Once a person believes, he is saved.

Someone said: 

Once a person believes, the grace is received by them, he is saved.

Is this true?  Basically, "No."  But it depends upon how one interprets the word, "believes".

St. Augustine put it this way.  The God that made you without your help does not will that you should be saved without your participation.

According to Protestant doctrine, believing only entails a verbal confession that one accepts the word of God.  This is what is called the doctrine of "faith alone."  According to some Protestants, all one needs to do is make this confession and at that instant in time, they are saved.

Frequently, these same Protestants will admit that a person who does not obey the Commandments of God is truly not a faithful person and is therefore, not saved.  But for some strange reason, they don't recognize that this admission debunks the teaching of faith alone.

I hope that is plain enough for all to understand.  Faith without works is dead.

Ok, so what if a man understands that belief requires us to act upon our faith.  If a man acts upon his faith, is it true the following statement true?

Once a person believes, the grace is received by them, he is saved. 

The correct answer is, "I don't know."  This really frustrates Protestants.  But as Catholics, we recognize that we are fallible human beings and we neither judge our own salvation nor anyone elses.  We leave those judgments to God.

In addition, one act of faith does not salvation make.  A man does not simply make one act of faith and become a saint.  That person must persevere in good works until he dies.

So, the correct answer is that God alone knows whether anyone is saved.  And we don't know if we are saved unless God reveals that to us in a special revelation.

Sincerely,

De Maria