NO! That is one of the worst sins, the sin of religious pride. Whatever I do, even in Christ, doesn't earn me salvation. I do, however, understand that God is righteous and has promised me a reward IF I heed His commandments to love my neighbors and Him. I am not OWED anything, no matter what I do. This attitude is unlike the one who presumptuously says "I'm saved already for heaven". This is not biblical. "Being saved", in the past tense, refers to entrance into the Church, being freed from the slavery of sin and being made children of God. It does NOT follow, however, that such a one will receive the reward in heaven. Christ makes that perfectly clear in several parables, particularly the three in Matthew 25, but also the weeds and the wheat.
Let's say that you felt that you had reached a point where you have been able to say... Yes, I believe that I have done enough "meritorious deeds"... What standard do you use to come to such a conclusion?
We don't. Catholic teaching says that a man can NEVER merit the reward of 'final perseverance'. We can be optimistically confident that we have obeyed God - but we rely on God's righteousness to reward us, not that God owes us for being good. There is a difference! One must ask for salvation - it is never owed us! Even the greatest of saints have said as much. EVEN THEY were not or could not say for certain that they were heaven-bound upon their deaths. That is because Catholics realize that God is sovereign and we cannot place God in debt.
Do you have an "assurance verse" that tells you when, by your own "meritorious deeds" that you possess eternal life?
No. Salvation is not assured. God will judge us based on the direction of our lives, e.g. Matthew 25:31-45. We can be sure that the Spirit is within us if we are obeying the Commandments (which we can only do as a result of Him within us) and we know that we will not be condemned if He abides in us (1 John 5:12). However, this confidence does not translate into an assurance - that places God in a debtor position. The wages of sin is death, eternal life is a gift. Gifts are not owed us, no matter OUR faith or love...
Regards
>>The wages of sin is death, eternal life is a gift. Gifts are not owed us, no matter OUR faith or love...<<
With this one verse and its acompanying comment you have completely destroys the argument that you were using up to now... If you offered a gift and I insisted paying for it... It wouldn't be a gift anymore, would it? By the same token, grace also...
God's
Riches
At
Christ's
Expense
Forsaking
All
I
Trust
Him
Romans 11:5 "...So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace..."