Why do Catholics try to earn their own salvation,
despite the fact that salvation can only come as a free gift from
Jesus Christ?
Catholics fully recognize that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for
their sins and thus "opened the gates of Heaven," and that
salvation is a free gift which no amount of human good deeds could
ever earn. Catholics receive Christ's saving sanctifying grace, and
Christ himself, into their souls when they are baptized. Yet they
also know that Christ has established certain conditions for entry
into eternal happiness in Heaven, for example, receiving His true
Flesh and Blood (John 6:54) and keeping the commandments (Matt.
19:17). If a Christian refuses or neglects to obey Our Lord's
commands in a grave matter (that is, if he commits a mortal sin),
Our Lord will not remain dwelling in his soul; and if a Christian
dies in that state, having driven his Lord from his soul by serious
sin, he will not be saved. As St. Paul warned the Galatians with
regard to certain sins: "They who do such things shall not obtain
the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:21). It must be added that Christ will
always forgive and turn to a sinner who approaches Him with
sincerity in the Sacrament of Penance.
Catholics follow St. Paul, who did not think that his salvation was
guaranteed once and for all at the moment he first received Christ
into his soul; for he wrote: "I chastise my body, and bring it into
subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself
should become a castaway." (1 Cor. 9:27). Also: "With fear and
trembling work our your salvation. For it is God who worketh in
you..." (Phil. 2:12-13). "He that shall persevere unto the end, he
shall be saved." (Matt. 10:22). Nevertheless, Catholics realize
that even the fulfilling of Our Lord's requirements for salvation
is impossible without the free gift of His grace.
