Where in the Bible can I find the Catholic doctrine of salvation-by-works?

Answer 1

lol....while your looking for it might I suggest you try to find the word trinity, or praying to the virgin mary.....good luck

Answer 2

There is no Catholic doctrine of salvation by works, therefore you will not find it by looking in the Bible.

Answer 3

Besides the Epistle of James ("Faith without works is dead"), there are a couple of passages in which Jesus says that one has to act one's faith, not just believe it--Matthew 7:21 and 23:31-45. And that's as close as you'll get! On the other side, Paul says much about the people who were justified by faith alone (Romans 4), as well as about the meaninglessness of all kinds of good works, and even faith itself, if one doesn't do them with love (1 Corinthians 13).

Answer 4

Hello,

You find all through the bible and salvation without works is contrary to what Christ teaches. Many protestants agree on this.
A paradox can be defined as a seeming contradiction.
The biggest one I see are those who believe in eternal security - once saved always saved!

Christ does say that I am the vine, you are the branches and you only get to the father by me. Also he says that he who believes in me will never die. Now from there he goes on repeatedly to say things like if you do not forgive your brother and even enemies, you will not be forgiven; he will ask you did you cloth me when I was naked, visit me in prison, welcome me as a stranger, visit me when I was sick, feed me when I was hungry and the list goes on to say that under duress if you deny his reality or existance he will deny you to God and, oh yes, do not forget about the sin against the Holy Spirit.

Now they say, if you are a con man or liar, the biggest risk you can take is to change your story. The way I see things, along with the majority of Christians is that there are built in requirements to achieve Jesus' promise for eternal life.
Saying praise Jesus; he is my savior and getting baptized is a first step but not all he requires. Living according to his teachings by trying to do good and avoiding sin, in other words, works is a big part of the equation.

I am not afraid to take the risk here and say that if this eternal security were true then it proves that Jesus himself is a paradox and perhaps the greatest con man and liar in history since he is totally contradicting himself. Those who believe in eternal security and teach it are doing a great job in illustrating the Paradox.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 5

Ha HA keep looking and you will never find it unless you start taking a verse here and a verse there and change the meaning and you may end up with something but otherwise Salvation is by Grace which the bible teaches and for that Jesus Christ died so all can receive it freely

Answer 6

Most of Catholic doctrine is based off the works of Augustine and not the Bible.

Answer 7

You can,t because it is not God,s doctrine,it is Catholic doctrine. If we could be saved by our own good works then Jesus Christ was the greatest fool who ever lived,because he would have died for nothing. WE do not work to get saved,we should work for God because we are saved

Answer 8

You cannot be saved just by works. It must be faith made living by works, for "faith without works is dead." (somewhere in James). There are many places that say that works are necessary along with faith (I don't know any of the top of my head, but you can probably find some at catholicanswers.com), but works by themselves are nothing. It is "lip service" as Jesus says.

Answer 9

the closest they come is James 2:24 but that is justifying your faith. Salvation is a free gift through Calvary.

You can never earn salvation. You are called to work your salvation through fear and trembling but works does not earn your salvation.

Answer 10

Christians from different denominations have recently agreed that
"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"

Answer 11

no where. . The entirety of the Bible states that salvation is by faith alone. Though works are evidence of our faith, our good works do not 'save' us. We are saved by Grace alone as thru the death of Jesus on the cross. While the Bible does say that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26) it also says specifically that works justify us as evidence of our faith (James 2:14-26) AND that salvation is by grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no man can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9).

And also, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37; also Matt 16:25-27).
Even if we did good works every day for the rest of our lives, it still would not be enough to appease the requirements of God's Law concerning sin, judgment/consequence,restitution to God, and forgiveness; therefore, only Jesus is the way into heaven, and the Only name by which man can be saved.

Salvation is offered freely to us, but it came with a price: The death of Jesus on the Cross. How may works do you suppose one should and could do, to make up for the death of another? Though we freely inherit eternity by a simple act of faith, it cost the Son of God his life in order to make ammends for our sin and satisfy the demands of the Law that explicitly states, "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for thier fathers; each is to die for his own sin." (Deuteronomy 24:16) and and "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23).

If salvation was acheivable by works, Christ would not have had to suffer and die.Therefore, salvation is unattainable by works, only by accepting by faith the grace extended our way through Jesus Christ. ♥

*edit* BillyB & ptcb: good job. very true ♥