If living "Christ like" is what being a Christian is all about?

Question

then how is "good works" unchristian like? I hear some people saying that this is "wrong" doctrine, finding grace through Jesus AND good works, but isn't good works the same as trying to be Christ like? Or are we going to get all technical here....

LOL For the record I am not even Christian let alone Catholic. But I do feel the need to defend them. I get tired of the straigh lies that are told about them.

CJ if that were true I would agree with you. But you are simply accepting what you are TOLD about the RCC now actually learning about it. NO WHERE in the RCC are they taught that good works alone save them. No where.

Answer 1

Faith without good works is a dead faith and those who argue this point are self deluded Christians.

Answer 2

What is going on here is actually a age-old debate between Catholics and Protestants.
Simply put: it is a dispute in doctrines between the two. It's all a matter of technicality, as you just stated.

I never ever heard "good works" being un-Christian like, nor anyone say it is wrong. Whoever does must really need to study a bit more on the topic.

I can critically state Catholicism is about ideals. The "ideal" Christian has to be gracious, merciful, etc. etc. The Christian in Catholicism is that ideally someone must be saved by grace AND "good works" in helping the world.

The Protestant side of Christianity though, is that one must be simply saved by grace. THROUGH grace and the love of God, people can naturally perform "good works".

See the difference? One pushes "good works", the other says "Because of...This follows".

Again, a matter of technicality.

Answer 3

CJ - I am Catholic. I was born and raised Catholic. Not ever was I taught that good works alone would "save" me. Not ever. When you have the feeling of the Holy Spirit inside of you - you WANT to do good works. As a matter of fact I can tell you how it feels - you can do the most menial task - cleaning the worlds dirtiest bathroom with a toothbrush while people walk by kicking and spitting on you and still be able to feel love and blessings for that person. That is how the Holy Spirit feels when he is dwelling in you. It is comfort. It is a warm feeling inside your torso. You feel so happy with Joy and Love for God that you feel that same Joy and Love for His creation. This feeling does come and go. But I praise God I have felt it in me and I am thankful when it moves me to do good works. James 2:26 "For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." Read James 2:14 - 26 for the full meaning of it. You should not talk about Catholics unless you can speak from authority. Don't lump beliefs of one or some into beliefs of All (from the Catholic faith).

Answer 4

The Catholic position on salvation can be summed up thus:

We are saved by Christ's grace alone, through faith and works done in charity inspired by the Holy Spirit.

It takes more than simply knowing Jesus is the Messiah to be saved; even the Evil One knows Who Christ is.


You can have all the faith in the world, enough to move mountains, but if you don't have charity, you are nothing:

I Corinthians 13:2 2
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

Answer 5

*Gasp* "You're WORKING your way to Heaven!" I don't know how many times I've heard this one... But "believing in Jesus" (as in the Christian Doctrine itself) IS a "works" in and of itself. Repenting IS a works - one that Jesus stated Must be done... to turn away from wrong-doing. Being Baptized IS a Works. having Faith IS a Works. But they never view what "they" do as "works" only what other people do... They assume a lot of other people when they see someone of a different denomination saying "You should do..... "

I'm beginning to think SOME of these people have a Superiority Complex - Only They have the Correct Way and everyone else, including other Christians, are wrong.

Answer 6

I have heard that also . . . I think what they are trying to say is that the doctrine is WRONG if you are trying to obtain salvation through doing "good works" as opposed to believing in Christ. There are lots of other faiths that promote "good works" but Christianity's main basis is that you believe Christ is the Son of God and was crucified for our salvation. Good works only comes AFTER that salvation has been achieved through believing.

Answer 7

No one can truly be Christlike on their own--we are human and we will fall short of Christ's sinless perfection.
The only way we can truly be Christlike, and truly Christian, is if we accept the grace offered to us through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, repent of our sins and allow Jesus to be our Savior and Lord of our lives. If we are living "in Christ" we become new creatures, and it is Him living through us that will be manifested as "good works" in our lives. Without the righteousness of Jesus covering our human imperfection, we can never do enough to please God on our own. The prophet Isaiah put it this way:
Isaiah 64:6
But we are all like an unclean thing,And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
This distinction between accepting the grace of the Lord and trying to earn His favor can be seen throughout the Bible, all the way back to Cain & Abel. Abel's sacrifice was accepted because it was the blood sacrifice that God required, while Cain's works (the grain offering) was rejected. Jesus provided a blood sacrifice through His death on the cross that was sufficient for all the past and future sins of all mankind. If it wasn't enough, then He would have to be crucified over and over again. There is nothing so bad that we can do that His grace won't save us, and we can't do enough good works on our on that we don't need this grace. Study the Bible, and study under teachers and preachers who teach the Bible, and pray that the Holy Spirit will help you understand this truth.
Often the outward result to others may look the same, but it is the sequence and the source of the change in us that completely different between someone who is trying to be Christlike in his/her own power in order to be accepted by God vs. someone who has Christ within him/her as the source of the ability to live the way Christ taught.
Hope that makes some sense. For further study, read some of Paul's letters. His life is a very good example of someone who thought he was serving God when he was persecuting Christians, and was completely and dramatically changed we he accepted Jesus as His Savior through grace, not works.

The flip side of this doctrine is people who abuse the "once saved, always saved" assurance as an excuse to keep sinning once they are saved. Of course, this is wrong, too, and Paul talks about this as well.

I know it may sound like a "technicality", but it is the basis for the Christian doctrine. See the passage where the apostle Paul explains it much better than I could:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:9-10 (Read the whole chapter of Ephesians 2 for more)

Ideally, those who are truly saved Christians will want to walk closely with Christ because they love Him and accept His teachings. When they succeed, it is because they have allowed Christ to work in their lives and shine through them; when they fail, it is because they have allowed sin to come between them and Christ's power in their lives.
The links below are to two of my favorite sites for Bible study and Christian doctrine.
May the Lord bless you are you are seeking to learn the truth.

Answer 8

love is the answer living with faith hope and love christlike feed the hungry cloth the poor help the helpless widows and orphans teach the kingdom of jesus christ like jesus to the people homeless drugs people with demons like he did heal the sick save the lost be a light for people in the darkness but first people have to turn on the bulb love and shareing with each other the world was giving to all living beings and its up to each one of us we each our the temple of the living GOD havent you heard that good questions your a smart woman luv dad .

Answer 9

True good works is almost the same as Christlikeness because you are doing good by obeying the will of God and living a life that shows Godliness....having good works as a wrong doctrine has something to do about the salvation of one's soul from hell. For it is true we are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ not of works lest any man could boast....if being saved from hell has to do with doing good works then the work of Christ, His suffering, death on the cross and His ressurection has no meaning...He died for nothing if we can save ourselves by being good....The catch here always has a doctrinal debate that we need to be saved not of faith alone but by good works....but the Bible says...it is impossible to please God without faith...so if we have faith in God and of what He has done for us then this faith must show forth thru our good works that we trully believe that there is a God who saved us from the consequences of sins and that is hell. We can only be saved if we acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves, believe on the work of Jesus on the cross and that only He can save and confess our sins to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, confessing with our hearts thru our lips that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Jesus is not only our Saviour but also our Lord who teaches us how to do good works showing forth that we believe He is true and alive and that by faith showing good works-mainly trust,humility and obedience pleases God.
I pray that your search for answers will be found...for those who seek will find....God Bless

Answer 10

The good works that a Christian does are the result of His/Her allowing Jesus Christ into their lives.
There Good Works, by themselves, offer no means of salvation.

Answer 11

What is good works? Can any man do good works? Would the good works of a man be acceptable to God?

There is no good works that are acceptable to God unless it is done through his Son.

What makes the difference?

Love.


A good work is useless unless it is done out of the love of Christ.

For to do good because of a sense of duty and not in love is in vain.


It is not that God won't bless an unsaved man for doing good, it is because his reward will be here, not in heaven.

An unsaved man can do good works all his life, but when he dies unsaved, his works will perish with him in the fires of hell.