Evangelicals & Catholics Together…Again. An Analysis of the ECT Gift of Salvation Statement.

Fundamental Evangelistic Association
selected articles from:
^{^{^©}}FOUNDATION
A MAGAZINE OF BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM
Dennis W. Costella, Editor; Karel Beyer, Production Manager; Matt Costella, Copy Editor
M.H. Reynolds, Jr. (1919-1997), Founding Editor

Evangelicals & Catholics Together…Again
An Analysis of the "ECT: Gift of Salvation" Statement

by Matt Costella, Staff Writer
©FOUNDATION Magazine, Jan-Feb 1998

The Original Document (1994)

Less than four years ago, a group of Evangelical and Roman Catholic leaders issued a precedent-setting ecumenical statement entitled "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium." The purpose of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT) document was to state and define a common ground that had been discovered between Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics in order to advance the cause of Christ together in the next millennium. Both parties used the ECT document to emphasize that Christ has commissioned one mission for believers to accomplish, and in order for this mission to be successfully completed, all believers who profess that "Jesus Christ is Lord" should unite around their common beliefs for the cause of Christ.

Those who signed the statement made it clear that it was not an official, authoritative document representing organized Evangelicalism or Roman Catholicism, but rather, it was a first step in the process of reconciliation between two groups that have sharply disagreed over vital points of doctrine for the past five hundred years. The original ECT document continually emphasizes the importance of unity, often citing the words of Christ in John 17 as a basis for the ecumenical endeavor on the part of Evangelicals and Roman Catholics. Notice the following words of the original document:

There is a necessary connection between the visible unity of Christians and the mission of the one Christ. We together pray for the fulfillment of the prayer of our Lord: "May they all be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so also may they be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me" (John 17). We together, Evangelicals and Catholics, confess our sins against the unity that Christ intends for all his disciples.

Those who drafted this document used this portion in John 17 as a basis to forge an organizational unity between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics. The document primarily stresses the political unity that has existed between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics and calls for a continued united front against moral and political decline. However, when the original ECT document is read in its entirety, it is clear that the ultimate goal of the authors extends beyond social and political unity to a theological unity in which the authors declare that Evangelicals and Roman Catholics can unite spiritually because both Evangelicals and Roman Catholics agree that "Jesus Christ is Lord."

Father Michael Scanlan, president of the Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio), believes there are many commonalities between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics and comments on the recent ecumenical trend uniting the two groups. "We are working closely together in common causes and appearing with one another in preaching and teaching and worshipping to a much greater extent than ever before since the Reformation,"¹ Scanlan said. He also believes that evangelicals and Catholics have much more in common than mere social and political values. He said, "The common ground we see is belief that all salvation is in Jesus Christ that [all people] who indeed accept Jesus as Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters in Christ. And that the Lord indeed has called us to himself and that we share the common Spirit."²

The original ECT document echoes Scanlan's exact sentiments. While the document does emphasize the continuing need for political and social unity that currently exists (and even calls for further unity in those areas), those who drafted and signed the document had also been working hard to reach an ecumenical, theological unity as well. David Briggs, an Associated Press (AP,) religion reporter,, noted in a March 30, 1994 AP wire story that while Evangelicals and Roman Catholics have been known to join together and pub] icly decry abortion, pornography and other social ills, the original ECT document reaches further: "What's different in the statement is the effort to turn the theological swords honed over centuries of conflict into a recognition of the common faith."³

It is important to notice the confession made in the aforementioned ECT statement regarding the "sin" of lack of cooperation between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. Those who drafted and signed this document made it clear that they believe they have trespassed against the Lord Jesus Christ because they have not been unified with each other in order to accomplish their earthly mission. To rectify the situation, these individuals have decided to find points of agreement and focus solely upon these points in order to be united for the cause of Christ. The ECT statement says, "We are called and we are therefore resolved to explore patterns of working and witnessing together in order to advance the one mission of Christ....

However difficult the way, we recognize that we are called by God to a fuller realization of our unity in the body of Christ."

Who constitutes the "believers" who must unite together to advance the mission of Christ on the earth? According to the document, "All who accept Christ as Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters in Christ. Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ .... We thank God for the discovery of one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Our cooperation as citizens is animated by our convergence as Christians." Three vitally important observations must be noted at this point. First, it is true that "all who accept Christ as Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters in Christ," but historically, Evangelicals and Catholics have not agreed on what is necessary in order for one to accept Christ as Lord and Savior. Second, the declarative statement that "Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ" is a rash conclusion that affirms a theological unity of a group of two communities of faith. However, this professed unity is not based upon any biblical context, nor is it even agreed upon by the teachings and documents of the respective communities of faith. Finally, the statement, "We thank God for the discovery of one another as brothers and sisters in Christ" seems to affirm that both the basis of the ECT document and the conclusions of the ECT document are simply a grasp toward nonexistent unity. The fact that the authors have just recently "discovered" one another as brothers and sisters in Christ when historical teaching has proven otherwise seems presumptuous and even illegitimate, for such a unity has never existed nor does it exist today.

After the release of the ECT document in 1994, many fundamentalists and even New Evangelicals criticized the document for its obviously ecumenical agenda and its statement that neither Evangelicals nor Roman Catholics should proselytize members of each others' flocks. John Ankerberg was one Evangelical who did not sign the original document and publicly voiced his disapproval. Ankerberg believed this document was harmful to Christendom in that it was sending a confusing message. He correctly noted, "It causes a confusion in the lay peoples' minds as to are there now two ways to salvation? That is, justification by faith alone as well as sacramental salvation, which is progressive, and hopefully you have ultimate justification at the end of your life if you fulfill it. That's not true biblically."⁴ Ankerberg added that the document seemed to place social and political unity on the same level as spiritual unity in Christ, but he strongly believes that spiritual unity is much more important. "The world may want us to formulate that and think that's as important as working together on social issues such as abortion and homosexuality, but those are really temporal problems," Ankerberg said. "The other is eternal salvation. People's eternal destiny depends on it - we cannot confuse the message of what the Gospel is. That is what's at stake today, the very Gospel itself."⁵ Ankerberg's observations are timely and correct. The Gospel message is at stake, and the eternal well-being of individuals is much more important than political unity.

For many years the efforts of para-church organizations such as the Christian Coalition, which emphasizes the need for political reform in the United States, have encouraged Evangelical Christians to repudiate separation and join liberal Protestants and Roman Catholics for the cause of political activism. Both Catholics and Evangelicals now recognize that this ecumenical unity has been instrumental in laying the foundation for the current trend toward organizational and theological unity between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. Those individual Christians who rally beside Roman Catholics and liberal Protestants in front of abortion clinics often begin to wonder why they cannot biblically unite and call each other brothers and sisters in Christ when they have such a fervor for a common political cause and even profess to "Call Jesus Lord." This working together has had a tremendous impact on the ecumenical movement today. Notice the first three paragraphs of David Briggs' Associated Press article which so accurately paints the picture of how political unity has aided the shift toward theological unity:

They toiled together in the vineyards of the movements against abortion and pornography, and now leading Roman Catholics and Evangelicals are asking theirflocks fora remarkable leap of faith: to finally accept each other as Christians.

In what they called a historic declaration, Evangelicals including Pat Robertson and Charles Colson joined with conservative Roman Catholic leaders Tuesday in upholding the ties of faith that bind the nation's largest and most politically active religious groups.

They urged Catholics and Evangelicals to increase their efforts against abortion and pornography and to lobby for value-laden education, but to no longer hold each other at theological arm's length and to stop aggressive proselytization of each other's flocks.

Briggs discerningly recognized that the ECT document was one step toward an ecumenical unity between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals that began as a socio-political unity just a few years ago.

The New Document (1997)

As mentioned earlier, the 1994 ECT document was merely one step in a continual process toward reconciliation and theological, organizational unity between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals. The original statement recognized that important doctrinal differences existed which could not go unnoticed, and it emphasized that, while dialogue between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals was progressing concerning more important matters of doctrine, Evangelicals and Roman Catholics should unite and focus only on areas in which they agreed. The doctrine of salvation is one such area in which Evangelicals and Roman Catholics have not historically agreed and, in fact, has arguably been the primary area of contention between the two groups. Evangelicals have held that salvation is obtained by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Roman Catholics, on the other hand, have held that salvation is obtained through Jesus Christ and water baptism and is maintained through the participation in the sacraments which are administered by the Roman Catholic Church.

In November 1997, a group of forty Evangelicals and Catholics issued the statement "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Gift of Salvation," which was produced as the result of several years of study and dialogue between certain Evangelicals and Catholics since the 1994 statement had been released. This new statement is yet another step toward ecumenical organizational unity between Evangelicals and Catholics. This document was written extremely carefully so as to clarify some ambiguous statements found in the first document and to appeal to both Evangelicals and Catholics who are concerned about their communities of faith succumbing to doctrinal compromise at the expense of unity. Because of the way in which the document has been carefully and meticulously crafted, many individuals might read it and come to the false conclusion that Evangelicals and Roman Catholics do, in fact, agree on the doctrine of salvation and justification, and therefore, the Roman Catholic Church should occupy a new place of consideration within the Evangelical community.

While striking similarities exist between the recent document and the 1994 document, this latest statement focuses upon the idea that Catholics and Evangelicals now agree on the doctrine of salvation to the extent that theological and organizational unity is now possible. But is this true? Does the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church agree with that of the Word of God concerning how an individual is justified in the sight of God and brought to as saving knowledge of Him? Or, has the Roman Catholic Church changed its historical position regarding the doctrine of salvation since the release of the ECT statement in 1994? Charles Colson,, who signed the latest document, said [Martin] Luther himself would have been proud to sign [the statement]."' Is this true? Did Martin Luther truly believe that the Roman Catholic Church actually agreed with his own theology regarding justification? Or, is such a statement by Colson actually a blow to the discernment and the intelligence of a Reformation theologian in the sixteenth century who recognized some of the heresies perpetrated by the Roman Catholic Church and desired to take a stand against them" Several major problems exist in the recent ECT document that should cause any Bible believing, Bible-obeying Christian to not only reject this statement but to warn other believers who think that this carefully-worded document is an accurate representation of historical and current Catholic and Evangelical theology and, therefore, is an adequate reason to approve of organizational and scriptural unity with Roman Catholics.

Before noticing some serious problems with the new document, it is important for believers to realize that the primary Scripture passage used by the Evangelicals and Roman Catholics to support their quest for Catholics to support their quest for ecumenical unity is a portion of Scripture that has been grossly misapplied and twisted in order to provide a basis for false unity. Both in the original 1994 ECT document and in many various interviews with reporters and editors, John 17:21 is referred to as the basis for the unity that is being forged between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics. Those who drafted and signed the documents constantly base their purpose for dialogue and unity on this portion of Scripture. These words of Christ to His Heavenly Father are as follows: "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, are in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Verse 11b also says, "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are." This is the "scriptural basis" for the ECT dialogue and ecumenical agenda. However, true believers must realize that this reference is clearly referring to a spiritual unity between Jesus Christ and the Heavenly Father, not an organizational unity between members of various churches.

In verses 21-23, Christ is praying that just as He and the Father are One, He desires for others to also share in this spiritual unity which exists within every individual the moment he believes in Jesus Christ through faith alone. Other portions of scripture make it clear that believers are never to join in organizational unity with non-believers or other believers who are teaching false doctrine (Rom. 16:17; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Thess. 3:6, 14; 1 Tim. 1:19, 20; 6:1-5; 2 Tim. 2:16-21). Concerning these verses in John 17, Arno C. Gaebelein says:

Unbelievers have frequently ridiculed this request of our Lord as they pointed to the many denominations. the different creeds, ceremonials, and the confusion which exists in professing Christendom, and then claimed that Christ's own prayer has never been and never will be answered. But our Lord did not pray for an outward unity expressed in an imposing organization. The true Church, the body of Christ, is not an organization but an organism, with the Head in glory and members put into this mystical, invisible body by the operation of the Holy Spirit. The unity is a unity in the Father and in the Son, 'that they also may be one in us' .... It is fellowship in virtue of the Father made known in the Son, and of the Son the object of the Father's love and delight, into which all true believers are brought by the Holy Spirit.⁷

While the ECT drafters and signers base their ecumenical efforts on John 17:21, this verse in no way advances or supports their cause. All individuals ' upon believing the Gospel message and placing their faith in Christ's once-for-all sacrifice, experience a spiritual unity with one another and in Christ Jesus.

But notice the document itself. Upon hearing of the document and even reading it quickly and without much thought, one may think the Roman Catholic Church has changed its official dogma and is moving toward a more Evangelical Protestant stance. However, this is hardly the case. Instead, this document actually reaffirms the heresy of the Roman Catholic Church and shows just how far Evangelicals have compromised for the sake of unity. To evaluate the entire statement would take much more space than is available here, so only certain portions of the document will be noted and evaluated so as to show the major doctrinal problems both contained in and implied by the ECT statement. The entire "ECT: Gift of Salvation" document is reproduced following this article in order for the reader to have this important statement readily available.

The first paragraph of the statement begins, "We give thanks to God that in recent years many Evangelicals and Catholics, ourselves among them, have been able to express a common faith in Christ and so to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters in Christ." This general statement does not define which individuals within the Evangelical and Catholic churches have discovered a common faith and are counted as brothers and sisters in Christ. The statement simply reads "many Evangelicals and Catholics ... have been able to express a common faith in Christ." Since Evangelicals and Catholics have historically disagreed on the means of grace and doctrine of justification, who are those within each group who now share common faith? Are those who are considered brothers and sisters in Christ the faithful Roman Catholics and the faithful Evangelicals who uphold the doctrines of their churches, or could the Evangelicals who drafted and signed this document be referring only to the Roman Catholics who reject the teaching of their church and actually believe salvation comes through faith alone despite what their church teaches? This vague description of who constitutes actual brothers and sisters in Christ is confusing. However, this document actually reveals that the Evangelicals are in no way referring to the Roman Catholics who reject the teaching of their church, but to those who are in good standing in the Roman Catholic Church and who embrace historical Roman Catholic doctrine. The last paragraph of the ECT document makes this clear when it says, "As Catholics who are conscientiously faithful to the teaching of the Catholic Church ... we affirm our unity in the gospel that we have here professed." The Evangelicals are claiming that they are able to embrace and unite with those Roman Catholics who are faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church, not those who reject the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

The second paragraph of the document says, "Through prayer and study of Holy Scripture, and aided by the Church's reflection on the sacred text from earliest times, we have found that, notwithstanding some persistent and serious differences, we can together bear witness to the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ." First, it must be recognized that prayer and Scripture alone was not the final authority as the Evangelicals and Catholics attempted to find common ground concerning the issue of salvation. The "Church's reflection on the sacred text" was a necessary aid. While Evangelicals have traditionally refused to place any concrete authority on the Church's interpretation of Scripture, Roman Catholics view the Church's interpretation of Scripture as authoritative. Notice the words of the Catholic Catechism regarding the status of the Catholic Church's interpretation of Scripture [Note: The 1994 edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is recognized as the official, authoritative work concerning the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church regarding all matters of doctrine. It is this Catechism of the Catholic Church to which the remainder of this article will refer]:

The Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence. (82)

The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living, teaching office of the Church alone. its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome. (85)

The Church's Magisterium [sacred teaching authority] exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes truths contained in divine Revelation or having a necessary connection with them, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith. (88)

It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls. (95)

The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him. (100)

In order to resolve the doctrinal differences held between Evangelicals and Roman Catholics concerning the issue of salvation, those who drafted this document relied on prayer and Holy Scripture as they were "aided by the Church's reflection on the sacred text from earliest times." Remember, though, that to the Roman Catholics, the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, including its interpretation of the Bible, is true and authoritative. The second statement to notice in this second paragraph is that while both groups recognize serious differences that remain, the doctrine of salvation, the central theme in the Word of God, has been supposedly agreed upon by both parties according to the authors of the ECT document.

The next few paragraphs of the ECT document demonstrate that Evangelicals and Roman Catholics do traditionally agree that man is born in sin and in need of a Saviour. Both parties also agree that Jesus Christ is that Saviour of the world. The difference arises concerning what it takes to acquire salvation, that is, how an individual can be declared righteous in the sight of God. Obviously, this is a serious difference and a matter of extreme importance, for the eternal well-being of an individual's soul rests upon the definition of the Gospel message. Justification is the key issue at stake, and this is the issue to which a large amount of space is devoted in the ECT document.

The seventh paragraph may seem confusing to the casual reader, because while it states, "We agree that justification is not earned by any good works or merits of our own; it is entirely God's gift...," most Evangelicals have understood Catholics to believe that works are essential in order to obtain salvation. But notice that "good works" are not defined in this statement. Baptism is clearly not considered a "good work" by Roman Catholics because their Catholic doctrine specifically states that water baptism is essential for justification. Notice the definitive words of the Catholic Catechism:

The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" and through Baptism. (1987)

Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. (1992)

Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: "Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word." (1213)

From the time of the apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished by a journey and initiation in several stages. This journey can be covered rapidly or slowly, but certain essential elements will always have to be present: proclamation of the Word, acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion. (1229)

The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament. The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude.... God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism. (1257).

Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. In accordance with the Lord's will, it is necessary for salvation, as is the Church herself, which we enter by Baptism. (1277)

The eighth paragraph of the ECT document says it is "By our response of faith to Christ, we enter into the blessings promised by the Gospel." It is clear that the "response of faith" is referring to salvation, for it is only through salvation that one can enter into the blessings promised by the Gospel. However, it must be pointed out that the Evangelical "response of faith" is different than the Roman Catholic response. While Evangelical Protestants historically believe that the "response of faith" is faith itself, the Roman Catholic "response of faith" is faith and baptism. The latter response does not mean that the Catholic actually receives the gift of a certain salvation, but rather that he enters into a state of grace within the Roman Catholic Church which will provide the vehicle for eventual salvation if he performs the works and sacraments prescribed by the Church. Thus, it is difficult to comprehend how a Roman Catholic theologian can sign his name to this document when it expressly states, "We understand that what we here affirm is in agreement with what the Reformation traditions have meant by justification by faith alone (sola fide)." The only reason can be that the Roman Catholic theologian has something else in mind when "faith alone" is mentioned. This is calculated deception.

The tenth paragraph says, "While faith is inherently personal, it is not a purely private possession but involves participation in the body of Christ." Participation in the body of Christ again means two separate things to Evangelicals and Roman Catholics, even though in one sense they can both affirm this truth. To an Evangelical, this refers to becoming a believer through believing the Gospel message (and therefore entering into the invisible body of Christ, the Church) and becoming involved in a local church subsequent to salvation. To a Roman Catholic, this refers to participation in the Roman Catholic Church as the Catholic Catechism clearly states:

The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Saviour, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it ... This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him.

The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism explains: "For it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God." (816)

Roman Catholic theology expressly states that "outside the Church there is no salvation." Notice again the words of the Catholic Catechism:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it. (846)

The tenth paragraph of the ECT statement continues: "By baptism, we are visibly incorporated into the community of faith and committed to a life of discipleship." Once again, regarding baptism as a sign of visible incorporation into the community of faith, both Roman Catholics and Evangelicals can agree to such a statement on the surface; but to the Roman Catholic, baptism is much more than a mere sign of visible incorporation but a part of the spiritual incorporation. This fact was shown earlier in the Catechism references to the necessity of baptism for salvation.

According to Roman Catholic doctrine, faith and baptism are the means to justification. However, the same doctrine also stresses that the sacraments are absolutely essential in order to maintain a standing of grace before God. According to Roman Catholic theology, sacraments do not save an individual, but they do keep an individual in a state of grace once he has been saved. Dr. Keith Fournier, a Roman Catholic attorney who signed the original ECT document, clarified this concept by saying, "Salvation needs to continue through the process of working it out, and it is not earning your salvation -you got it as a free gift- but it is staying in ... We, in fact, do talk about works, not to earn our salvation but to demonstrate it and maintain it." The words of the "ECT: Gift of Salvation" document echo this same idea. The document says, "Thus it is that as justified sinners we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved." These exact words were stated by Fournier ten years earlier: "As Catholics we believe that we are saved, we are being saved and we will be saved. In other words we are saved by accepting what Christ has done and the process of conversion continues as we cooperate with Him and grow in holiness and be transformed, and the process is completed when we go to be with Him."'

What does the Roman Catholic Catechism say about the security of the believer? Notice the following text which outlines the role of faith:

Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. Since 'without faith it is impossible to please [God]' and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life 'but he who endures to the end.' (161).

Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man. We can lose this priceless gift, as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: "Wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith." To live, grow, and persevere in the faith until the end we must nourish it with the word of God; we must beg the Lord to increase our faith; it must be "working through charity," abounding in hope, and rooted in the faith of the Church. (162)

Father Avery Dulles, a Roman Catholic who signed the "ECT Gift of Salvation" statement, recognizes that there is indeed a difference between most Evangelicals and Catholics on the doctrine of eternal security. He says that while many Evangelicals believe in eternal security that comes to pass at the moment in time in which they believe, Catholics believe salvation is a process:

After having been brought into God's friendship through His free grace, we can, through His gift, grow in intimacy with God and come closer to Him, more like Him, through being sanctified by the Holy Spirit. That's a constant challenge to do so and not fall back. So we're called upon to do good works. We're accountable for what we do. We have an obligation to hope for our own salvation, we have a certain assurance in hope, but it's not quite as sure as having it all in the bag.'

Dulles followed up his statement by saying that Evangelicals need to guard against "easy believism" because such a belief does not lead to proper Christian behavior.

Finally, the "ECT Gift of Salvation" document severely downplays the need for biblical separation and urges any who "Call Jesus, Lord" to unite as brothers and sisters in Christ and to not allow any other differences to get in the way of ecumenical unity. In the sixteenth paragraph of the document, several major doctrinal differences between Evangelicals and Catholics are listed, preceded by an agreement that both parties will continue "further and urgent exploration." The next paragraph, however, says, "All who truly believe in Jesus Christ are brothers and sisters in the Lord and must not allow their differences, however important, to undermine this great truth, or to deflect them from bearing witness together to God's gift of salvation in Christ." It is God's gift of salvation in Christ." It is clear that this statement urges both Evangelicals and Roman Catholics who "truly believe in Jesus Christ" to view each other as fellow Christians and proclaim their gospel to others. To the Evangelical: proclaim the evangelical Gospel. To the Roman Catholic: proclaim the Roman Catholic gospel. According to this document, as long as the same terms can be used, even though each party interprets the terms differently, unity can be exercised .

In one sense, this entire issue of ecumenical unity between Catholics and Evangelicals is by no means "black and white," for it is not possible to place every Evangelical and every Roman Catholic into a neat theological category. Some professed Evangelicals do not hold to salvation by faith alone, and some Roman Catholics do not adhere to many doctrines of their church. Such an argument is expressed by many who support the effort to establish ecumenical unity between Evangelicals and Catholics and who criticize Fundamentalists for their forthright stand against ecumenical unity. They contend that some Catholics are actually saved and do not embrace Catholic doctrine; therefore, Evangelicals should unite with such Catholics even though they continue to remain in their Roman Catholic Church and identify themselves as Roman Catholics. Their initial argument that some Catholics are actually saved and reject Catholic doctrine is legitimate. However, their desired goal - to find common belief and unite around that belief - is not biblical. Simply because some Roman Catholics reject some teachings of their church does not mean Evangelicals are free to unite with those Roman Catholics who remain in the Roman Catholic Church. While many proponents of ecumenical unity argue that unity is possible because some Roman Catholics do not adhere to the teachings of their church, their argument is invalid. It is necessary for the discerning believer to remember that those who drafted and signed this document are embracing those Roman Catholics who remain true to the historical doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church as cited earlier.

One prominent Evangelical theologian, Alister McGrath, recently wrote a book entitled Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity in which he admits that the Roman Catholic Church, as an institution, is still hostile toward Evangelicalism. But he emphasizes that the tension between Roman Catholics and Evangelicals has been reduced over the past few years due to increased ecumenism between the two groups and that the recent ecumenical dialogue is primarily taking place among individual Roman Catholics rather than the Catholic Church as an institution. Again, this observation appears to be correct. But simply because this dialogue is occurring among individual Catholics does not mean it is appropriate to unite with them. God's Word commands the believer to separate from false doctrine and from those who preach another gospel, and if a Roman Catholic is truly saved, he should leave the Roman Catholic Church and help others to see the dangers of the heretical Catholic doctrine.

McGrath echoes the sentiments of many Evangelicals who believe that separation from the Roman Catholic Church is not necessary either for Evangelicals or for Roman Catholics who define themselves as "evangelical" and who do not fully espouse all the historic doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. He says Evangelicals can send one of two messages to those Catholics who tend to embrace Evangelicalism. According to McGrath, Evangelicals should either "Demand that such people leave the Roman Catholic Church and join an explicitly evangelical church, because of the failure of the former to adopt the Reformation agenda and bring its life and doctrine fully into line with Scripture," or they should "Encourage the growth of evangelicalism within the Roman Catholic Church, in the hope that this will lead to growing pressure for reform and renewal from within and the return of the church to a more evangelical ethos."¹⁰ McGrath's conclusion, while seemingly logical from a finite human perspective, is tragic from a biblical perspective. He says that for the time being, "Evangelicalism would be well advised to encourage Roman Catholics to discover the vitality of evangelicalism without pressing them to leave their church.¹¹

The Bible makes it clear that God is deeply concerned with the purity of His Gospel, and the Good News is plainly defined in His Word (1 Cor. 15:1-4). Because God is holy and has commanded His children to also be holy and proclaim His holy Word, the Bible expressly commands the believer to separate from false doctrine and from those who espouse or teach false doctrine (Rom. 16:17; Gal. 1:6-10). Not only are believers to separate from unbelief, but also from other believers who espouse false doctrine or unite with those who do (2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6, 14, 15). Those who earnestly desire to please their Saviour must look to the Word of God as their final Authority in all manners of faith and practice, and they must refuse to allow the efforts, philosophies and ideas of men to have precedence over the Word of God.

It is our responsibility to reject the "ECT Gift of Salvation" document and refuse to cooperate with those who preach a false gospel. It is our responsibility to carefully scrutinize every word of man and compare it with the perfect Word of God. While men may use clever tactics and cunning language to achieve their own goals of ecumenical unity, the Word of God clearly states that God's message is holy and the believer is to separate from anything that would defile God's plain message. God's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are His ways our ways.

Salvation can only be obtained by faith alone in Jesus Christ (Acts 10:32-47; 11:13-14, 18; 13:38-39; 15:7-9). God's precious gift of salvation is available to all who believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty due the sinner, and that He rose again as a perfect sacrifice, accepted in the sight of God the Father. We are to place our faith in nothing besides His perfect, finished work on Calvary's cross. Not only is one saved the moment he truly believes, but he is assured of eternal life, for Christ's sacrifice was perfectly sufficient and forever finished.

End Notes

Smith, Sarah E. "Building a Bridge Between Catholics and Protestants." Religious Broadcasting. February 1996: Vol. 28 No. 2, page 4.

Ibid.

Briggs, David. "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium." Chicago Sun-Times. 30 March 1994.

Smith, Religious Broadcasting.

Ibid.

Garrison, Greg. "Saved By Faith, Agree Evangelical, Catholic Scholars." Birmingham News. 23 November 1997: Al.

Gaebelein, Arno C. The Gospel ofjohn. New York: Our Hope, 1936.

Fournier, Keith. Personal interview with Dennis Costella. May 1988.

Garrison, Birmingham News, p. 10A

McGrath,Alister.EvangelicalismandtheFutureofChristianity. Downers

Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1995.

Ibid, p. 180

The ECT Statement taken from Christianity Today, December 8, 1997, pp. 35-77

EVANGELICALS AND CATHOLICS TOGETHER THE GIFT OF SALVATION

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

We give thanks to God that in recent years many Evangelicals and Catholics, ourselves among them, have been able to express a common faith in Christ and so to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We confess together one God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; we confess Jesus Christ the Incarnate Son of God; we affirm the binding authority of Holy Scripture, God's inspired Word; and we acknowledge the Apostles' and Nicene creeds as faithful witnesses to that Word.

The effectiveness of our witness for Christ depends upon the work of the Holy Spirit, who calls and empowers us to confess together the meaning of the salvation promised and accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. Through prayer and study of Holy Scripture, and aided by the Church's reflection on the sacred text from earliest times, we have found that, notwithstanding some persistent and serious differences, we can together bear witness to the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. To this saving gift we now testify, speaking not for, but from and to, our several communities.

God created us to manifest his glory and to give us eternal life in fellowship with himself, but our disobedience intervened and brought us under condemnation. As members of the fallen human race, we come into the world estranged from God and in a state of rebellion. This original sin is compounded by our personal acts of sinfulness. The catastrophic consequences of sin are such that we are powerless to restore the ruptured bonds of union with God. Only in the light of what God has done to restore our fellowship with him do we see the full enormity of our loss. The gravity of our plight and the greatness of God's love are brought home to us by the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

God the Creator is also God the Redeemer, offering salvation to the world. "God desires all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy 2:4). The restoration of communion with God is absolutely dependent upon Jesus Christ, true God and true man, for he is "the one mediator between God and men" (1 Timothy 2:5), and "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts4:12). Jesus said, "No one comes to the Father but by me" (John 14:6). He is the holy and righteous one who was put to death for our sins, "the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (I Peter 3:18).

The New Testament speaks of salvation in various ways. Salvation is ultimate or eschatological rescue from sin and its consequences, the final state of safety and glory to which we are brought in both body and soul. "Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we: be saved by him from the wrath of God." "Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed" (Romans 5:9; 13: 1 1). Salvation is also a present reality. We are told that "he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy" (Titus 3:5). The present reality of salvation is an anticipation and foretaste of salvation in its promised fullness.

Always it is clear that the work of redemption has been accomplished by Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross. "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). Scripture describes the consequences of Christ's redemptive work in several ways, among which are: justification, reconciliation, restoration of friendship with God, and rebirth from above by which we are adopted as children of God and made heirs of the Kingdom. "When the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4-5).

Justification is central to the scriptural account of salvation, and its meaning has been much debated between Protestants and Catholics. We agree that justification is not earned by any good works or merits of our own; it is entirely God's gift, conferred through the Father's sheer graciousness, out of the love that he bears us in his Son, who suffered on our behalf and rose from the dead for our justification. Jesus was "put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification" (Romans 4:25). In justification, God, on the basis of Christ's righteousness alone, declares us to be no longer his rebellious enemies but his forgiven friends, and by virtue of his declaration it is so.

The New Testament makes it clear that the gift of justification is received through faith. "By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). By faith, which is also the gift of God, we repent of our sins and freely adhere to the gospel, the good news of God's saving work for us in Christ. By our response of faith to Christ, we enter into the blessings promised by the gospel. Faith is not merely intellectual assent but an act of the whole person, involving the mind, the will, and the affections, issuing in a changed life. We understand that what we here affirm is in agreement with what the Reformation traditions have meant by justification by faith alone (solafide).

In justification we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, through whom the love of God is poured forth into our hearts (Romans 5:5). The grace of Christ and the gift of the Spirit received through faith (Galatians 3:14) are experienced and expressed in diverse ways by different Christians and in different Christian traditions, but God's gift is never dependent upon our human experience or our ways of expressing that experience.

While faith is inherently personal, it is not a purely private possession but involves participation in the body of Christ. By baptism we are visibly incorporated into the community of faith and committed to a life of discipleship. "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).

By their faith and baptism, Christians are bound to live according to the law of love in obedience to Jesus Christ the Lord. Scripture calls this the life of holiness, or sanctification. "Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God" (2 Corinthians 7: 1). Sanctification is not fully accomplished at the beginning of our life in Christ, but is progressively furthered as we struggle, with God's grace and help, against adversity and temptation. In this struggle we are assured that Christ's grace will be sufficient for us, enabling us to persevere to the end. When we fail, we can still turn to God in humble repentance and confidently ask for, and receive, his forgiveness.

We may therefore have assured hope for the eternal life promised to us in Christ. As we have shared in his sufferings, we will share in his final glory. "We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (I John 3:2). While we dare not presume upon the grace of God, the promise of God in Christ is utterly reliable, and faith in that promise overcomes anxiety about our eternal future. We are bound by faith itself to have firm hope, to encourage one another in that hope, and in such hope we rejoice. For believers "through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation to be revealed in the last time" (I Peter 1:5).

Thus it is that as justified sinners we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. All this is the gift of God. Faith issues in a confident hope for a new heaven and a new earth in which God's creating and redeeming purposes are gloriously fulfilled. "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-1 1).

As believers we are sent into the world and commissioned to be bearers of the good news, to serve one another in love, to do good to all, and to evangelize everyone everywhere. It is our responsibility and firm resolve to bring to the whole world the tidings of God's love and of the salvation accomplished in our crucified, risen, and returning Lord. Many are in grave peril of being eternally lost because they do not know the way to salvation.

In obedience to the Great Commission of our Lord, we commit ourselves to evangelizing everyone. We must share the fullness of God's saving truth with all, including members of our several communities. Evangelicals must speak the gospel to Catholics and Catholics to Evangelicals, always speaking the truth in love, so that "working hard to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace ... the. body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God" (Ephesians 4:3, 12-13).

Moreover, we defend religious freedom for all. Such freedom is grounded in the dignity of the human person created in the image of God and must be protected also in civil law.

We must not allow our witness as Christians to be compromised by half-hearted discipleship or needlessly divisive disputes. While we rejoice in the unity we have discovered and are confident of the fundamental truths about the gift of salvation we have affirmed, we recognize that there are necessarily interrelated questions that require further and urgent exploration. Among such questions are these: the meaning of baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and sacramental grace; the historic uses of the language of justification as it relates to imputed and transformative righteousness; the normative status of justification in relation to all Christian doctrine; the assertion that while justification is by faith alone, the faith that receives salvation is never alone; diverse understandings of merit, reward, purgatory, and indulgences; Marian devotion and the assistance of the saints in the life of salvation; and the possibility of salvation for those who have not been evangelized.

On these and other questions, we recognize that there are also some differences within both the Evangelical and Catholic communities. We are committed to examining these questions further in our continuing conversations. All who truly believe in Jesus Christ are brothers and sisters in the Lord and must not allow their differences, however important, to undermine this great truth, or to deflect them from bearing witness together to God's gift of salvation in Christ. "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought" (I Corinthians 1:10).

As Evangelicals who thank God for the heritage of the Reformation and affirm with conviction its classic confessions, as Catholics who are conscientiously faithful to the teaching of the Catholic Church, and as disciples together of the Lord Jesus Christ who recognize our debt to our Christian forebears and our obligations to our contemporaries and those who will come after us, we affirm our unity in the gospel that we have here professed.

In our continuing discussions, we seek no unity other than unity in the truth. Only unity in the truth can be pleasing to the Lord and Savior whom we together serve, for he is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

EVANGELICALS

Dr. Gerald L. Bray (Beeson Divinity School)
Dr. Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ)
Dr. Harold O. J. Brown (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)
Mr. Charles Colson (Prison Fellowship)
Bishop William C. Frey (Episcopal Church)
Dr. Timothy George (Beeson Divinity School)
Dr. Os Guinness (The Trinity Forum)
Dr. Kent R. Hill (Eastern Nazarene College)
The Rev. Max Lucado (Oak Hills Church of Christ, San Antonio, Texas)
Dr. T. M. Moore (Chesapeake Theological Seminary)
Dr. Richard Mouw (Fuller Theological Seminary)
Dr. Mark A. Noll (Wheaton College)
Mr. Brian F. O'Connell (Interdev)
Dr. Thomas Oden (Drew University)
Dr. James I. Packer (Regent College, British Columbia)
Dr. Timothy R. Phillips (Wheaton College)
Dr. John Rodgers (Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry)
Dr. John Woodbridge (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School)

ROMAN CATHOLICS

Fr. James J. Buckley (Loyola College in Maryland)
Fr. J. A. Di Noia, O. P. (Dominican House of Studies)
Fr. Avery Dulles, S. J. (Fordham University)
Fr. Thomas Guarino (Seton Hall University)
Dr. Peter Kreeft (Boston College)
Fr. Matthew L. Lamb (Boston College)
Fr. Eugene LaVerdiere, S. S. S. (Emmanuel)
Fr. Francis Martin (John Paul 11 Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family)
Mr. Ralph Martin (Renewal Ministries)
Fr. Richard John Neuhaus (Religion and Public Life)
Mr. Michael Novak (American Enterprise Institute)
Fr. Edward Oakes, S. J. (Regis University)
Fr. Thomas P. Rausch S. J. (Loyola Marymount University)
Mr. George Weigel (Ethics and Public Policy Center)
Dr. Robert Louis Wilken (University of Virginia)

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