[Ciexyz]

I'm confused by the statement, right standing with God. I've never heard it before. You're either saved or you're not saved, correct? If Christ has given us free salvation by his grace, don't we automatically have right standing with God? This is question, not an argument.

[bdeaner]

Being "saved" means you have right standing with God, such that you are permitted eternal life in Heaven. The question is, how exactly do you become "saved"? How it is, in other words, that we gain right standing with God? That's the question of justification. Christian theologies of salvation -- called soteriology -- differ on key doctrines regarding what it means to be saved. That's what the article discusses -- the Catholic view and how it differs from (and is similar to) Protestant views of salvation.