“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” Matthew 7:13-14, 21
I have often been approached about the topic of being saved. I am Catholic and I believe in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. I believe that through His sacrifice and grace I am given the gift of Eternal Life with Him. I believe that living in, through, and with Jesus Christ I will be welcomed into Heaven. I believe I am saved. What I don’t believe is that I can pray a special prayer stating these beliefs and committing myself to Jesus one day, then go out the next day and treat my neighbor with disdain, be unscrupulous in my business dealings, commit adultery, or even murder, and still consider myself saved and that Heaven will open wide its gates to welcome me in.
For me salvation is an ongoing process, a commitment to Jesus The Son, God The Father, and The Holy Spirit, that must be renewed in my heart everyday, in fact, each moment of everyday, lest I fall back into my sinful ways.
Do I believe you must have good works to be saved? Yes and no. I believe I am born with a soul created by God in His own image and likeness, but stained with the original sin of Adam. Through the Holy Sacrament of Baptism in the Name of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I am brought into new life. Baptism is my spiritual birth. First, I am humanly born into this world, and then, in Baptism I am spiritually born, or brought to life in Him and sent forth to reflect His Glory on earth.
I believe we are innately good and wish to do and be good, for God is Himself goodness and … we are created in His image. It is in our humanness that we our weak and succumb to the temptations and evil of Satan. Therefore, we begin in goodness but must fight to remain there. Each and every time we falter or sin, then confess and sincerely repent, we are reborn into Life Eternal. When we repent and recommit our lives to Jesus, we are reawakened to Goodness and, innately, the good works begin to flow from us. It is only through His Grace, His Goodness, we are transformed as stated in John 14:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”
So, do I believe one must do good works to be saved? Possibly not, but because you are saved, you will do good works. To just pray a prayer in the fervor of the moment and then continue on in life just as things were, as if nothing has changed, is not being saved. To live in, through and with Jesus is. Am I saved then? I may be as of this very moment, but I might not be tomorrow unless I am diligent in my salvation and allow myself to be transformed into His image and likeness.
This is my prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, for Your never ending love, forgiveness, and mercy to ever bring me back from the brink of Satan’s lair and save me from the eternal fires of hell. May my dying breath be to proclaim my repentance and declare your glory, that I might live forever more in Life Eternal with You.
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