Sacraments
Are the sacraments necessary for salvation?
The Catholic Catechism teaches,
“The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation” (para. 1129; italics in original).
If the sacraments are in fact necessary for the salvation of believers, then a person who believes but does not receive the sacraments cannot receive salvation. This means that all those who believe in Jesus but who do not receive the sacraments because they are not members of the Catholic Church cannot be saved.
Regarding salvation, the apostle Paul wrote,
“...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. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved” (Romans 10:9, 10).
And,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).
The person who believes with the heart and confesses with the mouth that Jesus is Lord is saved and has eternal life. We are saved by grace through faith and not through works or anything we do. The idea of sacraments may be based on Scripture, but nowhere does the Bible refer to the sacraments as necessary for salvation. It is not through the sacraments that we are saved, but through faith in Jesus.
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