Catholic, if what you have said is the true interpretation then why did the apostle John write in his first epistle that he was writing these things to the saints so that they could individually assess and know that they have eternal life. Presumably, he should rather have written "go ask your priest if you have eternal life". I say this in a comical sense but the reality is that John's statement and tests of being born again as set forth in his first epistle have no place in the system or way the RCC does its evaluations of a person's state of grace or a pronouncement thereof.

Sorry...the post I had here was for the Sola Scripura thread. I apologize for the inconvenience.