The Bible teaches that salvation is something that comes freely to any individual who places genuine trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins. Thus, the Bible teaches that salvation is by grace through faith alone, entirely apart from personal merit or works of righteousness. Please read the following verses:
 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, emphasis added).
 

All the prophets testify about him [Jesus] that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name (Acts 10:43, emphasis added).

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace . . . (Ephesians 1:7, emphasis added).
 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9, emphasis added).
 

[Jesus was] sacrificed for [our] sins once for all when he offered himself (Hebrews 7:27, emphasis added).

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:25, emphasis added).
 

. . . But [Jesus] entered the Mostly Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption . . . [He] offered for all time one sacrifice for sins . . . because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this . . . he says: ". . . Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more" (Hebrews 9:12; 10:12,14-15,17 emphasis added).
 

    Do any of these verses teach that salvation - or forgiveness of sins - comes by good works, through religious sacraments, or by any other means of human merit? Do these Scriptures even hint that salvation comes by being good or by personal efforts? No. God's Word teaches that complete salvation occurs solely by faith in what Christ already accomplished on the cross 2,000 years ago.
    Because salvation is by grace through faith alone, This means that once a person has trusted in Christ, then he may know that his sins are forgiven - all sins - past, present, and future. "He forgave us all our sins. . . " (Colossians 2:13, emphasis added). (When Christ paid the full divine penalty for our sins 2,000 years ago, all our sins were future. If the Bible teaches our sins are forgiven at the point of true faith in Christ, this must include all of them, even future sins.) Therefore, come what may in life (see Romans 8:28-39), the person who trusts in Christ alone for salvation will go to heaven when he dies because God informs that person he now possess "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade" because it is "kept in heaven for you . . . " (1 Peter 1:4-5, emphasis added).
    The salvation God offers is perfectly secure precisely because it involves a gracious act of God and is in no way dependent upon human merit or works for its accomplishments:
 

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24, emphasis added).
 

I tell you the truth, who believes has everlasting life (John 6:47, emphasis added).
 

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13, emphasis added).
 

    Again, these verses teach that people can know they now possess eternal life merely by their personal trust in Jesus. If any person has eternal life, it cannot be lost, can it? Nor can it subsequently be earned, can it? However, the above Scriptures do not reflect the teaching of the Catholic Church, which maintains that salvation is a provisional, lifelong, process partially earned by a person's own good works and individual merit.
    Biblically, full salvation in the sense of forgiveness of all sins and a right standing before God occurs at a point in time - the point of receiving Christ as personal Savior - even though the practical implications of salvation (e.g., progressive sanctification or growth in holiness) are worked out over a lifetime. Thus, (1) complete reconciliation with God (full forgiveness of sins and cancellation of the penalty of sin), (2) regeneration (being made spiritually alive to God and the imparting of eternal life), and (3) justification (the crediting of Christ's full and complete righteousness to the believer) all occur in an instant, at the moment of saving faith. Further, they are irrevocable since they are all gifts from God, and God says that He never takes back what He gives (Romans 11:29).
    Catholicism, on the other hand, teaches that a right standing before God is not something that can happen fully in this life, nor can it occur in a moment of time. Rather, it is something that comprises a very lengthy process that is earned only after a lifetime of good works and obtained merit and - in all likelihood - tremendous personal suffering in purgatory after death to cleanse the remnant of sin and judicially perfect the believer.
    Here, the contrasts between the biblical view of salvation and the Roman Catholic view could not be clearer. The following material further illustrates the contrasts and will also prepare us for the next three questions.
 

Bible:
    A disposition of God toward mankind expressing His mercy and love so that the believer is now treated as if he were innocent and perfectly righteous.
 

Catholicism:
    A substance or power separate from God that is placed into a believer to enable him to perform meritorious works and earn the "right" to heaven.
 

Bible:
    The instantaneous reception of an eternally irrevocable right standing before God, secured at the point of faith entirely by grace. Salvation is given to those whom the Bible describes as "ungodly," "sinners," "enemies," and "children of wrath" (e.g., Romans 5:6-10; Ephesians 2:1) and, thus, to those who are not objectively righteous.
 

Catholicism:
    The lifelong process whereby God and mankind cooperate in the securing of forgiveness of sin. This is achieved only after death (and/or purgatorial cleansing from sin) and is dependent on man's personal securing of objective righteousness before God; otherwise, there is no salvation.
 

Bible:
    All sins are forgiven at the point of salvation - past, present, and future - because Christ's death satisfied all God's wrath against sin. (See Colossians 2:13)
 

Catholicism:
    Sins are only potentially forgiven and so must be worked off through a process mediated by the Church and its sacraments over the lifetime of the believer.
 

Bible:
    The instantaneous imparting of eternal life and the quickening of the human spirit, making it alive to God.

Catholicism:
    In part, the lifelong process of infusing grace (spiritual power) to perform works of merit.
 

Bible:
    The legal declaration of Christ's righteousness reckoned to the believer at the point of faith solely as an act of God's mercy.

Catholicism:
Spiritual rebirth and the lifelong process of sanctification, which begins at the point of the sacrament of baptism.