Catholics do not believe that human effort saves us. Only grace. In fact, the Catholic position can be summed up like this: "Nothing, whether faith or works, apart from the grace of God, can save us. We are saved by grace through faith which works by love." Besides, the scripture does not only offer verses regarding salvation (or justification) in the past tense , but many that speak of salvation as a present and future event. <br>Consider, "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18) or "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Matt 10:22). The Bible also speaks of justification in the past, present, and future tenses, implying that it is an ongoing process of sanctification in the life of a believer. "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom 5:1). [we are] "being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ" (Rom 3:24). "But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? Of course not!" (Gal 2:17).<br><br>In Christ, Hannah