I received an email from a well meaning Evangelical who asked:

“Can a person get into heaven by giving to charities?”

He felt that Catholics believe that we can buy our way into Heaven.

A couple of years ago the Pope and Lutheran World Federation cosigned a document entitled “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification” (JDDJ) agreeing on the role of faith in salvation. St. Cyprian said “No one is safe by his own strength, but he is safe by the face and mercy of God.”

I could never in my lifetime, do enough good works to get into heaven on my own strength. There are not enough little old ladies in the world that I could help walk across the street, to pay the price that Jesus paid for my salvation. We Catholics don’t think we can work our way into heaven, honest! On the other hand we don’t think we can sit on our butts and expect Jesus to be pleased.

Section 1996 of the Catechism says:

Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. (Jn 4:14; 7:38-39.)

Sections 161-162 the Catechism says:

(161) “Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation …therefore without faith no one has ever attained justification…(162) Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man…

The Catechism also talks about our response to faith, (sections 161-162 and 1997-2000) which is to go out into the world and do as Jesus would have us do. Which is what we call Charity.

A couple of years ago almost every teenage Evangelical was wearing a bracelet that said WWJD, which was an acronym for “What Would Jesus Do?” This is basically what Catholics call Charity. When Catholics say the we must practice Charity, we are not saying you must give money to some benevolent organization (although that is a charitable action). We are basically saying “Ok, now that you have given your life to Jesus, do what Jesus would have you do and do this for the rest of your life, one day at a time.” (Mk 13:13, Jam 1:2, Mt 10:22, Mt 24:13). Catholics believe we must “endure until the end” with our faith. (Heb 11:6)

Once saved always saved?
The great Evangelical minister Charles Stanley, the founder of “In Touch” Ministries, whose daily radio show is heard my millions said:

You say you know you’re saved, well that’s not enough. (CHRI Radio, broadcast July 24, 2007)

We don’t think it is biblical to say “once saved always saved.” Catholics would say that God gave us free will and that even after we are authentically “born again,” we can always choose to sin. An example of this is the number of “born again” Christian men who have struggled with pornography, including the great Evangelical gospel performer, Kirk Franklin (who is thankfully in recovery). We believe we can damage or break the bond with Christ even after we have had an authentic “born again” experience.

Paul was totally “born again,” yet he said “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor 9:16) When the Bible says “woe to …” it means that there is grave danger, including hell. (Mat 11:21, 18:7, 23:13-16, 23-29, 24:19, 26:24, Mk 14:2, Lk 6:24-26, 10:13, 11:42-52, 17:1, 21:23, 22:22, Jud 1:11, Rev 8:13, 9:12, 11:14, 12:12)

Paul is saying that he must not only believe in the Lord Jesus but he must also do the will of Jesus, which was to preach the Gospel. He is saying that if he did not do that, he would be breaking his relationship to Jesus and risk going to hell.

Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (Mat 7:20)

I was recently playing music at a Pentecostal Assemblies Church. The good pastor gave an amazing sermon called “if I was the devil” where he said:

“If I was the devil I would teach Christians that
the Holy Spirit was sent to bless.”
(Kingston Gospel Temple, Sun. Jun 4, 2006)

As the congregation reeled in confusion, he pointed to Acts 1:8.

“And the Holy Spirit will come upon you…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This good Pentecostal minister was saying that the devil is happy that so many people of faith do not work for the kingdom. He said “It’s fine to go into your prayer closet and praise the Lord and get hit with the Holy Spirit. But then get off your knees, roll up your sleeves and get to work for the Kingdom!” I said “Amen!”

Catholics believe that works are not only a manifestation of faith, but we also believe that the Word of God is saying that works complete our faith.

The book of James says:

What good is it, my brothers if you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you. If a brother is naked and lacks daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. (James 2:14-16)

Martin Luther moved the book of James out of the Bible into the appendix of his translation because of its focus on works. He said it was an “Epistle of Straw.” Luckily, it didn’t catch on.

What if a born again person falls into sin?
Most Evangelicals would probably say that a “born again” Christian who fails to respond to the Gospel by trying to do what Jesus would have him do, was never authentically “born again” in the first place and as such would be in danger of hell. Catholics would say it a bit differently. We would say he broke the grace bestowed on him at baptism.

Many Evangelical denominations (although not all), including the famous Evangelical Moody Institute in Chicago, preach that there are different sizes of “houses” in heaven, depending on how we respond to our faith. The Evangelical pastor, Rick Warren in his bestseller book “The Purpose Driven Life” says:

One day you will stand before God, and he will do an audit of your life, a final exam, before you enter eternity… he will ask us two crucial questions …First, ‘What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?’ …Second, ‘What did you do with what I gave you’ … the second question will determine what you do in eternity…(The Purpose Driven Life, pg. 34)

At the end of your life on earth you will be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you. That means everything you do…has eternal consequences…you will receive a promotion and be given greater responsibility in eternity …” (The Purpose Driven Life, pg. 45)

If you are rewarded and treated better in Heaven for the things you did in this life, then I think Pastor Rick is saying those who do not get those rewards are in fact being “punished” for not doing the things on earth that would get them those rewards in Heaven. Catholics agree that there may be consequences in the afterlife. However, we believe if the sin is very serious, then we may have severed the bond with Christ completely, and as such our soul would be in danger of hell. If the sin is not too serious, we believe Jesus will clear it up in the interim between our death and entry into heaven, which we call Purgatory.

Catholics totally agree that faith is necessary to salvation. Without it we are lost. We would also say we that the Bible has called us to respond to that faith by doing what Jesus would have us do, and that failure to do so is a serious sin, which could put our souls in jeopardy. (Mat 7:20, 1 Cor 9:16, James 2:14-16) We can lose this precious gift of faith as St. Paul indicated to St. Timothy: “wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith” (1 Tim 1:18-19)

Charity is the New Commandment (Jn 13:34). Catholics feel that charity is a reflection of our faith and it helps keep us true to the saving Grace that was bestowed on us at baptism. Charity reminds me not to be “self centred” which can cause quite a “backslide” into serious sin. It is also a form of penance which Catholics feel is valuable and it is a sign of our “yes” to God. Through his command to charity, God is saying something like “put your money where your mouth is!” (Mt 19:21, Mt 25:40-43, Rev 20:12, Lk 19:6)

How can I do good works if I am physically not able to work?
Charity, (good works) can come in many forms and does not necessarily mean physical work. Some old people are bed ridden, but after becoming born again they decided to become pray worriers. They spend the rest of their lives in prayer for world leaders, famine filled countries, babies that are about to be aborted, the youth, and unconverted peoples. This most certainly qualifies as “good works” and Jesus will say to them “well done good and faithful servant.” (Mt 25:21, Lk 19:17)

I heard an Evangelical radio minister say “the prisoner on the cross beside Jesus did nothing to get into heaven and could do nothing because he was dying on a cross.” (Lk 23:43) However, this prisoner turned to the other prisoner on the cross and proclaimed that Jesus was the blameless one? (Lk. 23:41) I think this was an act of evangelization. At that moment he preached the Gospel. When the thief publicly asked Jesus to save him, he evangelized the crowd that was watching. By being part of the Gospel of Luke, this thief helped alter the course of humanity for all time. These all seem like good works to me.

In my opinion, a lot of the dialogue between Catholics and Protestants about the role of “works” is mostly semantic because both camps work hard for the Lord after having experienced Him. I’ve never seen a person who has been touched by the Lord refuse to respond with love and charity to the less fortunate. So c’mon you Evangelical folks who are born again, join us at the pro-life rallies.

What does the Bible say about “works” and its role in salvation?
Mat 7:16-20 Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evil doers.’ Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock”

Matt: 19:21 Then someone came to him and said “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life…[Jesus said] go sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven…When the young man heard this word he went away grieving, for he had many possessions…

Mat 25:40 When you have done this to the least of my brothers you did it unto me

Mat 25:40-43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Mt 25:15-28 Check out the parable of the 10 talents.

2 Cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, as recorded in the books. 13 And the sea gave up the dead that were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and all were judged according to what they had done.

Lk 19:6 “So he (Zacchaeus) hurried down and was happy to welcome him (Jesus) … 8 Zachaeus stood there and said to the Lord “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house”

Many Evangelicals point to Rom 3:28 “…We are justified by faith apart from the works prescribed by the law.” Catholics think it important to look at the entire passage in context. Paul did not only say “…apart from works.” He said “…apart from the works prescribed by the law.” The word prescribed infers that it was written down. If you asked a Jew back then what the law was, he would say “the Torah” which was the written law (1st five books of the Bible). To me these “works prescribed in the law” such as circumcision seem quite distinct from Christian works of Charity. This is made clearer in the next verse “or is God the God of the Jews only is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also” (Rom 3:29) The next two verses drives this home. “Since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised (Jews) on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised (Gentiles) through their faith” (Rom 3:30).” It seems that Paul is talking on this circumcision issue and the other trappings of the old Jewish law that were barriers to Gentiles. It seems to have nothing to do with works of Christian Charity.

Gal 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens and this way you fulfill the law of Christ.”

Gal 6:4 “For all must test their own work.”

1 Cor 9:16 “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel”

James 5:20 “you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinners soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins”

James 2:14-16 “What good is it, my brothers if you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you. If a brother is naked and lacks daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

James goes on to hammer this home in the next few verses. Most of my protestant friends intuitively know this and they work had to serve the Lord.

1 Cor 9:16 “for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel” To proclaim the Gospel is an action. This is a work.

Jer. 17:10; 32:19 God will evaluate every man according to his deeds.

See also “Are Catholics ‘Born Again’?”

By Kenneth J. Howell (former Protestant minister

This Rock Magazine/www.catholic.com
Volume 14, Number 3
March 2003

OBJECTOR: The other day I was reading the book of Galatians, and it struck me how much emphasis Paul places on faith as the means of salvation. Then I asked myself how Catholics can believe in justification by works. If the Catholic Church really believes the Bible, as it claims, how can it continue to teach that we have to earn our salvation? The Bible seems pretty clear that justification is by faith alone.

CATHOLIC: There are several aspects to this question. The most important is to realize that the Catholic Church does not teach that we earn our salvation by our own efforts, although it does teach that we have to work on our salvation. The same apostle who wrote Galatians also wrote Philippians, wherein Paul says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).

OBJECTOR: Yes, but don’t you think that statement has to be understood in light of the teaching in Galatians? In Galatians 2:15–16, Paul says, “We ourselves . . .who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified.”

CATHOLIC: I don’t see these two verses as contradicting each another or even in tension. But first let me make clear the official teachings of the Catholic Church: It teaches that we can do nothing to merit the grace that comes to us in baptism, which is the normal beginning of the Christian life. In fact, the Council of Trent condemned anyone who taught that we can save ourselves or who taught even that God helps us do what we could do for ourselves. The Church teaches that we can be saved only by God’s grace.

OBJECTOR: Well, if the Catholic Church really teaches salvation by grace, that’s wonderful. But it’s hard for me to believe because Catholics place so much emphasis on doing good works. Paul’s letters stress again and again that salvation comes through faith alone. In addition to Galatians 2:15–16, consider Romans 4:2: “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” Then three verses later, in 4:5, Paul puts it another way: “And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.”

CATHOLIC: We don’t disagree about the primary role that faith plays. Following Paul, the Catholic Church teaches that justification comes by faith. Only it says that it doesn’t come through faith alone. If you look carefully at Paul’s writings, you will notice that he never says that our righteousness comes from faith alone—only that it comes from faith apart from works.

OBJECTOR: Well, there you have it. That was almost a direct quote from Romans 3:28: “For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” That phrase by faith apart from works of the law sounds to me like Paul is saying that justification comes through faith alone.

CATHOLIC: Romans 3:28 is a key verse in the differences between traditional Protestants and Catholics. You will notice that Paul says a man is justified by faith (pistei in Greek). When Martin Luther translated the letter to the Romans into German in the sixteenth century, he added the word alone —but alone is not in the original Greek text. The phrase “faith alone” does occur in the New Testament: one time, in James 2:24. There the inspired apostle denies that justification is from faith alone. Let me quote it: “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

OBJECTOR: The classic text in James 2:14–26 is a difficult one. Let’s come back to that one. I just want to point out that Luther was completely justified—pun intended—in translating Romans 3:28 with the words faith alone because that is another way of saying that justification is “apart from works of the law.” You see, when Paul says in Romans 4:2 that Abraham could boast if his salvation were from works, he is explaining what he said in 3:27 when he asked, “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith.” Boasting before God is possible if any works are involved in our salvation, but no boasting is possible if it is by faith alone.

CATHOLIC: Agreed—Paul categorically excludes works from our salvation. But what kind of works is Paul talking about? If we believe the entire Bible, we need to see how Paul’s words fit together with James’s words, because James clearly says that “a man is justified by works.” If Paul and James mean the same thing by works, then they contradict one another. Since you and I both believe that the Bible cannot contradict itself, we must agree that Paul and James mean two different things by the word works.

OBJECTOR: I agree, but this is a tough problem of interpretation.

CATHOLIC: The Catholic Church believes that we should interpret Scripture by using Scripture. You will note that sometimes Paul expands his phrase from works by adding the phrase of the law, as in Romans 3:20 and 28 and Galatians 2:16. Further, sometimes Paul substitutes the phrase through the law to describe the same reality. For example, in Romans 3:20, he says, “Through the law comes knowledge of sin.” In other words, when Paul uses the word works he is talking about the Old Testament law.

A careful reading of Galatians will show that Paul is using works of the law to refer especially to the law of circumcision. He is so strong about this that he says in Galatians 5:2, “Now I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.” Paul’s opponents in Galatia wanted to bring the Gentile Christians back into the Old Testament law. These are the works of the law that Paul is fighting against, and they have no place in our justification. Paul is saying in essence that Gentile Christians do not have to be circumcised and live like Jewish Christians in order to be saved.

OBJECTOR: I can agree with your interpretation of Galatians, but I think also we can generalize Paul’s words so that any work that we put before God as a reason for him to accept us is the kind of work he condemns.

CATHOLIC: I might agree if that’s all there was to it. But Paul speaks about Christians fulfilling the law by following the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:14). He then explains that we must show the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal 5:16–26) and bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:1ff) as a way of fulfilling the “law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). All Paul’s teaching comes down to this: Our own works can never justify us, but works that grow out of faith in Christ are part of our justification. That’s why Paul says in Philippians 2:12 you must “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” And that squares with James’s teaching that works that grow from faith justify.

OBJECTOR: Okay, I’ll agree that James is teaching that we must add works to our faith. But notice that these works are only evidence of true faith as opposed to a false faith. Read James 2:14 carefully: “What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?” James is dealing with the problem of those who claim faith but who don’t show it by their works. In verse 17 James says this kind of faith, “if it has no works, is dead.” James’s message is this: If you have true faith, then you will have works to follow. But that does not mean that James sees works as having to do with our salvation.

CATHOLIC: Okay, James is teaching that works show true faith. But we Catholics insist that James 2:14–26 shows that works are more than mere evidence of faith. Works actually justify. James is speaking about works growing out of faith. If works of faith are not a part of our justification, then it is hard to understand why James would say, as he does, that “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?” (Jas. 2:21). You may remember how Paul said that Abraham was not justified by works but by faith. Paul means that Abraham was not justified by keeping the Old Testament law, while James means that Abraham was justified by doing a work that grew out of his faith in God.

OBJECTOR: Maybe all James means is that Abraham’s actions showed that his faith was real.

CATHOLIC: You could argue that if James did not say explicitly, “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works” (Jas. 2:22). And then in verse 24 James concludes again, “A man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

OBJECTOR: I must admit that I’ve never heard a Catholic give the explanation you gave, but I am still not convinced that the Catholic Church is right on this point.

CATHOLIC: Well, these are difficult points of theology and interpretation. I encourage you to pray and think about the Catholic understanding of justification. In sum, the Church teaches that salvation is a process of becoming holier and holier through time. All of this is a work of grace that God performs in our hearts through faith. Works done in faith are the natural completion of believing in Christ. As we trust and do God’s work, he instills within us more grace so that we may become holier and so be ready to meet him at the end of our life.