What does the Catholic Church believe about Salvation?

Salvation is a gift received by faith (1) freely given and merited for us by the Passion of Christ. (2) The gift of grace, by definition, is free and undeserved. (3) Our feelings or works cannot be relied upon to know we are saved. (4) It is our fruit that matters. (5) A tree can only produce fruit if it acts. If our faith does not act, then our faith is dead. (6)

There are acts that we must do to receive salvation. To accept this gift, we must give up our old self (7) and become part of His body, the Church. (8) We give up ourselves and follow Christ’s authority to remain in Him and part of His body. (9) God appointed the Church, so we follow the Church and its teachings. (10)

No one can earn this gift, and it is not forced on anyone to accept or keep it. It is up to each person to accept the gift and remain in Him to keep it.

Citations: (1) Romans 3:21-26, (2) ccc 1992, (3) ccc 1996, (4) Council of Trent 1533-1534, (5) Matthew 7:20, (6) James 2:14-17, (7) Romans 6:3-11, (8) 1 Corinthians 12:12-31,(9) John 15:1-17, (10) Revelation 19:7-9