Last Sunday Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Barron appeared on the Ben Shapiro Show. Shapiro is a well-known conservative pundit and a practitioner of the Jewish religion. Shapiro shared with Bishop Barron that, as a practicing Jew, people from outside his religion often claim that he will not go to Heaven. Shapiro then asked Bishop Baron a pointed question about salvation:
What’s the Catholic view of who gets into Heaven and who doesn’t?
Before he allowed Bishop Barron to answer, Shapiro noted that he attempted to obey the 10 Commandments in his life and sought to promulgate Judeo-Christian virtues. Shapiro stated that he felt like he lived a “good life.” Shapiro asked the Bishop, “What’s the Catholic view of me?”
Bishop Barron provided a Roman Catholic answer. He claimed that, according to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, someone “outside the explicit Christian faith could be saved” through sincerely following his conscience. He refereed to the Christian faith as merely “the privileged route.” Barron went as far as to claim that sincere Atheists could be saved. The Catholic religion, Barron claimed upon inquisition from Shapiro, that Roman Catholicism was neither “works-based” nor “faith-based” but “love-based.”
Barron’s heretical answer should be compared to the biblically-based gospel presentation given to Shapiro by Pastor John MacArthur earlier in the month. When given the chance to present the soul-saving gospel to a lost man on a national platform, John MacArthur did not hold back from sharing the biblical fact that good works do not save. Following religion, no matter how sincere, does not save. One is saved only through faith in the finished work of Christ, by the grace of God. Left to his own devices, man is sincerely wicked and cannot be saved from his sinful state but by God. God’s salvation includes leading the sinner to the truth of the gospel and away from false religions.
Shapiro’s interview with Barron serves as an example that Roman Catholicism is just one of the many false religions that God leads his elect away from when they come to saving faith in Christ. Let no one be deceived, the Roman Catholic Church and its Bishops are workers of iniquity and proclaimers of a false gospel. Anyone who has friends or family members caught up in the Romanist religion should not presume they are saved but rather at risk of Hell’s eternal flames. Christians should use this interview with a popular media figure to contrast the words of Bishop Barron with the truth of the Bible in the hopes that the lost would be led to faith in Christ.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
