Luther's understanding of salvation with that of Catholic Church?

Answer 1

Martin Luther's understanding of salvation was very muddled, he did not believe that man could actually change. In Martin Luther's theology, man was smuggled into heaven (in his words) "like a pile of manure covered with snow". Martin Luther believed that Christ, through His suffering and death covered us with His precious blood and "hid" our sins. This is radically different from the Catholic understanding of salvation. In the Catholic view, baptism really and truly changes you. Even though your concupiscence remains from your previous fallen nature (your tendency to sin), nevertheless, you are really and truly washed clean in baptism, and with God's grace CAN lead a moral and upright life. You really are made a child of God in baptism and are called to live that way. You can, by not cooperating with the graces given you, fall back into your sinful ways, but you are called, through repentance and confession, to pick yourself back up - WITH GOD's Grace - and continue to carry your cross on this earth and follow Christ.

Answer 2

Roman Catholic AnswerLuther's interpretation of salvation as explained in The Bible was that there is nothing we can do to earn or deserve it. Jesus did it all, and The Father, looking at us, only sees the merit earned by His Son, and so allows us into heaven. Jesus' purpose was to do for us what we could not do, making us justified before God. Luther emphasized that "we are saved by grace and not by works lest any man should boast." The Catholic position requires us to do our part, repent of our sins, and live the life that Jesus has made possible. Luther called this "works" citing St. Paul that works would not save us. The Catholic Church teaches that Luther erred by not seeing that St. Paul was using the word "works" to refer to Old Testament adherence to the law. The Old Testament law has been fulfilled in Jesus, and we are no longer bound by it, thus those works will indeed not save us. But as St. James points out without works our faith is dead - in other words we can not be saved. Luther's rallying cry for salvation was "faith alone". The only time in Scripture that the word faith is followed by the word alone, it is immediately preceded by the word not. James 3:24 "You see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Luther wanted to be comfortable in this life, and preached that there was absolutely nothing we could do to earn or to lose our salvation. Unless we co-operate with the grace of God and live out the life He has planned for us, we cannot be saved.