Salvation

Salvation is the work by which God delivers man from sin and death, and gives him a share in his own life. All sacred history tends towards it, from the promise made after the fall to its accomplishment in Christ, who came for this: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Luke 19:10

By Christ alone

There is only one Saviour, and it is Jesus. His very name says it: Jesus means “God saves”. No one but him can restore to man what sin has taken away: “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

By the Cross and the Resurrection

Christ saves by taking upon himself the sin of the world. By his death on the Cross he destroys sin; by his Resurrection he conquers death and opens life to man. Here the love of God is measured: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” John 3:16

A gift of grace

Salvation is offered freely, before any merit. The initiative comes wholly from God: it is he who saves, by pure grace, and man receives from him what no human power could obtain: “By grace you have been saved, through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8

Received in faith

This gift, however, waits to be welcomed. Man receives salvation through faith, which opens in conversion and enters the new life through baptism: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

Offered to all, completed in eternal life

God excludes no one from this offer: “God wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:4 Salvation is already won in Christ and received here and now in the Church and her sacraments; it will be completed in eternal life, when man sees God face to face.