The Catholic Church has never taught that we earn salvation. The Council of Trent declared that 'none of those things which precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace itself of justification' (Decree on Justification, Chapter 8). What the Church teaches is that genuine faith produces works, exactly as James 2:26 says: 'Faith without works is dead.' Paul and James aren't contradicting each other; Paul condemns works of the Mosaic law as a means of earning grace (Romans 3:28), while James insists that living faith naturally bears fruit (James 2:17). The Catechism puts it simply: 'Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification' (CCC 2010), but the whole process starts and ends with God's free gift.