Catholic vs Protestant view on personal merit

[paul_c]

JonNC, a Lutheran, and I were having a discussion in a Sola Scriptura Thread that was subsequently closed about whether there was personal merit involved in salvation:

paul c

Originally Posted by JonNC

I think that’s a false dichotomy. If you can reject grace, than by not rejecting Grace, you are accepting it. That has merit.

Or receiving it. If it has merit, whose merit is it? Christ’s, because He has made even faith possible.
Both have merit. Christ has merit for making faith possible. You have merit if you are faithful. It doesn’t have to be either / or.

paul c

Originally Posted by JonNC

Paul c
You see, its a very Protestant view to say that God is responsible for everything and man is responsible for nothing. But this is a half truth. God is responsible for everything, but he delegates some of that responsibility to man.

Now, I can generally agree with that. Again, sanctification is synergistic.
But we are called to be holy. If we are not holy, we aren’t saved… Sanctification can not be separated from salvation.

paul c

Originally Posted by JonNC

paul c
Man is the steward of Creation and man has responsibility for his own soul. Not because he earned that responsibility, but because it was freely given to him by God. You know in your own life that you have responsibility for yourself once you become an adult. This can not be denied.

And yet, I can claim no merit for it. Response to a gift freely given - obedience to the One to whom all merit belongs. That is my responsibility. Do you agree?

Again. both you and Christ have merit. He has the most merit because he died for our sins. But if we carry out our infinitely smaller responsibilities, we still have merit. You see, if you have choice, there is merit for making the right choice. If you have no choices, then there is no free will. You can’t have free will without also having the potential for merit.

paul c

Originally Posted by JonNC

paul c
Now responsibility does not preclude Grace and it does not preclude obedience. It is by God’s grace that we have responsiblity and it is by his grace that we have the strength and direction to carry out his will. And just becasue we are responsible doesn’t mean that we don’t have rules to follow and a goal to meet. If we follow the rules and meet the goal, there is merit and reward… If we don’t, there are consequences. Just like in a job

Not unsure I don’t agree with this, too.Jon

I can’t understand what you are saying here. Too many negatives in one sentence.

In any case, it really comes down to your view of man.

The Catholic view of man is positive. Man has choices, By grace, he can choose to follow Christ but he can also choose to separate himself from Christ. Life is the testing ground for these choices. During life, by your actions, you choose between life and death, heaven and hell. Every man has the opportunity and responsibility of deciding his ultimate destiny. God loves us tremendously so he gives us many tools to help us make the right choices. Life itself, reason, free will, conscience, grace and through the sacraments, the infinite ability to be forgiven and reconciled… This is also a very positive view of God’s love and mercy…

I find the Protestant view of man and God to be much more negative. Many Protestants believe man has no free will at all, being predistined to heaven or hell regardless of his faith or actions. This makes man no more than an automaton and God extremely unjust, who would create some men for no other purpose than to damn them to eternal suffering through no fault of their own.

Where do you put yourself in this discussion. Do men have free will or not? Do all men have the opportunity for salvation or are some damned for eternity before they were born?

Now, I will add one more Catholic Concept for clarification. God is all knowing so he knows who will choose to obey and who will separate himself from God before it happens so his plans are not dependent on man. Nevertheless, man still has to carry out the actions that he can predict perfectly.

This is where we left off when the thread was closed. We both thought this area needed more discussion. After all, it is fundamental to how we see God and man and their relationship. As you can see, it has been an amicable discussion. Lets keep it that way.

 

[Lutheranteach]

How are you defining personal merit?

 

[paul_c]

How are you defining personal merit?

In this way.
Every person has free will. If they chose to follow Christ, there is merit in that choice. If they chose to separate from Christ, there are ramifications.

The discussion started with the typical Protestant statement that Jesus deserves all the merit in a person’s salvation because without Jesus, there would be no possibility of salvation. This is a half truth. Yes, we could not be saved if Jesus didn’t die for us first. That is the truth and there was infinite merit in his passion, since it saved the entire human race.

But that doesn’t preclude man from also having merit when he chooses to follow in Christ’s footsteps. You see, man really does have free will and when he makes a good choice, there is merit in that. St. Paul speaks of running to win the prize. There is infinite positive motivation for seeking to do God’s will: eternal life with him in heaven. There is also infinite negative motivation against those who separate themselves from God by their actions: eternal separation in hell.

If you beleive that man can have no merit, then you must be definition believe that he has no choices. That severely downgrades the essence of man, turning him into nothing more than a robot whihc simply fulfills what he was designed to do. That also downgrades the essence of God, because even mere man can create a robot.

Now there are paradoxes. You can not “earn” your way to heaven, you actually have to “give” your way into heaven. The way into heaven is through love and love is doing things for others without expecting anything in return. All the commandments are focused on this:

• Love god with all you soul, all your heart, all your mind and all your strength
• Love your neighbor as yourself
• Love each other as I have loved you

There is merit in giving of yourself, because in doing so we follow Christ, who gave his life for us. As we have all heard, its better to give than to receive.

Others will say that this makes God’s plan dependent on men. Well those that say it are selling God short. God has infinite foreknowledge, which means he can perfectly predict the future. He knows what each person will do, even though out of love he gives us free will to make our own choices. Since he knows what we will do, his plan accounts for that, without directly forcing us to do anything. Indeed, he wants us to come to him through love, which can never be forced.

So a long answer to a short question. Sorry about that, but I hope it gives us something to talk about. After all, it cuts right to the heart of the theology because it describes the relationship between God and man. If there is indeed merit in following Christ, then salvation by Faith alone can not be supported.

 

[Newbie2]

How are you defining personal merit?

That’s the key to the answer and to the differences between Catholics and Protestants, methinks.

Paul gave the long answer so I’ll give the short and perhaps oversimplified one : Catholics see belief or acceptance of belief as a sort of “work” or merit. Such a viewpoint is problematic for Protestants who, like Catholics, reject the notion that our good deeds (“works”) can earn our salvation.

In other words, Catholics see accepting belief as an active participation, whereas Protestants see it as a passive participation.

 

[Murphs10]

I would like to add what I had previously posted in the now locked thread. Let me know if I am in error in any way in regard to Catholic teching.

Might I add that Jon has given me a renewed hope that one day Christians will be united. He is a great example of Christian charity and honesty.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JonNC
"Or receiving it. If it has merit, whose merit is it? Christ’s, because He has made even faith possible. "

My Reply:
Hey Jon!

It isn’t so much about the ownership of merit, but our cooperation and obedience is meritorious IF united with Christ. Christ makes it meritourious. The same can be said for suffering. We are called to suffer with Christ and as Paul says:

Col 1
24: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.

Romans 8
17: and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

They are Paul’s sufferings, but united with Christ’s, they are meritourious and beneficial to the Body of Christ/Chruch.
Does Jesus really lack in any way? Of course not! Just like He has no need to merit anything for himself. He allows us to participate in many ways.

 

[FCEGM]

I think this is a helpful article on the subject:

bringyou.to/apologetics/a127.htm

 

[fhansen]

**Adam and Eve were held responsible for their actions-simply because God deemed it so. And nothing’s changed-God’s always wanted humans to take part in their righteousness/holiness/sanctification-He requires that we do our part, whatever part that is, in being the creatures He’s created us to be. This is our holiness-that which makes holiness possible. And this simply involves our decision and continued willingness to obey Him, consciously acknowledging the perfection of His will and obeying out of love.

As He helps us in this endeavor-made possible by the merits of Christ- the commandments will be fulfilled in us, in each one of us at a time; Adam and Eve’s rebellion is rejected and reversed, our rebirth is complete, God’s will is done. Otherwise He’d be in the contradictory position of making rules for man that man’s incapable of obeying, demanding obedience anyway, and then blaming him for failure to obey.**

 

[fhansen]

(cont)
**This is why faith is so important as a first step-faith in God was lost at the fall. Faith is not merely a vehicle of salvation-and certainly not the only disposition necessary. Man’s proper orientation is simply to believe in God (Faith), recognize his dependence on and trustworthiness of God (Hope), and, finally, to love Him with his whole heart, soul, mind, and strength (Love-the fulfillment of the Law, the Law that Adam and Eve obviously sinned against). **

 

[MarcoPolo]

Augustine on personal merit:Let us see what he says when his final sufferings were approaching, writing to Timothy: I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:6-7 He enumerates these as, of course, now his good merits; so that, as after his evil merits he obtained grace, so now, after his good merits, he might receive the crown. Observe, therefore, what follows: There is henceforth laid up for me, he says, a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day. 2 Timothy 4:8 Now, to whom should the righteous Judge award the crown, except to him on whom the merciful Father had bestowed grace? And how could the crown be one of righteousness, unless the grace had preceded which justifies the ungodly? And to understand the source of these merits:*It is His own gifts that God crowns, not your merits,— if, at least, your merits are of your own self, not of Him. If, indeed, they are such, they are evil; and God does not crown them; but if they are good, they are God’s gifts, because, as the Apostle James says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. James 1:17 In accordance with which John also, the Lord’s forerunner, declares: A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven John 3:27 — from heaven, of course, because from thence came also the Holy Ghost, when Jesus ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. If, then, your good merits are God’s gifts, God does not crown your merits as your merits, but as His own gifts.*And:Therefore they possess not the faith by which the just man lives—the faith which works by love in such wise, that God recompenses it according to its works with eternal life. But inasmuch as we have even our good works from God, from whom likewise comes our faith and our love, therefore the selfsame great teacher of the Gentiles has designated eternal life itself as His gracious gift. Romans 6:23(Quotes taken from Augustine On Grace and Free Will) You see Augustine identifies the merits as the person’s, but not of the person’s apart from Christ. The person is utilizing grace, the free gift from God, and it is only in this that there is merit. Faith is a gift. Good works are a gift. Both are possible because of grace. It is the image of the parable of the talents where the two good servants take the gift and invest it, reaping dividends from it. But the source of the gift of talents in the first place was from the master. So we don’t say “we” do good and God owes us. But rather our boast is in the Lord, for He enabled us to merit reward by His free gift for which we have no claim, and can never of ourselves do anything that merits receiving the gift.

Besides the Parable of the Talents, some other Scripture that exemplifies this includes:

*2 Corinthians 9:6 …he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…

Matthew 6:1 (But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.*The incident of Paul on Damascus Road is a microcosm of all this. Jesus said: “Saul, why do you persecute ME?” And He was referring those living Christian lives.

 

[JonNC]

Augustine on personal merit:Let us see what he says when his final sufferings were approaching, writing to Timothy: I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:6-7 He enumerates these as, of course, now his good merits; so that, as after his evil merits he obtained grace, so now, after his good merits, he might receive the crown. Observe, therefore, what follows: There is henceforth laid up for me, he says, a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day. 2 Timothy 4:8 Now, to whom should the righteous Judge award the crown, except to him on whom the merciful Father had bestowed grace? And how could the crown be one of righteousness, unless the grace had preceded which justifies the ungodly? And to understand the source of these merits:It is His own gifts that God crowns, not your merits,— if, at least, your merits are of your own self, not of Him. If, indeed, they are such, they are evil; and God does not crown them; but if they are good, they are God’s gifts, because, as the Apostle James says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights. James 1:17 In accordance with which John also, the Lord’s forerunner, declares: A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven John 3:27 — from heaven, of course, because from thence came also the Holy Ghost, when Jesus ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. If, then, your good merits are God’s gifts, God does not crown your merits as your merits, but as His own gifts.And:Therefore they possess not the faith by which the just man lives—the faith which works by love in such wise, that God recompenses it according to its works with eternal life. But inasmuch as we have even our good works from God, from whom likewise comes our faith and our love, therefore the selfsame great teacher of the Gentiles has designated eternal life itself as His gracious gift. Romans 6:23(Quotes taken from Augustine On Grace and Free Will) You see Augustine identifies the merits as the person’s, but not of the person’s apart from Christ. The person is utilizing grace, the free gift from God, and it is only in this that there is merit. Faith is a gift. Good works are a gift. Both are possible because of grace. It is the image of the parable of the talents where the two good servants take the gift and invest it, reaping dividends from it. But the source of the gift of talents in the first place was from the master. So we don’t say “we” do good and God owes us. But rather our boast is in the Lord, for He enabled us to merit reward by His free gift for which we have no claim, and can never of ourselves do anything that merits receiving the gift.

Besides the Parable of the Talents, some other Scripture that exemplifies this includes:

*2 Corinthians 9:6 …he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think…

Matthew 6:1 (But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.*The incident of Paul on Damascus Road is a microcosm of all this. Jesus said: “Saul, why do you persecute ME?” And He was referring those living Christian lives.

Marco,
I have no argument with Augustine’s quote. The merit is Christ’s. If I responsibly receive grace, it includes obedience to so His good works.

I think one of the disconnects between Catholics and Lutherans is we come from language sets that have, in part, antagonism built in. Lutherans say faith alone, and Catholics say faith and works, pointing fingers at each other. When, in many ways we come to the same ends. Regarding merits, I say that all my good works are Christ’s merit, because it is the Holy Spirit working through me. It is true I must choose to do them and actually do them, but even both of these are only possible by the Holy Spirit’s presence within me.
So, to you and paul and my other Catholic siblings here, how is what I’ve said here contrary to Catholic teaching, other than it is expressed in the more passive, reception language of Lutherans?

Jon

 

[JonNC]

=Murphs10;6702533]I would like to add what I had previously posted in the now locked thread. Let me know if I am in error in any way in regard to Catholic teching.

Might I add that Jon has given me a renewed hope that one day Christians will be united. He is a great example of Christian charity and honesty.

You are most kind.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JonNC
"Or receiving it. If it has merit, whose merit is it? Christ’s, because He has made even faith possible. "

My Reply:
Hey Jon!

It isn’t so much about the ownership of merit, but our cooperation and obedience is meritorious IF united with Christ. Christ makes it meritourious. The same can be said for suffering. We are called to suffer with Christ and as Paul says:

Col 1
24: Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.

I like what you say here about ownership of merit. And therefore two issues:

1. Claiming it too strongly can lead to “boasting”. "Look at what I did".
2. Assuming Christ’s merit does not require responsible reception (response or cooperation), can lead to “cheap grace”. " I don’t have to do anything."

Romans 8
17: and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

They are Paul’s sufferings, but united with Christ’s, they are meritourious and beneficial to the Body of Christ/Chruch.
Does Jesus really lack in any way? Of course not! Just like He has no need to merit anything for himself. He allows us to participate in many ways.

Now, it might be spin on my part, but if you mean that good works are beneficial to our fellowman, then I wholeheartedly agree. As that is what good works do - they benefit the world, not my merit toward salvation.

Jon

 

[MarcoPolo]

Marco,
I have no argument with Augustine’s quote. The merit is Christ’s. If I responsibly receive grace, it includes obedience to so His good works.

I think one of the disconnects between Catholics and Lutherans is we come from language sets that have, in part, antagonism built in. Lutherans say faith alone, and Catholics say faith and works, pointing fingers at each other. When, in many ways we come to the same ends. Regarding merits, I say that all my good works are Christ’s merit, because it is the Holy Spirit working through me. It is true I must choose to do them and actually do them, but even both of these are only possible by the Holy Spirit’s presence within me.
So, to you and paul and my other Catholic siblings here, how is what I’ve said here contrary to Catholic teaching, other than it is expressed in the more passive, reception language of Lutherans?

Jon

I don’t hear what you’ve said here necessarily contradicting Augustine, the Council of Trent, the Catechism or elsewhere.

 

[JonNC]

In this way.
Every person has free will. If they chose to follow Christ, there is merit in that choice. If they chose to separate from Christ, there are ramifications.

The discussion started with the typical Protestant statement that Jesus deserves all the merit in a person’s salvation because without Jesus, there would be no possibility of salvation. This is a half truth. Yes, we could not be saved if Jesus didn’t die for us first. That is the truth and there was infinite merit in his passion, since it saved the entire human race.

But that doesn’t preclude man from also having merit when he chooses to follow in Christ’s footsteps. You see, man really does have free will and when he makes a good choice, there is merit in that. St. Paul speaks of running to win the prize. There is infinite positive motivation for seeking to do God’s will: eternal life with him in heaven. There is also infinite negative motivation against those who separate themselves from God by their actions: eternal separation in hell.

If you beleive that man can have no merit, then you must be definition believe that he has no choices. That severely downgrades the essence of man, turning him into nothing more than a robot whihc simply fulfills what he was designed to do. That also downgrades the essence of God, because even mere man can create a robot.

Now there are paradoxes. You can not “earn” your way to heaven, you actually have to “give” your way into heaven. The way into heaven is through love and love is doing things for others without expecting anything in return. All the commandments are focused on this:

• Love god with all you soul, all your heart, all your mind and all your strength
• Love your neighbor as yourself
• Love each other as I have loved you

There is merit in giving of yourself, because in doing so we follow Christ, who gave his life for us. As we have all heard, its better to give than to receive.

Others will say that this makes God’s plan dependent on men. Well those that say it are selling God short. God has infinite foreknowledge, which means he can perfectly predict the future. He knows what each person will do, even though out of love he gives us free will to make our own choices. Since he knows what we will do, his plan accounts for that, without directly forcing us to do anything. Indeed, he wants us to come to him through love, which can never be forced.

So a long answer to a short question. Sorry about that, but I hope it gives us something to talk about. After all, it cuts right to the heart of the theology because it describes the relationship between God and man. If there is indeed merit in following Christ, then salvation by Faith alone can not be supported.

Just a couple of points, Paul.

1. Maybe we need to understand what merit is. Can I do anything to merit salvation, or is grace alone through faith in Christ what actually saves, understanding that a true, saving faith is bound (meaning both “obliged”, and “with certainty” ) to do good works.
   Lutherans speak of justification and sanctification as distinct, but necessarily linked.
2. Remember that the Lutheran description of “faith alone” is in regards to “forensic justification”, not an exclusion of the necessity of good works (sanctification). IOW, faith alone is not OSAS or perseverance of saints.

Jon

 

[paul_c]

Just a couple of points, Paul.

1. Maybe we need to understand what merit is. Can I do anything to merit salvation, or is grace alone through faith in Christ what actually saves, understanding that a true, saving faith is bound (meaning both “obliged”, and “with certainty” ) to do good works.
   Lutherans speak of justification and sanctification as distinct, but necessarily linked.

Merit is the recognition the good works you were called to do. Remember, we have free will. We may have been called to do good works but we are not compelled to do them against our will. We have merit when we align our wills with God’s. So can we do things to get to heaven. Absolutely In fact, we must cooperate with the spirit within us and do what we are called to do. Can we get to heaven without God’s grace? no. Can we ignore grace and separate ourselves from God? Yes, I believe we can. We believe God wants us to come to him willingly. Do you agree with this? Or do you believe that we really have not responsibility in our own eternal destiny?

1. Remember that the Lutheran description of “faith alone” is in regards to “forensic justification”, not an exclusion of the necessity of good works (sanctification). IOW, faith alone is not OSAS or perseverance of saints.

Jon

I reallize that you don’t believe in OSAS, but you know that many Protestants do

 

[thenobes]

Merit is the recognition the good works you were called to do. Remember, we have free will. We may have been called to do good works but we are not compelled to do them against our will. We have merit when we align our wills with God’s. So can we do things to get to heaven. Absolutely In fact, we must cooperate with the spirit within us and do what we are called to do. Can we get to heaven without God’s grace? no. Can we ignore grace and separate ourselves from God? Yes, I believe we can. We believe God wants us to come to him willingly. Do you agree with this? Or do you believe that we really have not responsibility in our own eternal destiny?

Paul,

I believe that any merit (that is worthiness to receive reward from God) is a pure gift of God. I believe that strictly all the merit of all our good acts belong to God. But merit is indeed given to us, no mistake about that.

Paul says in Ephesioans that is it is God who works in us to will, and to do. Thus I think that the most spiritual merit we can ourselves obtain on our own is an absence of demerit, or zero demerit, since we are only keeping ourselves from resisting God’s grace in all these regards. We initiate nothing.

That being said, works are indeed necessary for salvation, in that the accession of the will to God’s Will allows His Life to work and Live within us. Thus sanctifying us and allowing us to persevere in our faith. Resistance to the Grace to get us to will will cause a weakening of faith and possibly the death of faith.

In addition the Grace of God to work allows us to produce works that the HS can use toward the sanctification of others. Thus giving us a part of the reward that others receive.

IMHO this canons of Trent wrt Justification is in tune with this understanding:

CANON XXXII.-If any one saith, that the good works of one that is justified are in such manner the gifts of God, as that they are not also the good merits of him that is justified; or, that the said justified, by the good works which he performs through the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose living member he is, does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life,-if so be, however, that he depart in grace,-and also an increase of glory; let him be anathema.

To merit an increase of Grace means that the fact of willing to do God’s work, that is, aligning our will with His, results in our perseverance. This means we are in a position to further receive Grace. Thus truly changed to be worthy of receiving more.

peace
steve

 

[paul_c]

Paul,

I believe that any merit (that is worthiness to receive reward from God) is a pure gift of God. I believe that strictly all the merit of all our good acts belong to God. But merit is indeed given to us, no mistake about that.

Paul says in Ephesioans that is it is God who works in us to will, and to do. Thus I think that the most spiritual merit we can ourselves obtain on our own is an absence of demerit, or zero demerit, since we are only keeping ourselves from resisting God’s grace in all these regards. We initiate nothing.

That being said, works are indeed necessary for salvation, in that the accession of the will to God’s Will allows His Life to work and Live within us. Thus sanctifying us and allowing us to persevere in our faith. Resistance to the Grace to get us to will will cause a weakening of faith and possibly the death of faith.

In addition the Grace of God to work allows us to produce works that the HS can use toward the sanctification of others. Thus giving us a part of the reward that others receive.

IMHO this canons of Trent wrt Justification is in tune with this understanding:

To merit an increase of Grace means that the fact of willing to do God’s work, that is, aligning our will with His, results in our perseverance. This means we are in a position to further receive Grace. Thus truly changed to be worthy of receiving more.

peace
steve

Look, we all know that everything comes from God, including our very being, so saying that merit is a pure gift of God goes without saying.

My issue is with those that believe that we have absolutely no responsibility for our own salvation, that instead we are mere automatons, puppets if you will, fulfilling our pre-ordained destiny. Such a position denies the dignity of man and also the pure love of God. God gives us everything we need to come to him and gain eternal life, this is true and undeniable. But we have to use what he gives us in accordance with God’s will for us to gain eternal life. God, through his infinite love, freely gives us the opportunity to decide for ourselves whether to follow Jesus or separate ourselves from God. When there is choice, there is merit for making the right one.

Now some will say, you can’t earn your way to heaven. Well, you certainly couldn’t get there if it was against God’s will nor could you say to God, I did “x” and therefore I should be in heaven. This would be missing the point. You need to love to attain eternal life. and love is doing things for others without expecting anything in return. So our goal must be to love perfectly and expect nothing, trusting instead that God will treat us mercifully and justly, accepting whatever his decision is in humility. The paradox is that heaven can only be earned by those who are not overtly seeking the reward, but are instead acting totally out of love. You must Give to earn…

the other argument we hear is that if man has free will (and therefore merit for using it appropriately) it infringes on God’s sovereignty. This is not true and shortsells God. He has perfect insight. He knows what we will do without forcing it and his plans take that into account and will perfectly come to pass. Afterall, God lives outside of time.

I believe this is completely consistent with Catholic teaching, including the Canon from Trent you posted above.

 

[clmowry]

How are you defining personal merit?

I agree another poster that this is the primary issue. I think between Catholics and Lutherans, there is very little difference in our notions on merit from a practical application standpoint in our daily lives.

Where the differences lie is primarily in our use of language from a theological standpoint.

If I offer up the following:

“Merit: The reward which God promises and gives to those who love him and by his grace perform good works.

One cannot merit justification or eternal life, which are the free gift of God; the source of any merit we have before God is due to the grace of Christ in us.”

Some of our protestant brothers read something like this and come away with: “I agree with this, see even Catholics believe what we do has no impact on our salvation.”

Others will read the same lines and come away with: “No, see the Catholic Church teaches we can work our way into heaven.”

Catholics read the same lines and don’t see either of those things.

Perhaps everyone should read the CCC 2006-2011 as the starting point of “Merit” from the Catholic perspective.

Is there a similar document from the Lutheran perspective?

Chuck

 

[paul_c]

For the convenience of our readers, here is the Catholic Catechism view on merit:

III. MERIT

“You are glorified in the assembly of your Holy Ones, for in crowning their merits you are crowning your own gifts” - 59 Roman Missal, Prefatio I de sanctis; Qui in Sanctorum concilio celebraris, et eorum coronando merita tua dona coronas, citing the “Doctor of grace,” St. Augustine, En. in Ps. 102,7L 37,1321-1322.

2006 The term “merit” refers in general to the recompense owed by a community or a society for the action of one of its members, experienced either as beneficial or harmful, deserving reward or punishment. Merit is relative to the virtue of justice, in conformity with the principle of equality which governs it.

2007 With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man. Between God and us there is an immeasurable inequality, for we have received everything from him, our Creator.

2008 The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace. The fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man’s free acting through his collaboration, so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man’s merit, moreover, itself is due to God, for his good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions and assistance given by the Holy Spirit.

2009 Filial adoption, in making us partakers by grace in the divine nature, can bestow true merit on us as a result of God’s gratuitous justice. This is our right by grace, the full right of love, making us “co-heirs” with Christ and worthy of obtaining "the promised inheritance of eternal life."The merits of our good works are gifts of the divine goodness. “Grace has gone before us; now we are given what is due. . . . Our merits are God’s gifts.”

2010 Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, no one can merit the initial grace of forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God’s wisdom. These graces and goods are the object of Christian prayer. Prayer attends to the grace we need for meritorious actions.

2011 The charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits before God. Grace, by uniting us to Christ in active love, ensures the supernatural quality of our acts and consequently their merit before God and before men. The saints have always had a lively awareness that their merits were pure grace.

“After earth’s exile, I hope to go and enjoy you in the fatherland, but I do not want to lay up merits for heaven. I want to work for your love alone. . . . In the evening of this life, I shall appear before you with empty hands, for I do not ask you, Lord, to count my works. All our justice is blemished in your eyes. I wish, then, to be clothed in your own justice and to receive from your love the eternal possession of yourself.” -
63 St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “Act of Offering” in Story of a Soul, tr. John Clarke (Washington DC: ICS, 1981), 277.

 

[MarcoPolo]

It may help to post excerpts from the Council of Trent on this as well:

*And whereas the Apostle saith, that man is justified by faith and freely, those words are to be understood in that sense which the perpetual consent of the Catholic Church hath held and expressed; to wit, that we are therefore said to be justified by faith, because faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation, and the root of all Justification; without which it is impossible to please God, and to come unto the fellowship of His sons: but we are therefore said to be justified freely, because that none of those things which precede justification-whether faith or works-merit the grace itself of justification. For, if it be a grace, it is not now by works, otherwise, as the same Apostle says, grace is no more grace.

Before men, therefore, who have been justified in this manner,-whether they have preserved uninterruptedly the grace received, or whether they have recovered it when lost,-are to be set the words of the Apostle: Abound in every good work, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord; for God is not unjust, that he should forget your work, and the love which you have shown in his name; and, do not lose your confidence, which hath a great reward. And, for this cause, life eternal is to be proposed to those working well unto [Page 43] the end, and hoping in God, both as a grace mercifully promised to the sons of God through Jesus Christ, and as a reward which is according to the promise of God Himself, to be faithfully rendered to their good works and merits. For this is that crown of justice which the Apostle declared was, after his fight and course, laid up for him, to be rendered to him by the just judge, and not only to him, but also to all that love his coming. For, whereas Jesus Christ Himself continually infuses his virtue into the said justified,-as the head into the members, and the vine into the branches,-and this virtue always precedes and accompanies and follows their good works, which without it could not in any wise be pleasing and meritorious before God,-we must believe that nothing further is wanting to the justified, to prevent their being accounted to have, by those very works which have been done in God, fully satisfied the divine law according to the state of this life, and to have truly merited eternal life, to be obtained also in its (due) time, if so be, however, that they depart in grace: seeing that Christ, our Saviour, saith: If any one shall drink of the water that I will give him, he shall not thirst for ever; but it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up unto life everlasting. Thus, neither is our own justice established as our own as from ourselves; nor is the justice of God ignored or repudiated: for that justice which is called ours, because that we are justified from its being inherent in us, that same is (the justice) of God, because that it is infused into us of God, through the merit of Christ. Neither is this to be omitted,-that although, in the sacred writings, so much is attributed to good works, that Christ promises, that even he that shall give a drink of cold water to one of his least ones, shall not lose his reward; and the Apostle testifies that, That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; nevertheless God forbid that a Christian should either trust or glory in himself, and not in the Lord, whose bounty towards all [Page 44] men is so great, that He will have the things which are His own gifts be their merits. And forasmuch as in many things we all offend, each one ought to have before his eyes, as well the severity and judgment, as the mercy and goodness (of God); neither ought any one to judge himself, even though he be not conscious to himself of anything; because the whole life of man is to be examined and judged, not by the judgment of man, but of God, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise from God, who, as it is written, will render to every man according to his works. After this Catholic doctrine on Justification, which whoso receiveth not faithfully and firmly cannot be justified, it hath seemed good to the holy Synod to subjoin these canons, that all may know not only what they ought to hold and follow, but also what to avoid and shun.

CANON XXXII.-If any one saith, that the good works of one that is justified are in such manner the gifts of God, as that they are not also the good merits of him that is justified; or, that the said justified, by the good works which he performs through the grace of God and the merit of Jesus Christ, whose [Page 49] living member he is, does not truly merit increase of grace, eternal life, and the attainment of that eternal life,-if so be, however, that he depart in grace,-and also an increase of glory; let him be anathema.*If I might try to turn this into a summary, the Catholic Church teaches that merit is the property of Christ, which he shares with His people. The vine and the branches are used analogously as well as the analogy of the head and body. If the hand does good, it is the head that enabled it. If the branch produces fruit, it is the vine that enabled it. Neither a branch off the vine, nor a disembodied hand can do anything of itself.

 

[JonNC]

=paul c;6705444]Merit is the recognition the good works you were called to do. Remember, we have free will. The difference might then be what that recognition does for us. And we’ve agreed regarding free will. We may have been called to do good works but we are not compelled to do them against our will. We have merit when we align our wills with God’s.

Would you agree that we cannot align our will to God without grace? IOW, the merit is really Christ’s.

So can we do things to get to heaven. Absolutely In fact, we must cooperate with the spirit within us and do what we are called to do. Can we get to heaven without God’s grace? no. Can we ignore grace and separate ourselves from God? Yes, I believe we can. We believe God wants us to come to him willingly. Do you agree with this? Or do you believe that we really have not responsibility in our own eternal destiny?

I think, paul you have hit on what may or may not be the subtle difference here. Lutherans believe that our free will is only one way. We cannot on our own choose to follow Christ, or even seek out Christ, because we are completely tied to sin, death, and the devil. Christ instead seeks us out, through the sacrament of Baptism and hearing the word. Faith is therefore a gift of grace.
We can, however, choose to reject grace.
Salvation is a gift of grace, for which we can do nothing to add. But again, we can choose to reject grace, by willfully and unrepentantly remaining in our sin. **Choosing not to follow Christ’s commands is willfull sin, and the Spirit will not long abide in one who chooses to not do His commands. **
So, what is the value of good works? To increase merit for our salvation? No, as that is Christ’s merit, fully and completely. The value of good works is toward our fellow man, and to the extent that we do them, we participate in Christ’s merit, out of joyful obedience to His call and command. Does this mean we can choose not to do good works? No, because that is willful disobedience.
There is always merit in the good works we do, if they are in response of the regenerate to His call and command. It is Christ’s merit, working through us.

Jon