The System of Merit (Catholicism)

Catholicism tells us to maintain our salvation through merit. We build our lives on the Rock of Christ’s finished work. The sacraments aren't ways we earn grace, but ways we celebrate the grace already finished on the Cross. We look at the sacramental system and the idea that we must "stay" in a state of grace through our own participation and penance. When faith becomes a system of "maintaining" our status, we lose the joy of our salvation.