The Importance of Salvation

A lot of Protestants will say, well Catholicism is incompatible with salvation by grace because it's all about works. So what is salvation? Because of our sin we are separated from God and if he did not take the initiative to save us, we would be lost forever in our sins. The church would say that the baptism is the means by which you are saved. And so long as you don't choose to reject Christ knowingly and consciously and deliberately that you will be saved. That's the Catholic Church's teaching.