or confession, or in "good works" of one kind or another, or in simply being in the "right" church. These people, in my opinion, are not on their way to heaven. Other Catholics really understand that Christ died for their sins and trust in Him and His death on the cross for their standing before God, in spite of the "other stuff" in their church and traditions. These people will give evidence of their genuine faith, more or less, sooner or later, in the ways mentioned above. In my opinion, these people are on their way to heaven.

Hope this is of some help. God bless.

Pastor Rick Lum