Saints LightAre Catholics Saved by Works?
Catholics are saved by God's grace, received in faith; good works do not buy that grace but are what grace produces in us, and God rewards them as his own gifts.
What this lesson teaches
- Catholics teach that no one can earn the grace of justification; it is a free gift.
- Good works are the fruit of grace, done by God's power working in us.
- Scripture holds grace, faith and works together, as Ephesians 2:10 and James 2:24 show.
- Catholics and Lutherans affirmed much common ground in the 1999 Joint Declaration.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 1987-1992
- CCC 1996
- CCC 2006-2011
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:24; Galatians 5:6.
A sample question from this lesson
What did the Council of Trent teach about earning justification?
- Enough good works can earn justification
- Nothing before justification, neither faith nor works, merits the grace of justification
- Only priests can be justified
- Faith has nothing to do with justification
Show the answer
Nothing before justification, neither faith nor works, merits the grace of justification. Trent taught that the grace of justification is a free gift that cannot be earned (CCC 1996, 2010).
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Justification
- God's free act of forgiving our sins and making us truly righteous by his grace.
- Merit
- The reward God freely chooses to give for good works done by his grace.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"Are Catholics Saved by Works?" is lesson 11 of Answers to Hard Questions. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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Related lessons
- Faith and Works: What Does the Church Really Teach? (Grace and Virtue)
- What Happened at the Reformation? (Church History)
- The Holy Spirit and Grace (Start Here, free)
- Paul and the Letters (The Bible)