Are You Going to Heaven?

Please not that this blog post is not yet finished. It is currently in draft form. I'm publishing it before it is finished to get some feedback.

I remember how nervous I felt, early that morning, as I approached Bishop Timothy after Mass. I had not yet met him, and I was still learning about the Catholic faith. I summoned some courage and timidly asked, "Bishop Timothy, may I ask you an odd question?"

"Of course. Odd questions are the best." He smiled at me as he turned to face me.

"Am I on my way to heaven?"

His relaxed smile slowly faded and pity filled his eyes. He answered slowly, taking his time, as if he was weighing each word. It was as if he wished to have more time to answer my question faithfully and honestly. I do not remember what he said, but there was kindness was in his words. He's a good Bishop.

This was an anxious time period for me. My Baptist Christian friends had taught me that once you accepted Jesus' free gift of salvation, then you will go to Heaven when you die, no matter what. I built my life on this foundational belief. But lately, I had been attending Catholic OCIA, which all converts to the Catholic faith must attend. Kent, the teacher of my OCIA class taught me that I could lose my salvation. He explained it like this.

Kent said, "Most married couples sincerely and publicly vowed to love their spouse in sickness and in health until death, but as we know, not all marriages last. In a similar vein, you can truly mean that you will give your life to Christ in a prayer or at a public ceremony, but in later life, you could act contrary to the Christian faith. You might stop going to church. You might have multiple affairs, lie, cheat, steal, etc. A sincere prayer or public declaration to follow Christ does not guarantee a true or lasting repentance."

"As another example, consider Noah and the ark. Suppose when God told Noah, 'Build me an ark.' What if Noah said, 'No.' Do you suppose the story would have been different? Your actions impact your salvation. This is why Catholics teach a faith plus works salvation. The best definition for salvation is this. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith, acting out in works of love."

It's scary to believe that your salvation can be lost. St. Paul says one should "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." In a similar vein, Francis Chan in his book "Amazing Love," wrote something like "Do not assume that you are a good Christian that is bound for heaven. There are many church-attenders who do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They are not headed for heaven, and if they do not begin a relationship with Christ, they will spend eternity in hell."

When Kent convinced me that salvation could be lost, I earnestly began to wrestle with my salvation. Surely I am not the only Christian that does so. Luckily, the Catholic Church has given us a test, so that you can know if you are on your way to heaven! Become Catholic and regularly and worthily consume the Eucharist.

You might scoff at that test, and I certainly did too. I thought, "Only Catholics go to Heaven!? That's ridiculous! I'm not ready to become Catholic. This test isn't applicable to me!"

You can you still use this Catholic methodology to test your salvation. Let me explain by introducing some necessary Catholic terminology: the Eucharist, venial sin, mortal sin, Confession, and the state of grace.

The Eucharist is the cracker that the Catholic Church invites their faithful to consume during Mass. They teach that the Eucharist is the Body, Blood, and Divinity of Christ. They invite everyone to pray to the Eucharist! They teach that you are eating a part of Jesus, literally! Only the Catholic Church (and the Orthodox church) teach this. Every other Christian denomination denies the divinity of communion; communion is mostly just a cracker and grape juice. Understanding the Eucharist is helpful, but we need clarity about sin.

Most Protestant Christians explain that all sins are equal to God. They say that to God, sin is sin. God hates all sin equally. No one sin is worse than any other. The Catholic Church teaches the opposite. There is a hierarchy of sin: venial sin is better than mortal sin.

Catholics teach that after you are saved, private prayer and/or consuming the Eucharist will forgive your venial sin (white lies, cheating on a test, over-eating), but mortal sin will damn you to hell. Mortal sin is something that is very bad. You know it is very bad. You are of sound mind (not drunk or mentally ill). You plan to commit the mortal sin. You start to commit the mortal sin and you commit the mortal sin.

The Catholic Church takes their morality extremely seriously, and no other church agrees completely with the Catholic Church's mortal sin list. I was and continue to be surprised at what the Catholic Church considers to be mortal sin. According to the Catholic Church, examples of mortal sin include using contraceptives, abortion, masturbating, masturbating whilst watching porn, prostitution, having an affair, practicing homosexuality, nudity in public, getting drunk, using illegal drugs, theft, re-marrying without an annulment, re-marrying whilst your X-spouse is still alive, not going to Church on Sundays, not going to church on days of obligation, sexual sins, etc. They even specify how husband and wife should be intimate. Essentially the husband must ejaculate inside his wife's vagina. Finishing elsewhere is mortal sin.

Let me pause before I continue to explain confession. According to the Catholic Church, almost all Protestants that I know commit mortal sin, because almost all Protestants use contraception. Additionally, many Protestant Christians re-marry whilst their X-spouse is still alive. Based on what the Catholic Church teaches, many of my Protestant friends are living in mortal sin, and if they die, they will spend eternity in hell. This is truly horrible! After that earth-shattering revelation, let me casually continue to explain Confession.

Via Confession God forgives your mortal sin and puts you in the state of grace. If you die in the state of grace, then you will go to Heaven. If you die after having committed mortal sin, then you will go to hell. Luckily, God wants everyone to go to heaven, so God won't let you die immediately after you commit mortal sin. God will give you many second, third, fourth, etc. chances to ask for forgiveness before you die. Finally, you must be in the state of grace to consume the Eucharist.

Just honestly answer the following question. Do you regularly attend Mass and worthily consume the Eucharist? Or using Catholic terminology, most of the time, are you in the state of grace?

Before I explain the state of grace, and let me expose my bias. I believe that the Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus Christ founded, and he intended for all Christians to be Catholic. There are several good Christian denominations, but in my humble opinion, only the Catholic Church teaches the right dogma. While I encourage everyone to convert to the Catholic Church, I recognize that God may not call every Christian to become Catholic, and many non-Catholics are and will be in heaven.

Let me explain what the Catholic terminology of the state of grace means. If you are currently in the state of grace, then if you die right now, then you will enter Heaven. If you have committed mortal sin, and you have not gone to confession, then you are not in the state of grace. If you die whilst not in the state of grace, then you will spend eternity in hell.