He didn't say that...he said there is nothing we can do to MERIT (earn) salvation.
You cheat...what is your motive? What are you selling?
It is the Blood that is the gift...we did not earn It.
If the Holy Spirit is in you...let Him speak (and keep your own mouth shut).
If He is not in you...drop everything and go and find Him. He is right there...as close as your elbow, as close as your conscience.
"Merit" is a technical term in Catholic theology, meaning to have a claim on a reward. It doesn't mean "to earn," nor does it necessarily mean "to deserve in strict justice"; that's a specific type of "merit" called (incredibly enough) "to merit in strict justice".
Using "merit" in the technical sense, as a claim on a reward, we can say that the blessed most certainly merit heaven through the free gift of saving grace purchased for them at the Cross. If they didn't, they wouldn't go there.
One thing we can't merit at all, however, is the initial grace of conversion.