I was born and raised a Catholic, but converted to become a born-again Christian in 2002. No, the two are not the same. Both use the same Bible and claim the same Jesus as their God but there is one difference that separates them like day and night.
Catholic teachings and traditions teach that if we are good and do good things God is happy with us. The problem is I cannot ever be good. Jesus’ standard of goodness is too high. He said if you just get mad at someone it is the same as murder. If you just look lustfully at someone it is adultery. The standard is insane! So I never bothered and lived my life the way I saw fit.
Born-again Christianity teaches that at current status quo everyone is going to hell. How enticing, right? I’m not joking. Romans 4:23 says everyone (meaning you, me, the President of the United States, Oprah, the Pope) have fallen short of God’s standard. At the time I encountered this Christian teaching I did feel I was close to hell if not already in it.
The other side of Christianity teaches that there is a lifeline for hell-bound people like me. The fact is somebody has already gone down the graves to take whatever beating I deserve for my follies. Who will not give in to that good deal! What more? This person, Jesus (incidentally the same Jesus I knew from being Catholic), has done it out of a passionate love for me. I did not need to earn that love by being a goody-goody.
Jesus loved me when I was unlovable. He exchanged my rottenness with his goodness. Knowing this, I could not live the same way ever again. This is the God I am putting my allegiance to.
That is why I am now a born-again Christian. And that is why Christianity is not the same and will never be the same as any other religion that uses the name of Jesus but still teaches how to buy the way to righteousness instead of teaching God’s free salvation.