Living in the so-called "Bible Belt" most of us have encountered Evangelical Protestants who want to know whether or not we have been saved. They believe that in order to be saved there has to be a specific moment when we accepted Christ as our personal Savior. This is what in their estimation it means to be "born again." Most Evangelical Protestants believe that this specific moment determines your destiny. They contend that once you have made your decision for Christ you have secured a place in heaven forever 

What do we, as Catholics make of all this? We believe with St. Paul that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who of His good pleasure works in you both the will and performance" (Philippians 2:12-13). Salvation then is a gift that must be received if we are to be saved. Christ, our Savior, offers us the free gift of salvation. He died and rose again that we might be saved from sin, death and Satan. But our positive response to this free and generous offer allows the Holy Spirit to assimilate Christ's saving work into our lives. In other words, we must say "yes" to our Heavenly Father's invitation to become His adopted sons and daughters. Our Blessed Mother is our model in cooperating with God's work of salvation. As with our Lady's "yes", our "yes" means both faith in God and obedience to His will. 

The Catholic Church also teaches that there needs to be a specific moment in every person's life when he or she consciously accepts Jesus Christ as personal Savior and Lord. The Sacrament of Confirmation is suppose to be that moment of decision. But I fear for many Confirmation turns out to be little more than an extended graduation exercise. There has to be a personal awareness of one's need for Our Savior if one is to know Christ. C. S. Lewis expressed this truth when he wrote that you can not really know you need a Savior until you know that you are a sinner The conscious moment of acceptance of Christ as Savior and Lord must follow with daily conscious moments for Christ, in Christ and with Christ. When we pray, participate in the Sacraments, meditate on the Scriptures, walk in the way of the Commandments, share our faith with one another and cooperate with all other means of grace, we are "working out our salvation". Many of us, if not most of us, do not put forth the spiritual effort we should to grow in our life in Christ. We are saved, going to Heaven, but we have not grown to full maturity in Christ. If we do not "grow up" in Christ in this world we shall have to "grow up" in Purgatory.

Salvation is secure as long as we want our Savior and His salvation. The tragedy is that not everyone wants Jesus. To reject Jesus at the end of life in this world is Hell forever.