Are the Sacraments Necessary for Salvation?
Fr. Brian Carpenter
Originally posted on 1/3/2010

The Catholic Church teaches that the sacraments are necessary for salvation. In particular, the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist play a special role in salvation. The question my naturally arise as to whether this teaching binds God. That is, whether this teaching places limits on God. After all, as some contend, if God is all powerful, and all merciful, He should be able to bring about human salvation apart from the sacraments. Does not the claim that the sacraments are necessary for salvation place limits on a God who the Church claims is without limits?

This mindset, while not uncommon, reflects an inaccurate understanding of the teaching of the Catholic Church. It is often cited by many people who have not thoroughly examined what the Church teaches in regards to the sacraments and their necessity for salvation. This very question, however, was answered by St. Thomas Aquinas over 700 years ago.

In the Summa Theologica, one of Aquinas' most important works, he examines whether the sacraments are necessary for salvation (question 61). What Aquinas concludes is that the sacraments are necessary for salvation, yet this does not impinge on God's freedom in any way. Aquinas states that God's grace is sufficient cause for salvation. In colloquial speak, this means that God's grace is indeed enough for human salvation. Furthermore, Aquinas says observes that human bodily actions are not very profitable. This of course is to reassure his readers that he is not claiming that humanity can save itself. However, this does not suggest that the sacraments are superfluous or unnecessary for salvation. His reason for this claim is that the sacraments are not truly human bodily actions. Rather they are the work of God. In other words, they are not the actions performed by human beings to bring about salvation. Rather, the sacraments are a method God uses to confer grace upon humanity. This notions adheres nicely with the Church's teaching that the primary celebrant of the sacraments is Christ, the High Priest, and not human beings such as Fr. Brian.

It is quite fitting that God chooses to use the sacraments to confer grace. After all, God created human beings with a physical body, it seems only appropriate that God use this physical body in order to bring about human salvation. This does not mean that God could not bring about salvation by other means of His choosing. Rather, it suggests that God recognized that human beings respond well to physical things, and decided to use such physical things as a means to bring about His grace.

Theologian Alexandre Ganoczy provides deeper clarity in understanding the necessity of the Sacraments. Referring to the Council of Trent, Ganoczy agrees that the sacraments are not superfluous. At the same time, he also claims that the seven sacraments are not absolutely necessary for salvation, rather they are highly appropriate. This can be explained by the following metaphor. If a person wishes to travel between New York City and Los Angeles, we could state that it would be necessary for this person to use a vehicle. However, in a very strict sense the use of a vehicle is not necessary. This person, if they so choose, could walk from New York City to Los Angeles. However, walking between these two cities is neither easy nor appropriate. After all, no reasonable person would claim that a vehicle was not necessary for traveling between New York and Los Angeles. Similarly, while a person can achieve salvation without receiving any sacraments, it is highly impractical. The sacraments are the vehicle provided by God as a means for salvation, and in this sense they are necessary.

So when the Church states that the sacraments are necessary for salvation, this teaching is not intended to be understood as the Church subjecting God to Herself. Rather, it is to be understood that the sacraments are the proper vehicle provided by God as a means to receive His grace. And since it is by the grace of God that we are saved, the sacraments are indeed necessary for salvation.