ARE YOU SAVED?

"Are you saved?" This is a strange questions for Catholics. Maybe someone has asked you this question and you weren’t quite sure how to answer. This question is most often asked by those who are called "Protestant Fundamentalists." The fundamentalist belief is that once you are saved, which is accomplished by simply accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you cannot lose salvation. No matter what kind of life you lead after accepting Jesus as your savior, your salvation is assured. No amount of sin or perversity can cause you to lose your salvation. How reassuring it must be to be assured of salvation. But is that really what Jesus taught? What is the position of the Catholic Church on this?

Jesus Christ has certainly accomplished the work of salvation by His death on the Cross. As He took His last breath Jesus said: "It is finished." (John 19:30) What was finished was the work of our redemption. But is that it? Do we simply, as the Protestant Fundamentalists believe, accept this act in faith and that’s that? The Church teaches in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) that "each (person) will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith." (CCC #1021) In other words; "By his death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ has ‘opened’ heaven to us. The life of the blessed consists in the full and perfect possession of the fruits of the redemption accomplished by Christ. He makes partners in his heavenly glorification those who have believed in him and remained faithful to his will." (CCC #1026 - emphases mine)

For Catholics, salvation, while won for all by Christ, begins for the individual with baptism. Baptism frees the soul from Original Sin and strengthens the Christian for a life of grace that resists the temptation of the devil. It is up to the individual to make sure that the salvation won by Christ is not lost by personal sin, especially mortal sin. One can forfeit redemption by choosing to reject God by a life of sin. In other words, personal salvation depends on the condition of a person’s soul at the time of death. If one should die in a state of mortal sin, salvation has been lost. If one dies in a state of grace, having received forgiveness for any mortal sins committed through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, one has assured oneself of redemption. It is entirely up to us to preserve the grace won by Christ and instilled in us at baptism. As St. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians; "So then, my dearly beloved, obedient as always to my urging, work with anxious concern to achieve your salvation.." (Phil.2:12)

So how do we ‘achieve" our salvation? Fundamentalist are partially correct in saying that we must first make an act of faith and accept Jesus as our savior. The wording isn’t quite what a Fundamentalist would use but the idea is the same. Catholics who are baptized as infants have their parents and godparents make this act of faith on their behalf. Ideally this profession of faith is confirmed by each of us when we receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Realistically, this confirming of our baptismal promises usually happens at some other time in our life. At some point in our adult life we decide to be Christian Disciples. This may happen in a specific action that can be remember as a specific moment but just as likely we find that we have grown into discipleship over the years of our life. But it doesn’t end there. We must continue to work out our salvation by living grace filled lives.

The Church teaches us that: "We cannot be united with God (in heaven) unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves....Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice." (CCC #1033) Therefore we must "be solicitous to make your call and election permanent." (2Peter 1:10) We are redeemed by Christ when we were yet sinners. We accept that redemption by living according to His teachings which are reflected by the teachings of His Church. We cannot presume on the mercy of God that we will have a chance to repent just before we die. Our lives must witness to the fact that we are redeemed. Our salvation then is not just a matter of faith but of faith and works. "My brothers, what good is it to profess faith without practicing it? Such faith has no power to save one, has it?" (James 2:14) Our actions, good works, reflect the faith within. We draw closer to God by living according to His will. When we fail to live God’s will we seek His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and are strengthened to continue the journey of faith.

As Christians, we are redeemed. That redemption has nothing to do with us. It was bought for us by the blood of Christ on the Cross. Whether or not we are saved depends on us. We have the free to choose to live according to God’s will or to reject God by our actions. God is merciful and always stands ready to forgive when we fail, but we cannot presume on that forgiveness by putting off repentance. We cannot earn heaven but we surely can earn hell. We cannot work our way into heaven with out first accepting the gift of redemption but we can allow that gift to slip away from us by living lives that are in contradiction to Gospel principles. God beckons us to come back to his house but we must make the journey ourselves, with the help of the grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

So, are you saved? How do we answer as Catholic Christians? You might answer yes and no. Yes I was saved from my sins by the death and Resurrection of Jesus and I hope that I will continue the journey to salvation. Or better yet, we can simply respond that we are redeemed. Salvation will come when we die in a state of grace.