Let's get the record straight!
It's not a question of what church you belong to. That never was the issue and it never will be.
When we stand before God, He's not going to ask us whether we went to a Protestant church or to a Catholic church. A person can be a Protestant and go to hell. And the fact that a person is a Catholic doesn't mean that he is automatically sure of heaven either.
All the rituals of all Protestant churches put together cannot put away sin. And the same is true of the rituals of the Catholic church. Whatever value they might have, they cannot deal with the guilt and penalty of sin.
A Catholic friend said to me recently, "I find it hard to believe that all the rituals I have gone through in the Catholic church have no power to save me."
"Well, do you have peace with God?" I asked.
"No, I don't," he answered.
"Then let me tell you this," I said. "The rituals of the Protestant church have no power to save you either, or to give you peace with God. Salvation is not found in ceremonies; it is found in a Person."
All the bickering between Protestants and Catholics has confused the issue. It has created the impression that if a person just joins one church or the other, then all will be well with him. That is not true.
What are the facts?
The first fact is that whether we are born into the world as Catholics or as Protestants, we are sinners: For there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:22, 23.)
The second fact is this: whether we are Catholic sinners or Protestant sinners, we need to be saved: There shall in no wise enter into it [heaven] anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Rev. 21:27.)
The third great fact is that salvation is not found in a creed, a church or a ceremony; it is found in Christ: Jesus saith ... I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. (John 14:6.)
The final fact is that we can be saved by receiving Him, that is, by believing on Him: As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. (John 1:12.)
Don't depend on Protestantism or Catholicism to save you. Put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for your sins on Calvary's cross, who rose again the third day, and who offers you eternal life as a free gift.