What Is the Catholic Understanding of the Biblical Plan of Salvation?

(Compiled from various posts I have made: please pardon redundancy.)

The Roman Catholic gospel of salvation is one that is best described as "salvation by grace thru merit," with salvation beginning with the act of baptism using a trinitarian formula defined by her, and which act itself is asserted (imagined) to effect forgiveness of sins (including so-called "Original Sin") and regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Which event is said to take place even (in the case of infants or morally incognizant) without scripturally required personal faith (, , )

Which act thus renders the subject forgiven as well as good enough to directly enter Heaven itself to actually be with God (if the subject died at that point). Yet since the subject still has a sinful nature, and which the baptized RC will soon realize, then (since Catholic salvation depends upon actually being good enough) Roman Catholic Purgatory was invented. For as the ancient Catholic Augustine described, there are some "who have departed this life, not so bad as to be deemed unworthy of mercy, nor so good as to be entitled to immediate happiness " (City of God XXI.24).

Thus in RC salvation, the believer must experience postmortem "purifying punishments" in order to atone for sins that he did not suffer enough for on earth, and become good enough to see God. The only exceptions are rare souls who attained to and died in the require stated of perfection.

Thus in RC salvation, the believer must experience postmortem "purifying' punishments." (Indulgentiarum Doctrina; cp. 1. 1967) in order to atone for sins that he did not suffer enough for on earth, and become good enough to see God. The only exceptions are rare souls who attained to and died in the require stated of perfection.

And Catholicism teaches that she can help souls escape such by dispensing grace through her treasury of merit, excess merits of Christ and her saints, esp. prayers and good works of the Mary of Catholicism. (CCC 1476-1477) Of course, this idea led to the scandal of indulgences, which was instrumental in the incomplete Reformation.

And by making salvation to be postmortem process then the RC church not only requires obedience to her but requires faith, making herself a divinely revealed object of belief:

"by divine and Catholic faith everything must be believed that is contained in the written word of God or in tradition, and that is proposed by the Church as a divinely revealed object of belief either in a solemn decree or in her ordinary, universal magisterium" (Denzinger: Enchiridion symbolorum 3011).

However, since this attainment is said to be enabled by grace, then in Catholicism it is denied that salvation is that of earning salvation. (CCC 2025) And with her emphasis on works and merit (in overreaction to the Reformation), and negating justification by imputed righteousness, and making the effect of faith as being the cause, and by effectively confusing salvation being a free gift by effectual faith being counted for righteousness (; Ga 2:16,17; 3:9-14) with God rewarding works of faith, then Catholicism has long fostered confidence that one will obtain salvation due to being worthy of it.

Such as by statements as, "nothing further is wanting to the justified [baptized and faithful], to prevent their being accounted to have, by those very works which have been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of this life, and to have truly merited eternal life." (Trent, Chapter XVI; The Sixth Session Decree on justification, 1547)

In contrast is Biblical salvation by grace, in which man is in need of salvation for sins he/she has committed, and cannot be saved based upon actual moral worthiness, but is redeemed through effectual regenerating, justifying faith - not of works () in the risen Divine Lord Jesus, who saves sinners by His sinless shed blood. And by which faith the believer is accounted righteousness (, ) on Christ's account, being "accepted in the Beloved." ()

And which is expressed by Scriptural "obedience of faith" () to the Lord, by the Holy Spirit, (; , ) being normally first formally confessed by being baptized, which signifies union with Christ in His death and resurrection, (Romans 6) for justifying faith in the heart is confessed in word and in deed. (Rm. 10:9,10)

However, the effect ("obedience of faith) must not be confused with the cause, and as Peter makes clear, it is effectual faith that purifies the heart in the washing of regeneration, when one truly believes the gospel, (, ; ) and results in the fruit of obedience with holiness, and in the end, fully realizing the gift of eternal life. (, )

And while God rewards the faith of the justified for, () that is not teaching that the believer attained his salvific justified acceptance with God due to his own holiness, as instead the believer is "accepted in the Beloved" on Christ's account, fo God "hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. ()

Therefore the redeemed are those who have been spiritually born of the Spirit (Jn. 3:2-7) by effectual, penitent, heart-purifying, regenerating faith in the Divine Son of God sent be the Father to be the Savior of the world, (1 Jn. 4:14) who saves sinners by His sinless shed blood, on His account.
And which faith is imputed for righteousness, () and which is shown in baptism and following the Lord, (; , ) whom they shall go to be with or His return (; ["we"]; , ; ; ff'; )
In contrast to those who were never born of the Spirit or who terminally fall away. (; ; ; ; ; (; ; cf. , ) Glory and thanks be to God.

Reiterating and supplementing what was stated above, contrary to Biblical salvation is the RC process of salvation, which begins at baptism which act itself (ex opere operato) is imagined as actually making one righteous enough so that the baptized could go to Heaven if he died right then, before the sin nature that remains makes it manifest that he is not fit to enter Heaven, and which thus (usually) necessitates Purgatory, so that he may once again become good enough to be with God. To wit (emphasis throughout is mine): 

Baptism, the gateway to the sacraments and necessary for salvation by actual reception or at least by desire, is validly conferred only by a washing of true water with the proper form of words. Through baptism men and women are freed from sin, are reborn as children of God, and, configured to Christ by an indelible character, are incorporated into the Church. (Can. 849)

Baptism is a bath that purifies, justifies, and sanctifies. (CCC 1227) The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification... (CCC 1266) Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. (CCC 1992) The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift...infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. (CCC 1999) 

The Catholic idea maintains that the formal cause of justification does not consist in an exterior imputation of the justice of Christ, but in a real, interior sanctification effected by grace, which abounds in the soul and makes it permanently holy before God (cf. Trent, Sess. VI, cap. vii; can. xi).  

Although the sinner is justified by the justice of Christ, inasmuch as the Redeemer has merited for him the grace of justification (causa meritoria), nevertheless he is formally justified and made holy by his own personal justice and holiness (causa formalis).” (Catholic Encyclopedia>Sanctifying Grace; https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06701a.htm) 

Thus it is believed that the newly baptized, who are thus inwardly just, formally justified and made holy by their own personal justice and holiness, would go to Heaven if they died before they sin: 

CCC 1263 By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin. 66 In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam's sin, nor personal sin, nor the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God.

By virtue of our apostolic authority, we define the following: According to the general disposition of God, the souls of all the saints . . . and other faithful who died after receiving Christ's holy Baptism (provided they were not in need of purification when they died, . . .) have been, are and will be in heaven, in the heavenly Kingdom and celestial paradise with Christ, joined to the company of the holy angels. (CCC 1023) 

And  since it is  imagined that  the act itself of baptism renders one good enough to be justified, then  personal, repentant faith is not necessary on the part of the baptized, (Can. 867-871) but that at the least, only that the baptizer has the right matter, right form (including the proper form of words: Can. 849), plus right intention.  ( 861 §2) 

 Therefore, while:

 the sacraments which produce their effects ex opere operato [by the act itself], hence attention is not necessary for the valid reception of the sacraments. One who might be distracted, even voluntarily, during the conferring, e.g. of Baptism, would receive the sacrament validly;” (The Catholic Encyclopedia>Sacraments)

yet the requirements of  right matter, right form (including the proper form of words: Can. 849), plus right intention renders the validity of many baptisms, and thus salvation, to be   doubtful or invalid, according to the church that Catholics are to trust in. (https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/02/17/invalid-baptism-arizona-242422)

Thus "Thousands of baptisms presumed invalid due to one priest’s wording error." (https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2022/02/17/invalid-baptism-arizona-242422)

Especially in the case of baptized Protestants:

Even in cases where a ceremony had certainly been performed, reasonable doubt of validity will generally remain, on account of either the intention of the administrator or the mode of administration (The Catholic Encyclopedia>Baptism (regarding baptism by “heretics”):

Thus who knows how many baptisms   are Catholic-invalid, of no  effect, since not only can one word ("we" versus "I") invalidate a baptism, but  "The Church teaches very unequivocally that for the valid conferring of the sacraments, the minister must have the intention of doing at least what the Church does." (Catholic Encyclopedia>intention)

However, presuming the sacrament has its intended (imagined)  effect,  yet  since the unholy sinful Adamic nature is all too alive and manifests itself in these "inwardly just" (righteous souls), then the newly baptized all too soon realizes he is no longer good enough to be with God.

certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized , such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence. .. (CCC 1264) 

Which means that unless they died having  attained to the level of practical perfection needed, then they are in in need of postmortem  purification commencing at death, even  "through fire and torments or "purifying" punishments.  (Apostolic Constitution on Indulgences, Pope Paul VI) For

And thus, what flows from the original error of believing man must actually become good enough to be with God (rather than faith being counted/imputed for righteous, - Rm. 4:5 - and with obedience and holiness being evidential fruit of regenerating faith) is that of the doctrine of RC Purgatory, by which, besides atoning for sins not sufficiently expiated on earth, serves to make the baptized good enough to be with God. 

The Catholic Encyclopedia also states that St. Augustine "describes two conditions of men; "some there are who have departed this life, not so bad as to be deemed unworthy of mercy, nor so good as to be entitled to immediate happiness " (City of God XXI.24.)  

And may not have made due satisfaction for sins.

...if the debt of punishment is not paid in full after the stain of sin has been washed away by contrition, nor again are venial sins always removed when mortal sins are remitted, and if justice demands that sin be set in order by due punishment, it follows that one who after contrition for his fault and after being absolved, dies before making due satisfaction, is punished after this life... Hence Gregory of Nyssa, after the words quoted above, adds: "This we preach, holding to the teaching of truth, and this is our belief; this the universal Church holds, by praying for the dead that they may be loosed from sins." ..."If one who loves and believes in Christ," has failed to wash away his sins in this life, "he is set free after death by the fire of Purgatory." Therefore there remains some kind of cleansing after this life. - The Summa Theologi of St. Thomas Aquinas, Supplement (Appendix II), Article 1: https://www.newadvent.org/summa/7001.htm

And thus by the close of the fourth century it was taught "a place of purgation..from which when purified they "were admitted unto the Holy Mount of the Lord". For " they were "not so good as to be entitled to eternal happiness. ".  One "cannot approach God till the purging fire shall have cleansed the stains with which his soul was infested." (Catholic Encyclopedia>Purgatory) 

All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. (CCC 1030) 

"The purpose of purgatory is to bring you up the level of spiritual excellence needed to experience the full-force presence of God." (Jimmy Akin, How to Explain Purgatory to Protestants). 

"Every trace of attachment to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection of the soul corrected." Purification must be complete..." "This is exactly what takes place in Purgatory." " John Paul II, Audiences, 1999; http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/audiences/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_04081999.html 

Catholic professor Peter Kreeft states, 

"...we will go to Purgatory first, and then to Heaven after we are purged of all selfishness and bad habits and character faults." Peter Kreeft, Because God Is Real: Sixteen Questions, One Answer, p. 224

However, in principle, this premise of perfection of character for final salvation should eliminate the newly baptized (which, as they are clean and good enough under the imagined effect of the act itself of baptism removing sins and regenerating the subject) are said to able to go to bypass Purgatory since while innocent at that point, yet they have not yet attained to "spiritual excellence," to  elmination of "every trace of attachment to evil," to "perfection of the soul," to the level of practical holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. 

And this premise would also exclude the contrite criminal of Luke 23:43 from being with Christ at death, yet who was told by the Lord that he would be with Christ in Paradise that day. And likewise imperfect Paul, (Philippians 3:13) who attested that to be absent from the body was to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:7; cf. Philippians 1:23) And indeed it would exclude all believers who were told that they would be forever with the Lord if He returned in their lifetime (1 This. 4:17) though they were still undergoing growth in grace, as was Paul. 

In contrast, wherever Scripture clearly speak of the next conscious reality for believers then it is with the Lord, (Lk. 23:43 [cf. 2Cor. 12:4; Rv. 2:7]; Phil 1:23; 2Cor. 5:8 [“we”]; 1Cor. 15:51ff'; 1Thess. 4:17) 

And rather than Purgatory conforming souls to Christ to inherit the kingdom of God, the next transformative experience that is manifestly taught is that of being made like Christ in the resurrection. (1Jn. 3:2; Rm. 8:23; 1Co 15:53,54; 2Co. 2-4) At which time is the judgment seat of Christ And which is the only suffering after this life, which does not begin at death, but awaits the Lord's return, (1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Timothy. 4:1,8; Revelation 11:18; Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Peter 1:7; 5:4) and is the suffering of the loss of rewards (and the Lord's displeasure!) due to the manner of material one built the church with. But which one is saved despite the loss of such, not because of. (1 Corinthians 3:8ff) 

Note that while also holding to many unscriptural RC beliefs and preaching a false gospel, the tradition-based Eastern Orthodox reject RC Purgatory, among some other substantial RC distinctives  
(http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/orth_cath_diff.aspx states that "Purgatory is a condition of the departed before the final judgment. According to Roman Catholic theology, those souls destined for heaven (with a few exceptions) must endure a state of purgation, or purification. They must be cleansed of the sins committed on earth. The rest go to hell for eternal punishment.
Moreover, from a "treasury" of merits or extra grace accumulated by the virtue of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the saints, "indulgences" may be granted. The grace is applied to those in purgatory in order to shorten their time there.
Orthodoxy teaches that, after the soul leaves the body, it journeys to the abode of the dead (Hades). There are exceptions, such as the Theotokos, who was borne by the angels directly into heaven. As for the rest, we must remain in this condition of waiting. Because some have a prevision of the glory to come and others foretaste their suffering, the state of waiting is called "Particular Judgment."
When Christ returns, the soul rejoins its risen body to be judged by Him. The "good and faithful servant" will inherit eternal life, the unfaithful with the unbeliever will spend eternity in hell. Their sins and their unbelief will torture them as fire.


In addition, the whole premise that suffering itself perfects a person is specious, since testing of character requires being able to choose btwn alternatives, and which this world provides. Thus it is only this world that Scripture peaks of here development of character, such as "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations." (1 Peter 1:6) The Lord Jesus, in being "made perfect" (Hebrews 2:10) as regards experientially  "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15) was subjected to this in the life.

Meanwhile the salvation by holiness via baptism and purgatory are all under the RC rubric of salvation by grace thru merit: 

The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. (CCC 1813 ) 

Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods. (CCC 2027) 

"nothing further is wanting to the justified [baptized and faithful], to prevent their being accounted to have, by those very works which have been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of this life, and to have truly merited eternal life." (Trent, Chapter XVI; The Sixth Session Decree on justification, 1547) 

"If anyone says...that the one justified by the good works that he performs by the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit...the attainment of eternal life itself and also an increase of glory, let him be anathema." (Trent, Canons Concerning Justification, Canon 32. 

The term “merit” refers in general to the recompense owed by a community or a society for the action of one of its members..., (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2006) 

Note however, that,

"With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man," "the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man's merit, moreover, itself is due to God, for his good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions and assistance given by the Holy Spirit." (CCC 2007-2008) 

However, salvation by grace does not mean salvation by attaining to actual, practical perfection in this life or in Purgatory, but that of being accepted in the Beloved on His account, (Eph. 1:6) resulting finally in the resurrection of the body, which is the final conformity to Christ after this life. (1 John 3:2)  And with obedience with holiness in this life being its effects/fruits, but which effects are not the cause of justification, though works justify one as being a believer. (Heb. 6:9,10) 

And while God does reward faith (Hebrews 10:35) by rewarding the obedience of faith, (Mt. 25:31-40) and which obedience attests that one is a believer and thus it is appropriate that they be blessed, (Rv. 3:4) yet the "worthiness" here is not because moral attainment itself has made such accepted in the Beloved, and made them to sit together with Christ in Heaven,(Eph. 1:6; 2:6) and given them access to into the holy of holies in Heaven to pray, (Heb. 10:19) but as in conversion, it is because the faith that effects obedience is imputed for righteousness, (Rm. 4:5) eternal life being a gift, not a wage, (Romans 6:23) but in His grace God rewards the obedience of faith. (Heb. 10:35) Thus believers are exhorted, "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward." (Hebrews 10:35) 
Moreover, the Catholic emphasis upon merit as obtaining eternal life not only leads to salvation via obtaining perfection of heart in this life or in mythical Purgatory, but it fosters just what the natural man expects, that if he does more good than evil then he can obtain Heaven. As expressed by this RC: 

I feel when my numbers up I will appoach a large table and St.Peter will be there with an enormous scale of justice by his side. We will see our life in a movie...the things that we did for the benefit of others will be for the plus side of the scale..the other stuff, not so good will..well, be on the negative side..and so its a very interesting job Pete has. I wonder if he pushes a button for the elevator down for the losers...and what .sideways for those heading for purgatory..the half way house....lets wait and see.... ” http://forums.catholic.com/showpost.php?p=4098202&postcount=2
In conclusion, while Catholic apologist may assert that they believe salvation is a free gift of saving grace and not deserved by works, yet as one can see then this essentially means that "by the grace of God" one merits eternal life in Heaven thru a ritual and (usually) becoming good enough to enter heaven thru postmortem RC Purgatory.
One should not assume RCs know what Scripture or their church teaches on this or that the two fundamentally conflict, and that distinctive Catholic teachings are not manifest in the only wholly inspired substantive authoritative record of what the NT church believed (including how they understood the OT and gospels), which is Scripture, especially Acts thru Revelation.

See more on Purgatory vs. Scripture here, by the grace of God.

The redeemed are those who have been spiritually born of the Spirit (Jn. 3:2-7) by effectual, penitent, heart-purifying, regenerating faith in the Divine Son of God sent be the Father to be the Savior of the world, (1 Jn. 4:14) who saves sinners by His sinless shed blood, on His account.

And which faith is imputed for righteousness, (Romans 4:5) and which is shown in baptism and following the Lord, (Acts 2:38-47; Jn. 10:27, 28) whom they shall go to be with or His return (Phil 1:23; 2Cor. 5:8 [“we”]; Heb. 12:22, 23; 1Cor. 15:51ff'; 1Thess. 4:17)

In contrast to those who were never born of the Spirit or who terminally fall away. (Gal. 5:1-4; Heb. 3:12; Heb. 10:25-39) Glory and thanks be to God.