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Hi, Ryan —
Thanks for your question.
You are right; we could not be saved
on our own and through our own works.
These works would not be good enough,
but the Catholic Christian, unlike
most other non-Catholic Christians,
believes that when we are in a state
of grace and partake in the Eucharist,
we are allowing Jesus to work through
us. When Catholics receive the Eucharist,
we receive the Body, Blood, Soul
and Divinity of Christ Himself.
We partake in His Divine nature,
and allow His work to be done through
us, His Body, based on our vocation
or calling in life.
We can never have an absolute
assurance of salvation,
because all mankind has free
will to turn away
from God right up to the time
of death but we can have a moral
assurance of salvation, if we follow the teachings
of the Catholic Church, and
follow the teachings of the
Holy Father on issues of official faith and morals; read Matthew 16:13-19 and 1 Timothy 3:15.
Between Jesus' generation and our current modern day generations, new moral issues have arisen
that never existed at the time
Our Lord walked the Earth,
like:
- In Vitro Fertilization, and
- cloning.
Salvation is a free gift of God but, because
we have free will, it's a
gift we can forfeit and lose. We
have to persevere to win the prize
as St. Paul states in 2 Timothy 4:6-8
6 As
for me, my life has already
been poured out as an offering
to God. The time of my death
is near. 7 I
have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race, and
I have remained faithful. 8 And
now the prize awaits me—the
crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will give me on the day of
his return. And the prize is
not just for me but for all
who eagerly look forward to
his appearing.
2 Timothy 4:6-8 |
Catholic Christians do believe in
predestination, but this is something
our finite minds will never know.
Only the Lord knows who is in the
Book of Life, except for the Saints
of the Church.
You
said:
- Didn't Jesus fulfill what we needed
to do on the Cross?
Yes, Jesus, the Head, did fulfill
what was needed, but it was His choice to
incorporate or incarnate mankind
into His Mystical Body, the Church. St. Paul re-affirms as much in
Colossians.
24 It
makes me happy to be suffering
for you now, and in my own body
to make up all the hardships that
still have to be undergone by
Christ for the sake of his Body, the
Church.
Colossians 1:24 |
Note that St. Paul says,
"make up all the hardships
that still have to be undergone
by Christ for the sake of His
Body, the Church". (Colossians 1:24)
I hope this helps,
Mike
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