Why do Non-Catholic Christians say we are saved by faith alone but St. James says we are not?

Question

Catholic Christians hear this opinion that we are saved by faith alone and we recoil at the thought of faith alone regardless of the fact that the Scriptures condemns such heresy. We see the Bible teaching that both faith and works come from God's grace and that neither come from our own efforts. Surely we have free will and can refuse this grace that can only be the work of God and not of our initiating efforts. We are simply responding to God's call with faith and works, which I believe St. James was illustrating in his writing, saying that faith without works is dead since they all come from the same source, God's grace.

John S,

LOL!!! I went to two Protestant seminaries and I was well trained in hermeneutics. What about you? I am a convert to Catholicism after 25 years as a Protestant minister.

Dave C,

The only place in Scriptures where the words "faith alone" are used is in the writing of St. James and he says we are NOT saved by faith alone.

Mark 1011,

Since when is justification not necessary for salvation?

Annie,

thank you! Be very careful because your beliefs are very close to antinomianism.

Dave C,

Here you go!

(Jas 2:24 DRB) Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only?

Annie,

I was not accusing you but this is a very common heresy taught by Protestants. From your writing it suggested that you may have been influenced by this false teaching and I simply was saying to be careful and not fall for deception.

Answer 1

James 2:24 - "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

Some people promote a very attractive idea: All true Christians, regardless of how they live, have an absolute assurance of salvation, once they accept Jesus into their hearts as "their personal Lord and Savior." The problem is that this belief is contrary to the Bible & constant Christian teaching.

Recall this Scripture: "If we have died with him [in baptism; see Rom. 6:3-4] we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him" (2 Tim. 2:11-12). So, ff we do NOT persevere, we shall NOT reign with him. In other words, Christians can forfeit heaven. Jesus tells us, "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Matt. 24:13; cf. 25:31-46). Ergo, if you do not endure to the end, well........

The Bible makes it clear that Christians have a moral assurance of salvation (God will be true to his word and will grant salvation to those who have faith in Christ and are obedient to him [1 John 3:19-24]), but the Bible does NOT teach that Christians have a guarantee of heaven. There can be no absolute assurance of salvation. The Bible says, "See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness to you, provided you remain in his kindness, otherwise you too will be cut off" (Rom. 11:22-23; Matt. 18:21-35, 1 Cor. 15:1-2, 2 Pet. 2:20-21).

Note that this includes an important condition: "provided you remain in his kindness." It is saying that Christians can lose their salvation by throwing it away. He warns, "Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall" (1 Cor. 10:11-12). , Paul admitted that even he could fall away: "I pummel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (1 Cor. 9:27). In saying this he points out that even he cannot be infallibly sure of his own present state or of his future salvation.

As a Catholic, when someone asks me if I have been "saved," I answer: "I am redeemed by the blood of Christ, I trust in him alone for my salvation, and, as the Bible teaches, I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), knowing that it is God's gift of grace that is working in me."

Answer 2

Simply put, it's because some Protestants believe in the doctrine of, "Once saved, always saved." They ignore the last half of the second chapter of James, which makes it very clear that there's a bit more to salvation than the one-time mumbling of some "Roman's Road" formula:

James 2:14-17 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

The Catholic church's position on salvation goes something like this:

We *were* saved through Christ's perfect sacrifice on the Cross, and it is His Precious Blood that satisfies God's justice. We *are* saved by obedience to God and carrying out His commandments, including caring for each other. We *will be* saved through God's grace and the gift of final perseverance.

You can't presume on God's mercy and do as you please under those conditions. If you try, you're like a branch cut off from the life flow of the tree.

Answer 3

We do not say that just by believing in Jesus we are saved. If that were true Satan would be a Christian and saved from hell. To be saved we have to first admit that we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that we need a Saviour to save us from the penalty of sin. Jesus is the only one who can save us because He took our punishment so that we would never need to be punished. No-one else did that for us. Unless we can accept that as truth and then thank Jesus for His sacrifice and ask Him to forgive our sins, then we are NOT saved. Having done all the above we will then have the natural inclination to wish to do good and cease sinning. We will desire to help those less fortunate than ourselves and we will act upon that desire. That is called works and they do not save us but the bible says that faith WITHOUT works is dead. Providing the faith comes first and then we work (not expecting reward because we have already been given the reward) we are doing God's will. No-one will spend eternity with Christ just because they 'believed' in Him, nor will they reach that state through their good works alone either.

Answer 4

I think they misunderstand salvation. It is a process, not a one time act of acknowledgement. Even demons acknowledge God, and "shudder" James 2:19. Salvation is the Way back to the Father through obedience to Christ, not some magical words or belief which forever bind us to God.

St. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12 that salvation is work: "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

What about this passage? Hebrews 10:26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a
terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.

28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY " And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE."

31It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Whoever thinks they are not subject to judgment for their deeds has their head buried in the sand.

Answer 5

Here is something I want you to think about, and I said ONLY think about... this is why I, and again I say *I* believe that we are saved by *faith* + nothing..... ok, as a Christian you know your Bible.... I want you to think of these points as I type them...... 1. Jesus' earthy ministry was BEFORE the finished work of the cross.. 2. What Jesus taught was the *Kingdom* message.....3. that Kingdom message was taught by Jesus himself that it would come right on in.....4. He did NOT teach that 2000 + yrs would be between His 1st advent and second.....5. He talked about His dying, but you will notice the Bible says the Apostles did NOT understand..... 6. Jesus taught the LAW, He was still under the LAW.....7. Peter himself stood up to the other Apostles and said that Paul WAS appointed, commissioned to be the Gentile Apostle......8. and Paul says over and over and over that THE Gospel of salvation is : Believing that Jesus died, was buried and arose 3 days later....... He does NOT mean to just repeat it and or go around saying it, but it has to be a heart, spirit KNOWING the Gospel........... Now, works come AFTER the *faith* in the Gospel, it all ties together, the works are the FRUIT of that faith in *the* Gospel....... go in peace........ God bless
Edit -- not sure what that word means, will look it up, but I think I will stick to what the Bible says.... I know what and who Jesus is..... not saying you are wrong.. but I am not young to *faith* and have studied and prayed VERY long and hard...... the points I made are very valid....... you and I will find out some day I guess...... blessings to you......PS.... and you are right about it all being from the *same* source..... Gods' Grace........PSS-ok, I looked the word up... do you always go around accussing people of what YOU *think* they are saying ?? I am under moral law just as YOU are.... I am offened that you would even think or type such a thing.... re read what I typed..... *Sigh*..... You must be careful of your thinking in some cases...... blessings again.......

Answer 6

Works themselves do nothing to get us into heaven. However, works are an outward sign of inner faith.

But does the person who repents and comes to faith at the end of their life, before they can do good works, then fail to make it? How sad.

And how many works will it take. What if you don't do enough.

Those who believe that faith alone will save us are following what we believe in the Bible - specifically Ephesians 2:8-9 comes to mind "8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Answer 7

Let's begin by clarifying the official teachings of the Catholic Church: We can do nothing to merit the grace that comes to us in baptism. We can't save ourselves.

Catholics recognize we are saved through faith--but not through faith alone.

Paul excludes works from our salvation. But what kind of works is Paul talking about?

If we believe the entire Bible, Paul’s words fit together with James’s words, because James clearly says that "a man is justified by works." Paul and James mean two different things by the word works.

The solution is that Paul expands his phrase "from works" by adding the phrase "of the law" (Rom 3:20, 28; Gal 2:16). When Paul uses the word "works," he is talking about the Old Testament disciplinary law. A careful reading of Galatians will show that Paul is using works of the law to refer especially to the law of circumcision--which is strictly a Jewish disciplinary ordinance.

Paul also 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). Thus, God has a law that applies to all people (see Romans 1).

James 2:14–26 shows that works are not just evidence of faith. Works actually justify. For example, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?" (Jas. 2:21).

When Paul said that Abraham was not justified by works but by faith, he meant that Abraham was not justified by keeping the Old Testament law.

In contrast, James means that Abraham was justified by doing a work that grew out of his faith in God. "You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works" (Jas. 2:22). In verse 24, James concludes, "A man is justified by works and NOT by faith alone."

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.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 8

We are saved by grace.

EDIT:

Ephesians 2:5
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)


Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:


EDIT:

Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;


2 Peter 3:13
Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Answer 9

For many it's a matter of semantics. They know very well that saving faith will produce fruit, they just don't like saying that anything we do can have an effect on our salvation.

Answer 10

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Maybe this will clear things up for you.
You can not have faith without good works. They are the products of faith. If you twist scripture to require our works then Jesus finished work on the cross was in vain. That's why people get all bent out of shape over it.

If you would loose the "Catholic""Non-Catholic" agenda you will see our Father much more clearly.

I hope that helps.