Does the Catholic Church teach salvation by good works or by faith?

Question

A question for catholics?

Answer 1

Catholics possess a complete and thorough understanding of the complex relationship between faith, grace, salvation, and sanctification.

Salvation is a free gift from God, and the ultimate expression of salvation through absolutely NO WORKS AT ALL is infant baptism, where the church freely supplies everything necessary, including the FAITH, and the infant becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, an adopted child of God, co-heir with Jesus Christ, and a member of his church, all by doing NOTHING!

This is accomplished simply because God desires ALL MEN to be saved, and his church FAITHFULLY proceeds, according to his will.

Once SAVED, good works do indeed matter, as our ultimate place (JOB, REWARD, POSITION) in heaven is determined by merit, and merit is a function of how successfully one manages to conform one's ACTIONS/WORKS to God's divine will.

Only when understood in light of these two concepts together do the scriptures and the Christian world view truly make sense ... and it's about time Protestants began to properly understand it.

Answer 2

False dichotomy. We are saved by grace. To accept grace requires faith - but faith without works is dead. What this means is that your faith, if not nutured by following Christ's commands, will fade and dissipate. It is impossible to separate faith from works, both are parcel to the grace we receive, the free gift of Christ, given once for all, to be fulfilled as friends and imitators of Christ.

Contact me through my avatar if you want to talk more on the Scripture behind it, or need recommendation on good Catholic apologetics books.

A note: it is a common misconception that Catholics teach works, while Protestants teach faith. Scripture upholds both. You can get into a complicated dialogue on justification versus redemption versus salvation, or the phases of the salvific process, but in a practical sense, to believe and live in accord with your belief is what salvation requires, both of which are possible only by Grace.

God's Blessings
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Answer 3

All the rhetoric aside, God is sovereign and all powerful. Nobody can force God to save them, by any means, so salvation will ALWAYS remain a free gift. That said, works are required to keep God's law of love, for faith without works is not only "dead" ... it is also decidely NOT Christian. Catholics have ALWAYS understood this. Protestants make an issue of it in a vain attempt to gain some sort of advantage over Catholics, or to portray the Catholic church in a bad light ... but in the end, it just makes protestants appear to be ignorant. Perhaps those who choose to believe lies, really are.

Answer 4

Both. You cannot be saved with only one of them. Faith is this: the simultaneous joining of an action and a belief. Faith is works and believing. The Catholic church preaches this and expects is followers to adhere. And you can take that to the bank!

Answer 5

By faith. The Catholics believe, however, that good deeds bring you closer to a walk with God and bad deeds pull you farther away.
There are sins that Catholics rate as Original Sins and Mortal Sins. The Mortal Sins are believed to take you further from your walk with Christ than the Original Sins.
Apart from the sin ratings, I think this makes sense in most Christian denominations.

Answer 6

They hardly make an issue of this point, but it amounts to faith manifested through works. In other words, the greater your faith, the more your good works. (This is one reason that some abuse the philosophy and contribute much, so as to appear more faithful, without realizing that they are all the more sinful for it. Unfortunately, the Church, often the beneficiary of such munificence, does not address this abuse. Who is the more holy, one who comes to church and is involved in every little thing but who is not really all that charitable toward others, or a truly charitable person who donates to charities outside the church, often doesn't come to church, and is involved in few things at church?)

Answer 7

By grace.

Here is the joint declaration of justification by Catholics (1999), Lutherans (1999), and Methodists (2006):

By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works.

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

As a member of the Catholic Church 15 years, I never heard about salvation once.

They just taught good works "cuz its nice"

When I left and went to the charasmatic church, my jaw dropped!

Answer 9

Both

Answer 10

faith..weeding out the doubting Thomases..and be able to walk on water.