"The principal dispositions required for justification are the following acts, which can only be made by the assistance of God's actual grace, namely, an act of faith or belief in revealed truths, of fear of God, of hope, and of charity; an act of repentance for past sins, with a purpose to avoid sin in future, and to keep the commandments: a desire of receiving baptism for those who have not yet been baptized, and for those who have fallen into sin after baptism, a resolution to approach the sacrament of penance (Council of Trent, Session VI, chapter vi).
"Justification may be lost by wilfully violating a commandment of God, either by doing what is forbidden, or by not doing what is commanded. Justification is a talent or gift which should be made to bear fruit, or we shall be punished for the neglect.
"By justification we are raised to the dignity of Sons of God, heirs of his kingdom; and this entails upon us the duty of acting in a way becoming to so high a dignity. If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,' said the Lord (St. Matt. xix:17). By justification we are incorporated with Christ, like a branch growing on a vine; but if the branch produces no fruit it will be cut off and cast into the fire (St. John xv:6). Hence the grace of justification is compared by our Savior, not to a pond, but to a fountain, whose waters reach unto heaven: 'But the water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting" (St. John iv:14).
"How Christ's Redemption is Applied to Men that They May Be Justified and Sanctified: "Jesus Christ died for all mankind; he truly died that 'he might taste death for all' (Hebrews ii:9). Yet we know that all men will not be saved but only those who do his will, for we read in St. Paul: 'And being consummated, he became to all that obey him the cause of eternal salvation' (Hebrews v:9). And so, notwithstanding Christ's redemption, it is stated in the gospel that some 'shall go into everlasting punishment' (St. Matt. xxv:46). St. Paul did not say that God will save all men, but, 'who will have all men to be saved' (I Timothy ii:4), implying thereby that for salvation, man's will and co-operation is required to fulfill the conditions, and use the means appointed by God himself for the purpose.
"Only those who "have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Apocalypse [Rev.] vii:14), that is, who have the merits of Christ applied to them, and who persevere to the end in doing what is commanded, will be saved.
"The direct means instituted by Christ himself for applying his infinite merits to the souls of men are the holy sacraments, which are so many channels instituted by Jesus Christ to convey to men his grace purchased for us at the price of his most precious blood.
"The Holy Sacraments: "The Catholic church teaches that there are truly and properly seven, and only seven sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, though not all of them necessary for every person, as, for instance, holy order and matrimony.
"These seven sacraments are:
"1st, Baptism, by which we are made Christians, children of God, and members of his holy church..
"2nd, Confirmation, by which we receive the Holy Ghost, to make us strong and perfect Christians and soldiers of Jesus Christ.