Questions / Salvation, heaven and hell

Do Catholics believe we are saved by grace?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Catholic Answers

Video: Are Catholics Saved by Grace or Faith?, Catholic Answers Live, published Apr 11, 2018. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: Yes. Being made right with God comes from His grace, His free, undeserved help. CCC 1996

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

“Our justification comes from the grace of God.” CCC 1996

Grace is favor: the free and undeserved help God gives us to answer His call to become His children. CCC 1996

Our words

Yes, absolutely. Nobody earns heaven. Everything good we do is God’s grace working in us first.

Watch another on this

Play video: Are We Saved by Faith Alone? - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon, Bishop Robert Barron, from Bishop Robert Barron, 14 min. Loads from YouTube when pressed.

Aren’t we saved by faith alone?

Play video: What You Need to Be Saved (Faith vs. Works), Ascension Presents, from Ascension Presents, 12 min. Loads from YouTube when pressed.

How are we saved?

Play video: Grace: Kinds and Refusal (Aquinas 101), The Thomistic Institute (Dominican friars), from The Thomistic Institute, 9 min. Loads from YouTube when pressed.

What is grace?

Next step: What we share

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Related questions

Aren’t we saved by faith alone? Bishop Robert Barron · 14 minIs there salvation outside the Church? Fr. Mike Schmitz · 8 minHow are we saved? Ascension Presents · 12 minWhat is heaven like? Ascension Presents · 9 min

Sources on this page

How we know · 1 Catechism paragraph

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1996 (official text on vatican.va).

Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words and cites every teaching claim. Our own wording is not an official Church text. Found a mistake? Report an errorCorrections.