Catholic Teaching On Salvation

The Bible says believe in Jesus Christ and you’ll be saved, but is that all there is to it? Biblical literalism by Protestants will say so, but this is not the case.

The Bible quotes Jesus saying: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” in Matthew 7:21. Jesus says: “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven” in Matthew 10:32-33 meaning we have to seek to evangelize non-believers and testify on behalf of Christ for our faith. The Bible notes Jesus saying: “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” in reference to baptism and repentance in John 3:5. St Peter gives the charge: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” in Acts 2:38. The Bible notes we must help the poor and those disadvantaged to us as apart of our saving nature to complete the will of the Father, both in the Old Testament in Proverbs 19:17: “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord and he will repay him for his deed” and in the New Testament in Mark 10:21 with Jesus: “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” We know James 2:14-17 reads: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead”; we must do good works for the sake that they are good and glorify God working through us, rather than for the appeal of men- only in cooperation with Him can they merit justification. And, we must remain in Jesus by not committing a major sin (apostasy) or falling into heresy: “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” (Matthew 10:22); “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned” (John 15:6). At initial acceptance of God’s offering of salvation as a free gift, we are saved. From there, we must remain in God to be saved by being initiated with Him through baptism (Romans 6:3-7), doing His will by doing good works, receiving His body for spiritual cleansing and communion with Him: “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them” (John 6:53-56), and simply dying in a state of grace without committing a mortal sin. This is the Catholic teaching on salvation, and it is not by works that are are saved (Ephesians 2:8-10), nor is it by belief in Jesus’ divinity alone, or inward spiritual change, but outward action from this- including how we act towards others, or better put by St. Paul: “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6).

https://www.catholic.com/qa/what-is-the-catholic-understanding-of-the-biblical-plan-of-salvation