Defend the Faith — Session 19
Grace, justification, living faith, and the place of good works in salvation
Opening Prayer
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You are our Saviour and Redeemer.
By Your death and Resurrection,
You have opened the way to eternal life.
Teach us to trust in Your grace,
to believe in Your promises,
and to live according to Your commandments.
Keep us from pride in our own goodness,
but also from a faith that bears no fruit.
Give us the faith that believes,
the hope that perseveres,
and the charity that loves.
May everything we do begin with Your grace,
continue through Your help,
and lead us at last to eternal life.
Amen.
Introduction
Throughout this series, we have been asking some of the questions Catholics are often asked.
We began with Jesus Christ and the Church He founded.
We have considered Scripture, Tradition, the sacraments, moral teaching, suffering, prayer, and the life of grace.
More recently, we asked why God became man and whether Jesus really rose from the dead.
We saw that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God made man, who died for our sins and rose again for our salvation.
But that raises another very important question.
How are we actually saved?
Or, as Catholics are often asked:
Are Catholics saved by faith or by works?
This is one of the most common objections made against Catholic Christianity.
Some people say:
“Catholics believe they have to earn heaven.”
Others say:
“Protestants believe in salvation by faith, but Catholics believe in salvation by works.”
Or:
“Saint Paul says we are saved by faith, not works. Why does the Catholic Church teach something different?”
Or:
“If Jesus has already paid the price for our sins, why do Catholics talk about obedience, good works, Confession, and holiness?”
And some Catholics themselves are confused.
They think salvation means being a reasonably good person.
They say:
“I have never murdered anyone.”
“I try to be kind.”
“I give to charity.”
“I do my best.”
“Surely God will let me into heaven.”
But is that the Gospel?
Is Christianity simply about doing enough good things to deserve a reward?
Or is salvation merely believing certain truths about Jesus, regardless of how we live?
The Catholic answer is neither of these.
Catholics believe that we are saved by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, and that living faith must bear fruit in love and good works.
We do not save ourselves.
We cannot earn our initial justification.
We cannot purchase heaven.
No amount of good behaviour can replace the saving work of Jesus Christ.
But neither can we separate saving faith from repentance, charity, obedience, and the transformation of our lives.
Faith is not merely saying that Jesus exists.
It is entrusting ourselves to Him.
And if we truly belong to Him, that faith must begin to shape how we live.
So the Catholic position is not:
“Faith or works?”
It is:
Grace first. Faith receiving grace. And faith working through love.
That is what we need to understand.
1. Salvation begins with Jesus Christ, not with us
Before we discuss faith and works, we must begin with the Saviour.
Salvation does not begin with our effort.
It begins with Jesus Christ.
Humanity was wounded by sin.
We were made for communion with God, but sin damaged that communion.
We could not restore supernatural life to ourselves by our own power.
We could not overcome death by our own strength.
We could not make ourselves worthy of heaven.
We needed a Saviour.
And so the Father sent His Son.
Jesus Christ became man.
He lived without sin.
He offered Himself upon the Cross.
He rose from the dead.
And through His saving work, the way to eternal life has been opened.
Everything begins there.
Not with our achievements.
Not with our moral record.
Not with the number of prayers we have said.
Not with how much money we have given.
Not with how many religious activities we have attended.
Salvation begins with Christ.
This is fundamental.
Sometimes people imagine Catholicism as though God sits in heaven keeping two lists.
Good deeds on one side.
Bad deeds on the other.
And at death, whichever list is longer determines our destiny.
That is not Catholic teaching.
Salvation is not a points system.
It is not a competition in which good behaviour outweighs sin.
Sin requires forgiveness.
Our wounded nature requires healing.
We require grace.
And grace comes to us through Jesus Christ.
So before a Catholic says anything about good works, the Catholic must say:
Jesus Christ is my Saviour.
Without Him, I cannot be saved.
2. Saint Paul teaches that we are saved by grace
One of the most important passages in this whole discussion is found in Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.
In Ephesians 2:8–10, Saint Paul teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works which would allow us to boast.
That sounds very clear.
And Catholics agree completely.
We are saved by grace.
Not because we have earned salvation.
Not because God owes us eternal life.
Not because we have achieved holiness by our own efforts.
Salvation is God’s gift.
That is the meaning of grace.
We considered grace in Part 15 of this series.
We saw that grace is not merely God looking favourably upon us.
It is His free gift by which He forgives, heals, and sanctifies us.
We cannot manufacture sanctifying grace.
We cannot give ourselves supernatural life.
Only God can do that.
This is why the Catholic Church rejects the idea that human beings can save themselves by their natural abilities.
The Church does not teach salvation by self-improvement.
She teaches salvation by Christ.
Saint Paul says that salvation is not a reason for boasting.
Why?
Because it is gift.
A person who receives a gift cannot boast that he created it.
A child who receives an inheritance cannot claim to have earned it simply by existing.
And the sinner who receives the mercy of Christ cannot stand before God and say:
“I saved myself.”
No.
We say:
“Lord, have mercy.”
“Lord, thank You.”
“Lord, everything I have comes from You.”
That is Catholic faith.
3. But Saint Paul also speaks about good works
Now notice something important.
When people quote Ephesians 2, they often stop at verse nine.
They point out that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works.
And that is true.
But then comes verse ten.
Saint Paul says that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared for us to live in.
That is very important.
The same passage teaches two truths.
We do not earn salvation by works.
But we are recreated in Christ for good works.
There is no contradiction.
The good works do not create the grace.
Grace makes the good works possible.
Think of a tree.
The fruit does not make the tree alive.
The tree must be alive before it can bear fruit.
But a living, healthy tree is meant to bear fruit.
In the same way, good works do not create the life of grace within us.
But the life of grace is meant to bear fruit in charity.
A Christian who receives grace is called to become loving.
Forgiving.
Generous.
Faithful.
Truthful.
Patient.
Pure.
Merciful.
Obedient to Christ.
Not because these things replace salvation.
But because salvation changes us.
We are not saved because we have independently made ourselves good. We are saved by Christ, whose grace makes us capable of doing the good.
This is the order.
Grace first.
Then a life transformed by grace.
4. What does the Church mean by justification?
Here we need to understand an important theological word.
Justification.
This word appears frequently in discussions between Catholics and Protestants.
What does it mean?
Justification is God’s gracious work by which sinners are forgiven and made righteous through Jesus Christ.
We must understand both parts.
Forgiven.
And made righteous.
The Catholic Church teaches that justification is not merely God pretending that we are righteous while leaving us unchanged within.
It is a real saving action.
God forgives sins.
He reconciles us to Himself.
He gives sanctifying grace.
He renews the inner person.
He makes us His children.
This does not mean we become perfect in an instant.
It does not mean temptation disappears.
It does not mean we never struggle again.
But something real happens.
A sinner is brought into a new relationship with God.
Through grace, the soul is made holy.
This is why the Catechism says that justification includes both the remission of sins and the renewal of the inner person.
In the ordinary sacramental economy, Baptism is the sacrament through which justification is first given.
An adult preparing for Baptism receives God’s call, comes to faith, repents, and responds to grace.
An infant receives Baptism in the faith of the Church and is truly justified without having personally performed good works.
That is a powerful reminder.
An infant cannot earn salvation.
The child cannot complete a record of charitable achievements.
The child cannot make himself worthy.
The child receives God’s grace.
And that is the pattern of salvation.
It begins with God.
It is gift.
It is mercy.
It is Christ acting for us.
5. What does it mean to have faith?
Now we must ask another question.
What is faith?
Because people sometimes use the word as though it means nothing more than believing that something exists.
For example:
“I believe there is a God.”
Or:
“I believe Jesus lived.”
Or:
“I believe Christianity is probably true.”
Those statements may be beginnings of faith.
But Christian faith is deeper than simply accepting historical information.
The Catechism teaches that faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and in everything He has revealed because He is Truth itself.
Faith involves the mind.
But it also involves the will.
It is a free response to God.
A person who believes says:
“Lord, I trust You.”
“Lord, You are truthful.”
“Lord, I receive what You have revealed.”
“Lord, I entrust myself to You.”
This is why faith is personal.
We do not merely believe things about Jesus.
We believe in Jesus.
We trust Him.
We follow Him.
We receive His truth.
We submit ourselves to His saving grace.
But this raises another important distinction.
A person can acknowledge religious truths without living in communion with God.
Someone can know the Creed and still live in serious, unrepented sin.
Someone can defend Catholic doctrine and still be uncharitable.
Someone can speak about Jesus and still refuse His commandments.
That is why the Church distinguishes between faith which is living and faith which is deprived of charity.
Faith must be animated by love.
Otherwise, it is not the fullness of living Christian faith.
6. Saint James says that faith without works is dead
Now we come to one of the clearest passages in the New Testament.
The second chapter of the Letter of Saint James.
Saint James asks a direct question.
If someone claims to have faith but does not have works, can that kind of faith save him?
Then he gives a practical example.
Imagine a brother or sister who lacks clothing and food.
Someone sees their need and says:
“Go in peace.”
But does nothing to help.
What good is that?
The words may sound kind.
But there is no actual charity.
Then Saint James gives his conclusion.
Faith without works is dead.
That is very strong language.
He does not say:
“Good works are a pleasant optional extra.”
He does not say:
“Charity is unnecessary so long as you believe.”
He says that faith without works is dead.
Why?
Because faith is meant to unite us to Christ.
And Christ is love.
If we claim to belong to Him while deliberately refusing charity, something is seriously wrong.
Saint James even points out that demons believe that God is one.
They know that God exists.
But that knowledge does not save them.
So merely accepting a religious fact is not the same as living faith.
A Christian cannot simply say:
“I believe in Jesus.”
And then refuse to love.
Refuse to forgive.
Refuse to repent.
Refuse to help the needy.
Refuse to obey God’s commandments.
Such a life contradicts the faith being professed.
Saint James is not teaching that we can purchase salvation by performing enough good deeds.
He is teaching that genuine faith must be alive.
And living faith acts through love.
7. Do Saint Paul and Saint James contradict one another?
This is one of the most important apologetic questions.
Saint Paul says that we are justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Saint James says that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
So which Apostle is right?
Both.
Because they are addressing different errors.
Saint Paul is opposing the idea that salvation can be earned or secured by human observance of the Law.
He is especially concerned with the mistaken belief that keeping the Mosaic Law could establish a saving claim upon God.
But his teaching reaches further.
No human achievement can earn the initial gift of justification.
All have sinned.
All need grace.
All depend upon Christ.
Saint James, on the other hand, is addressing the person who claims to possess faith while refusing to live according to it.
That person says:
“I believe.”
But his life shows no charity.
No obedience.
No mercy.
No repentance.
Saint James asks whether such a faith can save.
And his answer is no.
So Saint Paul is saying:
You cannot earn your salvation by your own works.
Saint James is saying:
You cannot separate genuine faith from the works of love that faith must produce.
Those teachings are not enemies.
They belong together.
Saint Paul himself teaches that what matters is faith working through love.
That is found in Galatians 5:6.
And Saint James teaches that faith is brought to completion through works.
The same divine truth is being considered from two directions.
Grace is the source.
Faith receives and responds.
Charity brings faith to life.
Good works express and deepen that charity.
This is the Catholic understanding.
8. Abraham helps us understand faith and works
Both Saint Paul and Saint James speak about Abraham.
That is significant.
Saint Paul points to Abraham as a man who believed God’s promise.
Abraham trusted God.
He received God’s call.
He was counted righteous through faith, not because he had earned God’s favour.
Saint James speaks about Abraham offering Isaac.
That event comes later in Abraham’s life.
Abraham’s faith is tested.
He is called to obedience.
And his actions reveal the depth of his trust.
Saint James explains that Abraham’s faith was active along with his works and was brought to completion by them.
Notice the movement.
Abraham believes.
And because he believes, he obeys.
His obedience is not a substitute for faith.
It is faith put into action.
This is important because a purely verbal faith can remain detached from life.
A person might say:
“I trust God.”
But what happens when obedience becomes difficult?
What happens when God calls for sacrifice?
What happens when faith costs something?
Abraham shows us that trust is not merely an idea.
True faith entrusts itself to God.
And that trust becomes visible in obedience.
Catholics do not oppose faith and obedience.
We believe that the grace of God makes faithful obedience possible.
9. Jesus Himself teaches that our actions matter
Sometimes people imagine that all discussion of good works comes from later arguments between Saint Paul and Saint James.
But we should listen to Jesus Himself.
What does Our Lord teach?
He says that those who love Him keep His commandments.
He tells His disciples that a tree is known by its fruits.
He warns against merely calling Him Lord while refusing to do the Father’s will.
He tells us that the wise person hears His words and acts upon them.
He commands us to forgive.
He commands us to love our enemies.
He commands us to care for the poor.
He commands us to remain in His love.
And in the twenty-fifth chapter of Saint Matthew’s Gospel, He speaks about the final judgement.
The Son of Man separates the sheep from the goats.
And what does He speak about?
Feeding the hungry.
Giving drink to the thirsty.
Welcoming the stranger.
Clothing the naked.
Visiting the sick.
Caring for prisoners.
Jesus identifies Himself with the least of His brothers and sisters.
That should make us think.
Our treatment of others matters to Christ.
Our charity matters.
Our refusal of charity matters.
The Church does not invent this teaching.
It comes from Jesus.
But we must understand it properly.
Christ is not teaching a points-based salvation system.
He is revealing that those who belong to Him are called to love as He loves.
Charity is not an optional decoration.
It is essential to Christian life.
The final judgement reveals the truth of the life we have lived.
Not merely the claims we have made.
10. Good works must come from grace
Here we need to avoid another misunderstanding.
When Catholics speak about good works, we are not saying that human beings can produce supernatural holiness independently of God.
We cannot.
An act may be naturally good.
A person may show genuine kindness, generosity, courage, or compassion.
These things have real human value.
But no accumulation of naturally good actions can create sanctifying grace or earn the initial gift of salvation.
Supernatural merit depends upon God’s grace.
The Christian who acts in charity does so because grace has made that supernatural life possible.
This is why Catholic theology speaks about cooperation with grace.
God acts first.
God gives grace.
God strengthens the will.
God enables us to love.
And we freely cooperate with that grace.
Think of the words of Jesus in Saint John’s Gospel.
He speaks of the vine and the branches.
He is the vine.
We are the branches.
A branch separated from the vine cannot produce fruit by itself.
It must remain united to the vine.
The life comes from the vine.
The fruit grows because of that life.
So too with the Christian.
Christ is the source.
Grace is His gift.
And our acts of charity are the fruit of remaining united to Him.
We should never boast about our holiness as though we created it ourselves.
Every truly supernatural good work is already dependent upon grace.
That is why a Catholic can say:
“Lord, thank You for helping me do this good.”
Even the good we do is gift.
11. Can good works merit anything?
Now we come to a point which is often misunderstood.
Catholics sometimes use the word merit.
And immediately someone objects:
“See! Catholics believe they earn salvation!”
But that is not what Catholic teaching means.
The Church makes a very important distinction.
No one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification.
That grace comes freely from God.
Before we possess sanctifying grace, we cannot place God under an obligation to save us by our own natural works.
But once God has made us His children through grace, He freely chooses to reward the good works which His grace makes possible.
This is what Catholic theology means by supernatural merit.
It does not mean that human beings become independent of God.
It does not mean that God owes us salvation as payment for services rendered.
It does not mean that Christ’s sacrifice was insufficient.
It means that God has chosen to make His children genuine participants in His saving life.
He gives grace.
He enables us to love.
He promises to reward the works of love He brings about in us and with which we freely cooperate.
In this sense, good works done in grace can contribute to our growth in holiness and, through Christ’s merits, towards our eternal reward.
Saint Augustine expressed the point beautifully.
When God crowns our merits, He is crowning His own gifts.
That is a profoundly Catholic idea.
Everything begins with God.
Everything depends upon grace.
Even our merits are gifts made possible by Him.
So the Catholic does not say:
“Look how much I have earned.”
The Catholic says:
“Lord, what do I have that I have not received?”
And at the end of life, our hope remains in Christ’s mercy.
Not in our personal greatness.
12. Can someone have faith and still lose salvation?
This is another difficult question.
Some people believe that once a person has genuinely accepted Christ, salvation can never be lost.
Catholic teaching is different.
The Church teaches that salvation is God’s gift, but human freedom remains real.
A person can receive grace and later turn away from God through mortal sin.
This does not mean God suddenly stops loving that person.
God continues to call.
God continues to offer mercy.
But a grave, knowing, deliberate rejection of God destroys charity in the soul.
The theological virtue of faith may remain even after charity has been lost, unless the sin is directly against faith.
But faith deprived of charity is not living faith that fully unites the person to Christ.
This is why the Church teaches that mortal sin is so serious.
And it is why Confession is such a beautiful sacrament.
If a baptised Catholic falls into mortal sin, Christ does not simply abandon that person.
He calls the sinner to repentance.
And through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, sanctifying grace can be restored.
This should not make us fearful or scrupulous.
God is not trying to catch us out.
But neither should we become careless.
Salvation is not a licence to sin.
It is a call to remain in Christ.
To persevere.
To repent when we fall.
To receive His mercy.
To live in charity.
The Christian life is not simply a moment in the past when we said we believed.
It is a life of continuing faith, hope, and love.
13. Salvation has a beginning, a journey, and a fulfilment
One reason people become confused is that the New Testament speaks about salvation in different ways.
Sometimes it says we have been saved.
Sometimes it speaks about those who are being saved.
And sometimes it speaks about the salvation still to come.
These are not contradictions.
They describe different aspects of God’s saving work.
The Christian receives grace.
In Baptism, the person is justified and born into the life of Christ.
That is a real beginning.
But the Christian must also grow in holiness.
We must learn to pray.
To forgive.
To resist temptation.
To love God.
To live the commandments.
To receive the sacraments.
To persevere in grace.
And finally, we hope to enter the fullness of eternal life.
The Christian life is therefore not merely a single decision made once and then forgotten.
It is a living communion with Christ.
We are called to remain in Him.
To bear fruit.
To endure.
To finish the race.
Saint Paul himself speaks about persevering towards the goal.
He does not imagine Christian discipleship as something completed simply by declaring belief.
Faith begins the journey.
Grace sustains the journey.
Charity shapes the journey.
And Christ brings the faithful to its fulfilment.
This is not uncertainty about whether God is faithful.
God is perfectly faithful.
The call is for us to remain faithful through His grace.
14. What about the good thief on the Cross?
People sometimes raise the example of the good thief.
They say:
“The thief on the Cross was saved without performing good works. Doesn’t that prove faith alone?”
We should look carefully at what happened.
The man was dying.
He had no opportunity to spend years feeding the poor, visiting the sick, or carrying out public acts of charity.
He had no opportunity to build a record of good deeds.
And yet he turned to Jesus.
He acknowledged his guilt.
He recognised the innocence of Christ.
He professed trust in Jesus’ kingdom.
He asked to be remembered.
And Jesus promised him paradise.
What does this show?
Above all, it shows the power of God’s mercy.
Salvation is not earned by accumulating religious achievements.
God can bring a person to repentance and salvation even at the final hour.
That should give enormous hope.
But notice something else.
The thief’s faith was not merely a private thought.
It expressed itself in repentance.
Humility.
Recognition of truth.
Trust.
A public acknowledgement of Jesus.
He responded to grace in the circumstances available to him.
The Church does not teach that a dying person must complete a minimum number of good works before receiving mercy.
Salvation is gift.
But living faith responds to grace.
And the good thief shows us that even at the end of life, such a response can be real.
The lesson is not:
“Good works never matter.”
The lesson is:
“God’s mercy is greater than our weakness, and salvation is never something we purchase.”
15. What do Protestants mean by faith alone?
Because this is an apologetics series, we should understand the objection fairly.
Many Protestant Christians speak about sola fide — justification by faith alone.
This became one of the major theological questions of the Reformation.
But we must be careful not to misrepresent what other Christians believe.
Many Protestant Christians do not teach that people may claim to believe in Jesus and then live without repentance or charity.
They also insist that genuine faith bears fruit in good works.
They reject the idea that a person can knowingly live in sin without concern for conversion.
So the disagreement is not simply:
“Catholics believe in good works, Protestants do not.”
That would be false.
Both Catholics and many Protestant Christians believe that grace comes first and that Christian faith should bear fruit in love.
The disagreements have concerned how justification is understood, how Christ’s righteousness is received, the relationship between justification and interior renewal, the meaning of merit, and the role of the sacraments.
These are serious theological matters.
But they should be discussed accurately.
In 1999, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.
The declaration recognised a shared understanding of fundamental truths concerning justification.
Catholics and Lutherans confessed together that salvation rests upon God’s grace, through Christ’s saving work, and not upon independent human merit.
They also recognised that genuine Christian faith bears fruit in love.
This did not remove every remaining theological disagreement.
Nor did it mean that Catholic and Lutheran doctrine had become identical in every detail.
But it showed that centuries of argument had sometimes obscured truths Christians already held in common.
As Catholics, we should be able to explain our own doctrine clearly.
Without caricaturing others.
Without denying real differences.
And without losing sight of Jesus Christ, who alone is our Saviour.
The aim of defending the faith is not to score points against other Christians.
It is to explain the truth faithfully and charitably.
16. Two opposite errors Catholics must avoid
This discussion is not only useful when answering Protestants.
It is also important for ordinary Catholic life.
Because Catholics can fall into two opposite errors.
The first error: trusting in our own goodness
A person might say:
“I am a good person.”
“I help people.”
“I have never done anything terribly wrong.”
“I try my best.”
“Surely that is enough.”
But salvation is not earned by general respectability.
The Gospel calls us to Jesus Christ.
We need repentance.
We need grace.
We need forgiveness.
We need supernatural life.
We need the sacraments.
A person may be generous, pleasant, hardworking, and respected by everyone, yet still need conversion.
Being respectable is not the same as being holy.
The Pharisee in Jesus’ parable boasted about his religious achievements.
He compared himself favourably with others.
But the tax collector simply prayed for mercy.
Jesus teaches us which attitude is pleasing to God.
The Christian should never approach God with a list of achievements demanding payment.
We approach God as children in need of mercy.
The second error: using faith as an excuse not to change
The opposite error is to say:
“I believe in Jesus, so nothing else matters.”
“I can live however I like.”
“God forgives everything, so repentance is unnecessary.”
“Good works are irrelevant.”
“Obedience is only for people who do not understand grace.”
That is not Christianity either.
Jesus calls us to conversion.
He commands us to love.
He commands us to forgive.
He warns us against hypocrisy.
He teaches that faith must bear fruit.
And Saint James says plainly that faith without works is dead.
A Catholic must reject both errors.
We cannot save ourselves by our own goodness.
But neither can we claim salvation while deliberately rejecting the life of grace.
The right response is humble trust in Christ, expressed through repentance, obedience, and charity.
17. What good works should Catholics actually do?
We should bring this teaching into ordinary life.
Because good works are not simply dramatic acts of heroism.
They begin in the circumstances God has given us.
A parent caring patiently for a child.
A husband or wife remaining faithful.
A young person resisting temptation.
An employee acting honestly.
A parishioner helping someone who is lonely.
A person forgiving an enemy.
Someone visiting the sick.
Someone feeding the hungry.
Someone giving generously to those in need.
Someone refusing gossip.
Someone telling the truth when lying would be easier.
Someone caring for an elderly relative.
Someone accepting a difficult responsibility out of love.
These can all become acts of Christian charity.
But their supernatural fruitfulness depends upon grace.
We should not merely ask:
“Have I done enough good deeds?”
We should ask:
“Am I living in Christ?”
“Am I acting through charity?”
“Am I cooperating with grace?”
“Am I becoming more faithful to the Lord?”
The Church traditionally speaks about the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
Feeding the hungry.
Giving drink to the thirsty.
Clothing the naked.
Sheltering those in need.
Visiting the sick.
Visiting prisoners.
Burying the dead.
And also teaching the ignorant, counselling the doubtful, comforting the sorrowful, forgiving injuries, bearing wrongs patiently, correcting sinners with charity, and praying for the living and the dead.
These are not ways of buying God’s favour.
They are ways of living the love of Christ.
And they matter.
Not because Christ’s sacrifice is insufficient.
But because His sacrifice is powerful enough to transform our lives.
18. How to answer this simply
So if someone asks:
“Are Catholics saved by faith or works?”
You might say:
“Catholics believe we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot earn our salvation. But genuine faith must be alive in charity and bear fruit in good works.”
If someone says:
“Saint Paul says we are saved by faith, not works.”
You can say:
“Yes. Catholics agree that salvation is God’s gift and cannot be earned. But the same passage in Ephesians says that we are created in Christ for good works.”
If someone says:
“Saint James contradicts Saint Paul.”
You can say:
“No. Saint Paul rejects the idea that we can earn justification. Saint James rejects the idea that a lifeless profession of faith is sufficient. Both teach the need for God’s grace and a genuine response of faith.”
If someone asks:
“Do Catholics believe good works earn heaven?”
You can say:
“Not by our own power. No one can merit the initial grace of justification. But God graciously rewards the works of love which His own grace makes possible in us.”
If someone says:
“Why do Catholics speak about merit?”
You can say:
“Because God promises to reward the good works of His children. But even those good works depend upon grace. Our merits are first God’s gifts.”
If someone asks:
“Isn’t believing in Jesus enough?”
You can say:
“True faith means entrusting ourselves to Christ. It cannot be separated from repentance, charity, and a willingness to follow Him. Faith without works is dead.”
If someone asks:
“Can someone lose salvation?”
You can say:
“Catholics believe that mortal sin can destroy charity and sanctifying grace in the soul. But Christ calls us to repentance and restores us through His mercy, ordinarily in Confession.”
If someone says:
“What about the thief on the Cross?”
You can say:
“He shows that salvation is God’s mercy, not a reward for accumulated good deeds. Even at the final hour, genuine repentance and trust in Christ can open the soul to salvation.”
And if someone asks:
“What is the simplest Catholic answer?”
You can say:
“We are saved by grace, through faith, and called to live that faith through love.”
That is clear.
It is biblical.
And it is Catholic.
19. What this asks of us
If salvation is God’s gift, then we must receive that gift humbly.
We must never boast as though we had saved ourselves.
We must never imagine that God owes us heaven.
We must never treat charitable works as a payment made to God.
But we must also take seriously the call to live our faith.
We should examine our lives.
Do I truly trust Jesus Christ as my Saviour?
Or do I rely mainly upon being a respectable person?
Do I believe that salvation is God’s gift?
Do I pray for grace?
Do I receive the sacraments?
Do I repent when I sin?
Do I go to Confession when I need God’s mercy?
Do I receive Holy Communion with faith and proper disposition?
Does my faith make me more charitable?
More patient?
More forgiving?
More generous?
More truthful?
More obedient to Christ?
Do I care for the poor?
Do I take seriously the words of Jesus about the final judgement?
Do I understand that my good works have value because of Christ’s grace, not independently of Him?
And perhaps one question matters most.
If I claim to believe in Jesus Christ, where can that belief be seen in the way I live?
Because faith is not merely something to be defended with words.
It must become visible in life.
Not through pride.
Not through performance.
Not through trying to impress God.
But through charity.
A Christian who has received mercy should become merciful.
A Christian who has received forgiveness should learn to forgive.
A Christian who has received love should learn to love.
A Christian who has received grace should begin to bear its fruit.
That is what living faith looks like.
Conclusion
So are Catholics saved by faith or by works?
The Catholic answer begins with Jesus Christ.
We are saved by His grace.
Not by our own power.
Not by our own achievements.
Not because we have earned heaven.
Not because we have completed enough religious duties.
Salvation is God’s gift.
We receive His saving grace through faith, and ordinarily through the sacraments Christ has instituted.
That grace forgives sin.
It reconciles us with God.
It gives us new life.
And it enables us to love.
Saint Paul teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works that give us reason to boast.
Saint James teaches that faith without works is dead.
And Jesus teaches that His disciples must bear good fruit.
These teachings belong together.
Faith is not opposed to good works.
Faith is meant to produce good works.
But good works do not replace grace.
They are made possible by grace.
So we do not say:
“I can earn heaven by being good.”
We say:
“Jesus Christ is my Saviour, and everything begins with His grace.”
We do not say:
“My faith means I can live however I like.”
We say:
“If I belong to Christ, my faith must become visible in love.”
We do not say:
“My good works make me independent of God.”
We say:
“Even the good I do is made possible by His grace.”
And we do not say:
“Saint Paul and Saint James contradict one another.”
We say:
“Saint Paul teaches that salvation cannot be earned, and Saint James teaches that genuine faith must bear fruit.”
To summarise, remember these three simple answers.
Who saves us?
Jesus Christ, through His grace.
How do we receive His saving gift?
Through faith, with Baptism as the ordinary sacrament of justification.
What must living faith produce?
Charity, obedience, and good works made possible by grace.
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
Catholics are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ — a faith that must be living, active in charity, and fruitful in good works.
And perhaps each of us should ask one final question:
Am I simply saying that I believe in Jesus, or am I allowing His grace to make me holy?
Because salvation is not our achievement.
It is Christ’s gift.
And the gift of Christ is meant to transform our lives.
Amen.
Q&A after Session 19
Questions are welcome. The aim is understanding, not debate. No one needs to be embarrassed by a question.
If a question needs a fuller answer, it can be returned to properly.
Possible starter questions:
Are Catholics saved by faith or works?
What does justification mean?
Can good deeds earn God’s forgiveness?
Why does Saint Paul say we are saved apart from works?
Why does Saint James say faith without works is dead?
Do Saint Paul and Saint James contradict one another?
What is the difference between believing in Jesus and having living faith?
What does it mean that faith works through love?
What is supernatural merit?
Can a Catholic lose sanctifying grace?
What does the good thief teach us about salvation?
What do Catholics and Protestants agree about concerning justification?
Why does Jesus speak about good works at the final judgement?
How do the sacraments relate to justification?
What should living faith look like in ordinary parish life?
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
You alone are our Saviour.
By Your Cross and Resurrection,
You have opened the way to eternal life.
Thank You for the grace we could never earn
and the mercy we could never deserve.
Increase our faith.
Strengthen our hope.
Perfect our charity.
Keep us from pride in our own works,
but also from a faith that refuses to love.
May Your Holy Spirit work within us,
so that our thoughts, words, and actions
bear the fruit of Your grace.
Help us to persevere in Your friendship
and bring us at last to the joy of heaven.
For You live and reign
with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Scripture and Catholic Teaching for Further Study
Sacred Scripture
Romans 3:21–28 — Justification through faith, apart from works of the Law.
Romans 4:1–8 — Abraham and the gift of justification.
Romans 5:1–11 — Peace with God through Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:1–10 — Saved by grace through faith and created for good works.
Galatians 5:1–6 — Faith working through love.
Philippians 2:12–13 — God working within us as we respond to salvation.
James 2:14–26 — Faith without works is dead.
John 15:1–17 — Christ the vine and the disciples as fruitful branches.
Matthew 7:16–27 — A tree known by its fruit, and hearing and doing Christ’s words.
Matthew 25:31–46 — The final judgement and works of mercy.
Luke 18:9–14 — The Pharisee and the tax collector.
Luke 23:39–43 — The good thief and the mercy of Christ.
1 Corinthians 13:1–13 — The necessity of charity.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
§§161–162 — The necessity of faith and perseverance.
§§1814–1816 — Faith as a theological virtue, and faith working through charity.
§§1987–1995 — Justification.
§§1996–2005 — Grace and its effects.
§§2006–2011 — Merit and the primacy of grace.
§§2012–2016 — Christian holiness and the universal call to sanctity.
§§1854–1864 — Mortal and venial sin.
§§1440–1449 — Reconciliation with God and the Church.
Further Catholic reading
Council of Trent, Session VI — Decree on Justification.
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (1999) — Catholic–Lutheran agreement on fundamental truths concerning justification, together with the remaining doctrinal distinctions.
