I read your statement and I grieve with you. I was raised Catholic and understand the issues. You’re statements are absolutely correct. For you, salvation is not a settle matter based on what you learned and came to believe through oral tradition. But this oral tradition contradicts the writing of the apostolic circle. This is the big clash. Eternal life for all believers is a free gift to be received by faith apart from works. It cannot get any more simple than that. If you read John’s gospel, you will find a collection of narratives all showing the freeness of salvation. Jesus spells it out over and over and over again. More so in that gospel than in all other gospels combined.
