[matthewrobertolson]

When I said "meriting it," I was saying that, while God has freely given us the process to cleanse ourselves (through Christ), we must actually DO it -- it doesn't just magically happen. I was not saying that God's grace must be merited. I suppose that I could have made that more clear. See this video for more on the Catholic position on grace in this context: link
Now, for your position that man is totally depraved, this thread has some good information that opposes it: link

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

Watching videos on my computer is too tedious a process. If you have anything to say, I’d appreciate it if you posted it in the thread, in text form, for all to see and understand. But as for the Catholic view of grace, they treat it like a magical substance which they do indeed merit by their works.

[what's up]

God has freely given us the process to cleanse ourselves (through Christ), we must actually DO it

No, God provides and also does it.

You cannot cleanse yourself. This is only done through the purity of Christ.

[jodyel]

In fact, it does happen like that.

Once we believe, we are cleansed...no process required. Once we believe, we are immediately considered righteous in God’s eyes.

And should we sin again after believing, and we will because we are still fallen creatures, we are still saved. Yes, once saved, always saved....something else foreign to Catholicism.

I do not know of any born-again believer who pays lip service to works. The very fact we are here rebutting the false religion called Catholicism shows we take Jesus’ mandate in Matthew 28:19 to heart and this is the greatest work we can do.