Apologetics for the Masses #524 - How Do We Reconcile the Bible Passages on Faith and Works?

Subscriber's Email
Dear John:

I have followed the ongoing debate with Dan Delzell in your email newsletter, and, while it is enlightening in some aspects, it left me bewildered in others.  I am not a Bible scholar, and perhaps that partly explains my confusion.  Nevertheless, the argument struck me as like a tennis match where he would serve up a verse that mentions only faith (e.g. John 3:16) then you would return serve with one that mentions good deeds (Matt 19:17-19).  Then he volleys back with another on faith (John 11:25-26) and you hit back with Romans 2:6, and so on. 

It would be very helpful to me – and I suspect to some other readers as well – if you would integrate these passages, which everyone agrees are the word of God, into a coherent doctrine of salvation.  I have consulted, although not cover-to-cover, the CCC, and it is rather terse on the subject.  The glossary entry on salvation says simply: “The forgiveness of sins and restoration of friendship with God, which can only be done by God alone (169).”

Item 169 (p. 46) then says: “Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: ‘We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation.’ [Quoting Faustus of Riez.]  Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith.”

The paragraphs cited in the index under salvation do not (at least to this layman) seem to provide a reconciliation of the seemingly contradictory passages which you and Delzell batted back and forth.  They deal with other matters such as the necessity of baptism (1256-57), God’s desire for spreading the faith and the necessity of missions (851), and others.  Paragraph 1696 refers to moral decisions for our salvation, which would seem to imply the need for good works (or the avoidance of bad ones), but it does not explain how these come into play.

Paragraphs 154-155 deal with the puzzle of how to understand Christian faith.  Is it something we do using our God-given reason, or is it something God gives us?  My reading of the CCC is that this is as much a mystery to the authors of the CCC as it is to me.  155 says we cooperate with divine grace.  That seems very reasonable to me, but the CCC does not cite Scripture.  However, 154 says believing is only possible by grace.  So if God wishes everyone to be saved (and Scripture says he does), why doesn’t everyone receive the necessary grace?  Does he give some insufficient grace?  (That is a rhetorical question.)  I find this a conundrum. 

One last thing.  When you cited passages dealing with works, you denied that you were dealing with the Law.  Could you explain the distinction?  For example, in Matt 17:17-19, Jesus tells his questioner to obey the commandments.  Aren’t the commandments he is referring to part of the Law?  There was no New Testament at that point, so what else could the Lord have meant?

In summary, I think your readers would benefit not only from you batting down the errors you see in others but from aggregating your points into a coherent explanation of Catholic teaching.  If you decide to cite any of my comments or questions in your public writings, please do not use my name.  There is no need to put a name on my questions.

Blessings,

(Name withheld by request)
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Subscriber's Email
I have followed the ongoing debate with Dan Delzell in your email newsletter, and, while it is enlightening in some aspects, it left me bewildered in others.  I am not a Bible scholar, and perhaps that partly explains my confusion.  Nevertheless, the argument struck me as like a tennis match where he would serve up a verse that mentions only faith (e.g. John 3:16) then you would return serve with one that mentions good deeds (Matt 19:17-19).  Then he volleys back with another on faith (John 11:25-26) and you hit back with Romans 2:6, and so on. 

My Comments
First of all, being a "Bible scholar" is certainly not a requirement for being able to read and understand my materials.  I always tell people that if you want deep theology and/or deep philosophy...go somewhere else, because you won't find it in my work.  So, it's not a lack of biblical scholarship that is the hindrance here, rather, it seems to be merely a lack of understanding the context of my comments.  Pastor Dan believes we are saved by faith "alone".  That works have nothing at all to do with our salvation.  Which is why he focuses exclusively on Bible verses that talk about the role of faith in salvation.  And, he seems to be under the impression that Catholics either don't read those particular verses or don't believe in those particular verses.  Yet we do.  All I was trying to do with the Bible verses I presented to him, was to let him know that Catholics read and believe not just the verses that pertain to the role of faith in one's salvation, but also the verses that pertain to the role of works in one's salvation.  And I was simply asking him if he believed in those latter verses as well.  So it wasn't a case of his "faith" verses versus my "works" verses, rather it was a case of my acknowledging the "faith" verses he brought up and then asking him to explain the "works" verses I brought up in light of his claim that we are saved by faith and faith "alone".  So, on my part, it wasn't one set of verses opposed to another set of verses, it was one set of verses in addition to another set of verses.

Subscriber's Email
It would be very helpful to me – and I suspect to some other readers as well – if you would integrate these passages, which everyone agrees are the word of God, into a coherent doctrine of salvation.  I have consulted, although not cover-to-cover, the CCC, and it is rather terse on the subject.  The glossary entry on salvation says simply: “The forgiveness of sins and restoration of friendship with God, which can only be done by God alone (169).”

My Comments
Well, here is my shot at a "coherent doctrine of salvation" - the Bible tells us that Baptism, which corresponds to being saved through water, "now saves you," (1 Peter 3:20-21).  Jesus said in John 3:3-5, that we have to be born again...born of water and the Spirit...Baptism...or we cannot enter the Kingdom of God.  So, Baptism is the 1st step in a person's salvation.  As the Council of Trent tells us, no amount of faith we have or good works that we do - before we are baptized into the Body of Christ - merit our salvation.  It is through Baptism that we receive the free gratuitous gift of God's saving grace.  It is through Baptism that we are saved.  It is through Baptism that we are sanctified by the washing of water with the Word and made holy and without blemish before God (Eph 5:26-27).  So, Baptism is the beginning of the journey.  

However, for Catholics, in accord with the Bible, we see salvation as a process, not a one-time event as do many Protestants.  So, after we have been saved, after we have received our inheritance from the Father, we have the free will to dissipate that inheritance...to lose that inheritance...through sin, as did the Prodigal Son.  There are sins of omission - things we should have done but didn't (e.g., feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the imprisoned, care for widows and orphans, forgive others, etc.).  And there are sins of commission - things we should not have done, but did (adultery, fornication, stealing, worshipping false gods, etc.).  So, in order to avoid sin which separates us from the olive tree (Rom 11:17-22) and from the vine (John 15:1-6) - which are Christ - and costs us our inheritance, and in order to achieve the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14), we need to respond to God's free gift of salvation with both faith and works.  For without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb 11:6) and it is faith working through love (good works) that is indeed of avail (Gal 5:6).  

In summary, Baptism saves us by God's free gift of His saving grace, and, once we have been saved, it is both faith and works that allows us to hold on to and grow into our salvation.  It is through faith and works that we are changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor 3:18) and are able to run the race to the end and receive the prize (Phil 3:12-14).  

Subscriber's Email
Item 169 (p. 46) then says: “Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: ‘We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation.’ [Quoting Faustus of Riez.]  Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith.”

My Comments
Salvation does indeed come from God alone, but He brings us to that salvation in and through the Church, which is the Body of Christ.  Would any Christian doubt the saying that we are saved in and through the Body of Christ?  Well, saying that we are saved in and through the Church is the same thing.  It is through the Church that we receive the Sacraments - beginning with the Sacrament of Baptism - through which the saving grace of God is conveyed.  John 1:16 tells us that from His (Jesus') fullness, we have "received grace upon grace".  Furthermore, the Word of God tells us that the Church is the fullness of Jesus Christ (Eph 1:22-23).  So it is through the Church, His fullness, that we "receive grace upon grace".  

Subscriber's Email
The paragraphs cited in the index under salvation do not (at least to this layman) seem to provide a reconciliation of the seemingly contradictory passages which you and Delzell batted back and forth.  They deal with other matters such as the necessity of baptism (1256-57), God’s desire for spreading the faith and the necessity of missions (851), and others.  Paragraph 1696 refers to moral decisions for our salvation, which would seem to imply the need for good works (or the avoidance of bad ones), but it does not explain how these come into play.

My Comments
The passages that Pastor Delzell and I each brought up can not only seem contradictory, I would claim that they are, in fact, contradictory - for anyone who holds to a belief in the dogma of salvation by faith alone (Sola Fide).  Sola Fide believers, by definition, have to take an either-or position in regard to those various passages on faith and works.  You are saved by either faith, or works.  That is why they so often accuse Catholics of believing in a "works based" salvation, because when we cite such passages as Rom 2:6-7 or Matt 25:31-46 or Matt 7:21 or James 2:24 or Hebrews 12:14 or Matt 19:16-17 and so forth (I could go on...and on...and on), for the Protestant, it is a question of either/or.  So, if we Catholics believe works play a role in our salvation, then Protestant sola fide theology says, "Well, if works play a role in salvation, then faith doesn't."  Thus we get accused of having a "works based" salvation.  So those passages necessarily contradict each other in a sola fide theology.  

For the Catholic, however, the Word of God does not contradict itself.  We are not either/or believers.  We are both/and believers.  We do not believe it is either faith or works that play a role in our salvation.  We believe it is both faith and works that play a role in our salvation - all by the grace of God.  So when we come across passages in the Bible that emphasize the role of faith in salvation, we do not take those to mean to the exclusion of works.  And, when we come across passages in the Bible that emphasize the role of works in salvation, we do not take those to mean to the exclusion of faith.  It is both/and, not either/or.  We take the Bible in its entirety, not piece-by-piece.  So in Catholic theology, the Word of God does not contradict itself.  In Catholic theology, passages of Scripture do not have to be explained away.  In Catholic theology, we don't have to say about any given verse of Scripture, "Well, what that really means is..."

Good works, as I have explained above, play a role in our salvation in that they help us to become more like Christ.  They help us to become holier.  They help us to grow in glory.  They help us to avoid sin.  They help us to follow the will of God for our lives.  They help us to maintain our faith.  We are not saved by our works.  However, if we do not do the works that God has prepared for us beforehand to do (Eph 2:10)...if we do not do the will of God for our lives (Matt 7:21)...then we will lose that which has been freely given to us.  We will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Our works do not save us; but our lack of works can damn us.  

Subscriber's Email
Paragraphs 154-155 deal with the puzzle of how to understand Christian faith.  Is it something we do using our God-given reason, or is it something God gives us?  My reading of the CCC is that this is as much a mystery to the authors of the CCC as it is to me.  155 says we cooperate with divine grace.  That seems very reasonable to me, but the CCC does not cite Scripture.  However, 154 says believing is only possible by grace.  So if God wishes everyone to be saved (and Scripture says he does), why doesn’t everyone receive the necessary grace?  Does he give some insufficient grace?  (That is a rhetorical question.)  I find this a conundrum. 

My Comments
Well, when you speak of "how to understand Christian faith," it is something we do indeed do using our "God-given reason" and we do it by the grace of God, but there are also instances where God has given infused knowledge of the Christian faith to some - for example, to the disciples at Pentecost.  Regarding the will of man cooperating with Divine Grace, the Catechism does indeed cite Scripture on this topic.  Check out the footnotes for paragraphs #1996 - 2000, in particular.  There is a limit, however, on how much man can understand the Christian faith.  It is the limit of a finite mind trying to comprehend an infinite Mind.  

As to why everyone doesn't "receive the necessary grace" in order to be saved, well, they do.  We either do not recognize it - out of ignorance - or we reject it - out of sin.  There are plenty of people who do indeed receive the necessary grace who, nonetheless, because of sin, could still end up in Hell.  The channels of grace in any given person could be choked off because of sin.  Because of unbelief.  

Subscriber's Email
One last thing.  When you cited passages dealing with works, you denied that you were dealing with the Law.  Could you explain the distinction?  For example, in Matt 17:17-19, Jesus tells his questioner to obey the commandments.  Aren’t the commandments he is referring to part of the Law?  There was no New Testament at that point, so what else could the Lord have meant?

My Comments
The term "the Law" is, essentially, referring to the "Law of Moses," or the Mosaic Law - which, for the most part, came into effect during the time of Moses (circumcision is usually included in "the Law," even though it came before Moses; see Gen 17).  Gal 3:17, "...the law, which came four hundred and thirty years afterward  [after Abraham]..."  "The Law" is a very specific set of rules and regulations that God gave to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert.  However, Genesis 26:5 tells us there were commandments, statutes, and laws of God before the Mosaic Law.  The Ten Commandments are often included in "the Law" because they were given to Moses on stone tablets, but they existed, even if not formally written down, before the "Law of Moses".  I mean, we see in Genesis 4 that "Thou shalt not kill" was in existence before Moses ever came on the scene.  And the worship of false gods was clearly forbidden before Moses was ever born.  Peter referred to "the law of Moses" as a "yoke upon the neck of the disciples," (Acts 15:5,10).

All of that is to say, that the term, "the Law," is not synonymous with doing good works.  It's not even synonymous with every Old Testament law, commandment, and statute.  Yes, the Law required one to do a number of works - animal sacrifices, eating kosher, celebrating certain festivals, particular penalties for sins, being clean and unclean, and so on - but, again, those works are very specifically laid out in the books Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  Nowhere are good works, in general, synonymous with "the Law".  So, when Paul says, for example, that God will give eternal life to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality (Rom 2:6-7), he is not referring to the Mosaic Law.  

Subscriber's Email
In summary, I think your readers would benefit not only from you batting down the errors you see in others but from aggregating your points into a coherent explanation of Catholic teaching.  

Blessings,

(Name withheld by request)

My Comments
Well, hopefully, your request has been fulfilled.