I'm one out of many Catholics who have been asked if I have been saved? And to many non-Catholics who pose this question want one simple and quick answer--a "yes" or "no." However, to the Catholic there is not a simple yes or no. Salvation to a Catholic goes much deeper and beyond than a ticket to rolling into the pearly gates at the death of our mortal body. Salvation is an experience that the soul experiences on a daily basis by being united in God and God in them because God IS Salvation--He is LIFE. Without God, Who is LIFE, present in our soul, our soul experiences a spiritual death. A Scripture that comes to mind is Jesus' parable of He being the true Vine and we (the souls) being the branches attached to the true Vine. (John 15:5). Jesus is the source of life, and unless we are attached to Him our soul has no life. Thus, our soul does not experience salvation. So salvation is an on-going process to a Catholic and not just a one time deal. A soul has to be open to God on a daily basis and throughout our Christian's life and journey on earth. The journey to salvation is found in Scripture. We come into salvation--past tense. We experience salvation--present tense. And we will experience salvation--future tense. Salvation is not just a past tense teaching in Scripture, but also a present and future tense teaching in Scripture:
"For in this hope we WERE saved" --past tense. (Romans 8:24)
"By grace you have BEEN saved." --past tense. (Ephesians 2:5;8)
"Jesus Christ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." --present tense. (1Corinthians 1:8)
"For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are BEING saved...." -- present tense. (2Corinthians 2:15)
"Work out your own salvation." --present tense. (Philippians 2:12)
"As the outcome of your faith you OBTAIN the salvation of your souls." --present tense. (1Peter 1:9)
"For salvation is NEARER to us now than when we first believed." --future tense. (Romans 13:11)
"If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself WILL BE saved...." --future tense. (1Corinthians 3:15)
"...you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit MAY BE saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." --future tense. (1Corinthians 5:5)
As God shows us in His Word, salvation is a past, present, and future experience. Salvation is experiencing God through Jesus Christ.
Salvation in the Christian's journey can be lost. Jesus is the source of LIFE. If a soul (branch) is not attached to the Vine, Jesus, the branch starves from the Life (Jesus) and dies a spiritual death. (John 15:6) We can take a plant as an experiment and rip the branch off the vine and the branch will die because it is separated from the source of life. Jesus also explains salvation can be lost in His parable of the Sower. He says we can receive His Word with great joy, but later we can fall away from His Word through tribulation, etc.. (Matthew 13:20-21) He says we need to stay firm in our faith until the end to see eternal salvation. (Matthew 24:13) He also tells us in the parable, the Prodigal Son, we can be with the Father for some time and then walk away from the Father and become dead. (Luke 15:11-32) In Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son, and after the son returned home to his father, it is said, "...my son was dead, and is alive AGAIN;..." (Luke 15:24) The keyword, "again," would not make sense if the son was never alive to begin with. It also does not make sense with Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son to be judged as "having been saved" to later be judged, "We were never saved to begin with." We learn from Jesus parable of the Prodigal Son that we can be alive in salvation for some time, but later in our journey we can lose salvation.
There is a beginning to salvation as Ephesians 2:5;8 points out. But as many other Scriptures also point out we can also lose salvation. St. Paul believed he could lose his salvation when he said, "I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." (1Corinthains 9:27) Christians can agree that receiving a CROWN is receiving salvation. However, we are warned that we can lose our crown. "I am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. " (Revelation 3:11)
To remain in salvation we must accept Jesus' invitation and follow Him because He is the Way to Salvation. (John 14:6) He is our source of LIFE. (John 15:6) He is our living water. In Him we will never thirst, but have His Water welling up in our soul to eternal life. (John 14:4) Jesus is our Light. If we follow Him we will not be in darkness (death) but have the Light of Life (salvation). (John 8:12) The Catholic salvation is following Jesus (Who is the Way to eternal salvation...the True Vine and source of Life to eternal life...the Light where no darkness (death) is found...and the Living Water that keeps our soul alive from dying in thirst). Jesus either lives His life in us, or He does not. We can come into salvation, but we can also lose it during our journey by choosing to live our life without Jesus Christ Who says, "Apart from Me you cannot do NOTHING." (John 15:5) Living in Jesus, hearing His Word, Receiving His Life (His Grace) in the Sacraments, our open communication through our prayers to Him, and being open to His Presence in our soul and allowing Him to live His Life in us, brings us to Himself--Who IS our Salvation.
Therefore, it's neither a "yes" or "no" when Catholics are asked, "Are you saved?" Like St. Paul who said, "I do not even judge myself" (1Corinthians 4:3), Catholics do not judge themselves as "saved." Instead they are called to follow Jesus daily and put their trust completely in Him.
Another question that is often posed about a Catholic's salvation is, "Do Catholics earn their salvation through their works?" The Catholic's answer is simple--NO. The Council of Trent states:
"If any one saith, that man may be justified before God by his own works, whether done through the teaching of human nature, or that of the law, without the grace of God through Jesus Christ; let him be anathema."
(Council of Trent, Canon 1--On Justification)
It is not our own works that save us, but the Works of God that we cooperate with under the influence of the Holy Spirit and God's grace. Jesus says if He (our Vine) is not in us, we (as the branch) will wither away and be thrown into the fire. (John 15:6) He makes it crystal clear throughout His teaching that just believing He's our Savior will not gain salvation, but we MUST abide in the Source of Life (God) and vice-versa. God is NOT a do-nothing God. We cannot hate and be in the Light (Jesus) at the same time. We are still in darkness if we hate others. (1John 2:2) Light and darkness have nothing in common.
I often hear it's "faith alone" that is only needed for salvation. But St. Paul never preached "faith alone." Instead he preached "faith working through love." He said, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith WORKING THROUGH LOVE." (Galations 5:6) The works that St. Paul condemns is the works of the Mosaic law such as circumcision. These works performed by men will not bring us into God's Covenant, but only the Works of God performed under His sanctifying grace such as charity and love for one another. The two cannot be separated because these good Works (good FRUIT) come from the attributes of God's Divine Nature. If we, as the branch, are attached to God and God attached to us, we too will bear good fruit that comes only from God, the Source of Life.
St. Paul said, "...if I have all the faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am NOTHING." (1John 13:2) He also says "faith WORKS THROUGH LOVE." (Galations 5:6). So faith alone, or faith by itself, is insufficient to salvation. In fact St. James says, "...a man is justified by works and NOT by faith alone." (James 2:24)
As a Catholic I am always quoted Ephesians 2:5;8 to try to prove to me that now that I have become saved absolutely nothing can undo my salvation. The Catholic Church never said we do not come into salvation. But they also teach there is no assurance to salvation. Let's also quote a few verses later to keep St. Paul's teaching in context, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for GOOD WORKS, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) Our eternal salvation depends on our own choice where we choose to be with God, Who IS salvation. Through our freewill, a gift to us by God, we either open the Door to Jesus Christ, or we ignore His Knock. (Revelation 3:20)