Erika's Corner-

In my quest to understand salvation from a Catholic perspective better I have found that we Catholics believe God gives us the gift of salvation by grace, by or through justification. That justification begins in one moment in a persons life (they accept Jesus) but continues on their entire life through their FAITH & WORKS not by faith alone or by works alone. Grace is a gift from God as is faith but no where does the Bible state that it is by faith alone but it does say that works are necessary-

James 2:14-26
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[a]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[b] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead

Matthew 7:24-27
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

28"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
29" 'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

30"Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go.

31"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered.

Matthew 21:28-32
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Matthew 7:21
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Romans 2:6-8
6God "will give to each person according to what he has done." 7To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.


Ephesians 2:8-10
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The above verse does not say by faith alone and I agree that we are not saved through any work that we do because with out the free gift of grace form God in Jesus salvation would not be possible but just because it is made possible and we accept it through faith doesn't mean we are then justified forever from that moment on. We continue through faith to be justified through FAITH & WORKS the rest of our lives.

Please see these links for more info:
Salvation
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13407a.htm

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2005/0502sbs.asp

http://www.catholic.com/library/assurance_of_salvation.asp

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0302fea3.asp

Justification
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08573a.htm

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9501vbv.asp

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1991/9109chap.asp

Grace
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06701a.htm

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1994/9412vrs.asp

Works/Merit
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9510fea3.asp

http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1999/9901frs.asp


Good books to read about the Catholic Perspective:

Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic, David Currie

Confessions & City of God, St. Augustine

Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith, Scott Hahn