Giving a Piece of My Mind on the Claim That Roman Catholics Who Became Born Again Christians Were Just Misinformed
As a former Roman Catholic, some of my former church mates in a Jesuit parish or university schoolmates in a Roman Catholic university where I used to attend tell me, "You're just misinformed by those crazy born again Christians!" or "How could you exchange God for Martin Luther?" Those were just a few stuff I remember that I was declaring myself a born again Christian.
They tell me that I'm just misinformed. The more I read the Bible and compare it to the teachings of Roman Catholicism, the more I'm convinced that my conversion by the grace of God wasn't about being misinformed. The whole system of Roman Catholicism is nothing more than putting tradition above God's Word. Ironic that some Catholic Faith Defenders are already using Mark 7:8-9 to defend their error! Since when did the Bible even teach Mary was sinless or that Peter had absolute power over the whole Christian church?!
Their favorite appeal are Evangelicals who have become Roman Catholic. Back then, I thought it's possible for a person to lose their salvation by simply renouncing their faith in Jesus. I didn't believe that a Christian loses salvation whenever they sin. Then the more I struggled with the idea that salvation can't be lost, I started checking on these Evangelicals who became Roman Catholic. These converts were once Evangelicals in-name only but they were not born again Christians. 1 John 2:19 shows that those who have left the faith were never of the faith. You can go ahead and put a Christian in a Roman Catholic learning institution but if that person's conversion is genuine that person will stand firm to the end even if it means they get expelled. That person may have to study Roman Catholic doctrine but if that person is truly saved, he or she will still crave for the things a born again Christian craves. Nobody can be truly saved and reject the Lord Jesus Christ.
Allow me to explain why there are many Evangelicals today who have become Roman Catholic or have gone to another cult. Do you remember the parable of the sower? You can go ahead and put people in an Evangelical church but if these people don't have enough root, they'll fall away. Many people due to worldly desires, hardness of hearts or shallow acceptance of the Gospel fall away. There's not enough root for fruit compared to the true converts. If they were not truly saved, they will just fall away. Many of these Evangelicals I knew who became Roman Catholic had worldly lives, they were too focused on worldly desires and in short they were not really Christians. If they were not really of the faith then the evidence shows with them falling away. Becoming a Roman Catholic is just one of the many signs that many Evangelicals today are not even saved.
Those Evangelicals who became Roman Catholics are truly misinformed. They don't even have the deeper spiritual reality of what it's like to be a born again Christian. True they can get baptized and you can get baptized many times but you're just a false convert. They never had any true root to begin with because their pastors are probably just wishy-washy. As for Roman Catholics who became born again Christians, they have been awakened by the grace of God. They have learned the truth of the Scriptures. It even makes me ask, "Did I get out of Roman Catholicism because God chose me by His grace? If so, I'm thankful that because God's sovereignty is above mine, I'm not misinformed as they claim I am.