If any one saith, that he, who has fallen after baptism, is not able by the grace of God to rise again; or, that he is able indeed to recover the justice which he has lost, but by faith alone without the sacrament of Penance, contrary to what the holy Roman and universal Church—instructed by Christ and his Apostles—has hitherto professed, observed, and taught; let him be anathema.
The Christian may lose his salvation through sin, as we have seen that the Council teaches and affirms; but his fellowship with God may certainly be restored through the sacrament of Penance, as they tell us here. It is insufficient, despite the claims of Protestants, merely to have faith in order for one’s fellowship with God to be renewed.
This canon teaches nothing contrary to the doctrine of justification by grace alone.
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