=============================================
The Bible teaches that we all start out our lives in a state of sin. Anything we do in that state, if it is not lead by God, is not pleasing to Him. We cannot make it to heaven in this state of sin.
To get out of this state, we must receive the Holy Spirit by faith. At that point, the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and makes us truly holy and righteous: the Bible calls this the "state of grace," being "under grace," being "in Christ," or (most commonly) "justification." Anything good that we do in this "state of grace" is done by the Holy Spirit working within us; it leads us closer to eternal life by helping us to grow in righteousness; and if we die in this state, we will certainly be admitted into heaven -- you can count on it.
Hence, when Christians go to heaven it is because of the faith they have lived and the good deeds they have lived it by -- all of this comes as a gift or a grace from the Holy Spirit. Theologians call this the relationship between "grace" and "merit": how is it that you can "merit" eternal life if it is a "gift"? This page is dedicated to exploring this question from the Bible.
=============================================
=============================================
This is what the Catholic Church officially teaches about grace, salvation, and merit!
=============================================
In paragraphs 1987 to 2029, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says the following: "Justification detaches man from sin which contradicts the love of God, and purifies his heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initiative of offering forgiveness." (#1990) "Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion." (#2010) "With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts, and obedience to the divine will is granted us." (#1991) "Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life." (#2010)
I encougage you to compare that summary from the Catholic Catechism with what the Bible teaches as laid out below. If you do, I am sure you will find that they say the very same thing: eternal life is obtained by faith and in sanctification when the Holy Spirit enables us to obey God's will, so that we can indeed reap eternal life, both by faith and by good deeds. The Catholic Church and the Bible are in total agreement.
=============================================
=============================================
The Book of Romans teaches that we cannot merit our initial forgiveness and salvation for ourselves, because it comes by faith: "What does the scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.' Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness." (Romans 4:3-5)
So salvation comes to us unmerited. Where does merit come in, then? Romans 5-6 teaches that after that initial, unmerited forgiveness, God sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts to enable us to obey His will: "Since we have been justified through faith," "[and] have found entrance into this state of grace in which we now abide," "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." "[Therefore] you who used to disobey have become obedient from the heart," "and this obedience leads to righteousness." "The benefit you reap leads to sanctification, and the result is eternal life."
(Romans 5:1-2, 5; 6:16-17, 22)
So after forgiveness comes to us the first time, unmerited, and after we enter into the state of grace, we do begin to grow in and "reap" this same eternal life -- yes, we merit it -- by continuing in faith, but also by our obedience done in sanctification and holiness. So although our salvation begins by faith, we cannot say that it is obtained by faith alone, because we must continue in this state: by drawing ever closer to God, by our good deeds done in righteousness. It is just as the Catholic Church teaches.
=============================================
=============================================
In the Book of Galatians, St. Paul rebukes a Christian community that tried to return to the old Jewish restrictions that Christ abolished, as if they were part of our justification. In Galatians 3:1-3, he reminds them that when we first receive the Spirit, He comes by faith and not by our deeds: "O foolish Galatians!" he says, "Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?" Here St. Paul is talking about the initial forgiveness that comes by faith, unmerited.
He stresses that after we receive the Holy Spirit, it is not necessary to keep the whole Old Testament Law; trying to do so in the flesh will only lead to failure, and death. (Galatians 5:19-21, Galatians 3:10-12) Paul harshly corrects this methodology. He says that since we have begun by the Spirit, we must end with the Spirit, instead of the flesh: "Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?" "Rather, I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would." (Galatians 3:3, 5:16-17)
"Having begun with the Spirit" and "now ending with the flesh" refer to completing our faith by our deeds, which is a biblical concept. St. Paul does not object to the idea of completing our faith as such, but simply to the idea of ending with the flesh: "For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." "He who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." "[Therefore] let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men."
(Galatians 6:7-10)
Yes, we can "reap" eternal life by faith completed in good deeds sown to the Spirit, but not by trying to keep the whole Law, which only leads to sinning in works of the flesh. So merit exists, but only after we receive the Spirit, for He brings it about inside of us by His grace alone, just as the Catholic Church teaches.
=============================================
=============================================
The idea of coming to salvation by both faith and good deeds is closely related to the connection between justification and sanctification, two parts of the Christian Way that theologians distinguish.
Justification means being made "just" or righteous by accepting Christ as your savior. It is talked about in Romans 3 in this way:
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it,
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction;
23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins;
26 it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith.
(See also Galatians 2:15-21.)
Sanctification means being made "holy" by the Holy Spirit who dwells inside us after we come to believe. It is talked about in Roman 6 in this way:
14 Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. ...
18 ...having been set free from sin, [you] have become slaves of righteousness.
19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once yielded your members to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for sanctification.
20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 But then what return did you get from the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death.
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life.
(See also 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8.)
If Romans 3 talks about justification, and Romans 6 talks about sanctification, guess where Paul talks about the connection between them? In Romans 5:
1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
=============================================
Argument:
From the Bible we learn that justification comes by faith and puts us in a right relationship with God; it gives us "access to this grace in which we stand," and being "under grace" means becoming sanctified: we develop endurance, good character, and other virtues through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In short, Biblically speaking, the Christian Way to salvation is as simple as this: abiding in the state of grace.
(1) To enter the state of grace means being justified. (Romans 5:1-2)
(2) To abide in the state of grace means being sanctified. (Romans 6:14-19)
(3) To die in the state of grace means going to heaven. (Romans 6:22)
Protestants cannot argue with that 3-part summary, but many of them think that since sanctification follows justification, or since #2 follows #1, it does not contribute to our salvation. They say that "once you get saved, you act saved," or you become sanctified, but that follows from salvation and does not move you toward it -- or so they say. That is why they say that salvation comes by "faith alone": they think it comes from justification, (the righteousness that comes by faith,) but not from sanctification, the holiness that the Holy Spirit produces.
But Biblically speaking, sanctification is just as much a part of coming to eternal life as justification is: "having become slaves of God [by justification], the return you get is sanctification and its end, eternal life." (Romans 6:22) "God chose you from the beginning to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth," and not by belief alone. (2 Thessalonians 2:13) Salvation and eternal life come from faith and the holiness imparted by the Holy Spirit. Justification leads to sanctification; in other words, good faith leads to good deeds; and by both of them we finally obtain salvation.
=============================================
=============================================
James 2:
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? ...
18 But some one will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe -- and shudder.
20 Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?
22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works,
23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God.
24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.
=============================================
Argument:
St. James is talking about the kind of faith that will "save" you. He says that saving faith is never alone, it must always be "completed by works." Now, on this very page but above this passage, I talk about how in biblical theology, justification begins with our belief, but in Biblical theology that is just the beginning; justification is the first part of the broader process of sanctification; see my section on the relationship between justification and sanctification. The latter part of the Christian walk, as Protestant theologians admit, is where our good deeds come into play.
So where James says that faith must be "completed by works," and that in this way a person can be "justified by works," he is demonstrating a very Catholic view of salvation: justification moves on past our initial belief and is completed by sanctification, i.e. by good deeds done in holiness. If we are saved by being in the state of grace, as the Bible teaches (see above), James shows that we first enter the state of grace by faith (v. 23) but also that we complete this process and fulfil it by our good deeds (vv. 21-23).
So works do play a role in our salvation: they bring us onward in the Christian walk; justification begins, initially, by belief, and is completed by good deeds, in sanctification; and thus it would be wrong to say that a person is justified by faith alone. For it must also go on to include our good deeds. Just as the Catholic Church teaches.
=============================================
=============================================
Philippians 3:
8 ...I may gain Christ and be found in him,
9 not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith...
Philippians 2:
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
=============================================
Argument:
Paul is abundantly clear in Philippians 2: both faith and good works, (faith being the assent of the mind and will,) are gifts from God. And they both contribute to our salvation: it is not obtained by faith alone.
Even so, in the next chapter Paul stresses the other side of the coin: at the beginning of conversion, we have not done anything to merit God's grace. Hence, when we first obtain righteousness, it is "not...[our] own," but "comes through faith." That is justification: entrance into the state of grace cannot be obtained by works, i.e. it can't be earned, for it is pure grace. But after that, after faith grants us entrance into the state of grace, you have to work with God (in sanctification) in order to obtain salvation in the final analysis. So when Philippians 2 talks about working out our salvation, it means that we already have obtained it initially, (in justification,) but we must continue to work with God in order to obtain it at last. Just as the Catholic Church teaches.
One translation that makes this clear, (and more palatable to Protestants,) is the New Century version, which reads: "Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling, because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases him."
=============================================
=============================================
Ephesians 2:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God --
9 not because of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 3:
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man,
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; ...
4:17 Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; ...
6:6 [Rather, be] servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men,
8 knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord.
=============================================
Argument:
St. Paul states pretty clearly that we do not initially come to salvation through our own works: "[it] is not your own doing, it is the gift of God." He is speaking of our conversion to Christ, when we had been "dead through our trespasses," but were "made...alive together with Christ." That is conversion, and as the Catholic Church teaches, we do not earn that: it comes by grace through faith.
But after that, God sends His Spirit into our hearts; we are "strengthened in might through his Spirit in the inner man." At that point, we are able to "[do] the will of God from the heart," "knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord."
So although salvation initially comes by faith, and not by works, it is still not correct to say that it comes in its entirety by faith alone, because after our initial conversion our good works do become acceptable to the Lord -- and we can know that they will be rewarded. They bring us closer to God and draw us deeper into salvation, so that salvation is brought about not just at conversion, but throughout our lives after that: by both faith and good deeds, if they are done from a heart that has been washed by the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah! Faith completed by works, just as the Catholic Church teaches. Amen.
=============================================
=============================================
