Salvation | cruxchfaithformation

Apologetics Minute: Salvation

“Do Catholics have an assurance of salvation?”

A common belief found in many non-Catholic Christian faith traditions is sometimes referred to as “once-saved-always-saved,” or “absolute assurance.” This is the belief nothing one can do will jeopardize his/her salvation so long as he/she “accepts Jesus as personal Lord and Savior”. The most common verse used to support this is Rom. 8:39 where St. Paul says, “anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God”. However, to use this verse to affirm “absolute assurance” denies the fundamental fact of free will, which allows for us to turn ourselves away from the “love of God,” which we do whenever we sin. This is evidenced in every biblical example of sin starting with Adam and Eve in Gen. 3:8. The Catholic Church teaches the belief in “moral assurance” of salvation, which is the belief that if we persevere in the Christian life, cultivating our relationship with God in prayer and the Sacraments, we will receive salvation after we die. Perseverance is an image used by Christ in Mat. 24:13 when He says that those who “endure to the end will be saved.” It is also used by St. Paul who, “fought the good fight… finished the race…kept the faith” in 2 Tim. 4:7. This is only worth noting if it were possible for the “race” not to be “finished” or “faith” to be lost.