Catholic Catechism on: The Necessity of Faith in Jesus Christ

[Lorenzo]

161

Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent Him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation.42 "Since ‘without faith it is impossible to please [God]' and to attain to the fellowship of his sons, therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain eternal life ‘but he who endures to the end.'"43


reference: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect1chpt3.shtml#art1

[Lorenzo]

166

Faith is a personal actâ€"the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life. The believer has received faith from others and should hand it on to others. Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers. I cannot believe without being carried by the faith of others, and by my faith I help support others in the faith.

[Lorenzo]

995

To be a witness to Christ is to be a "witness to his Resurrection," to "[have eaten and drunk] with him after he rose from the dead."549 Encounters with the risen Christ characterize the Christian hope of resurrection. We shall rise like Christ, with him, and through him.