Ephesians 2:8-10

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Melchior

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For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Can I get a Catholic explanation for the bolded part? Thanks.

Mel
 
Melchior said:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Can I get a Catholic explanation for the bolded part? Thanks.

Mel
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Salvation is by grace. Faith and works are what justify and sanctify us.
 
Melchior said:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Can I get a Catholic explanation for the bolded part? Thanks.

Mel
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The Catholic explanation is that you can’t get to heaven simply based upon your good works. Any good that we do must have as it’s motivator and goal our faith in Christ – otherwise it is just do-goodism." As Galatians 5:6 asserts, it is “Faith working through love” and, according to Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:28 “The obedience of faith.”

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
2005 Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord’s words “Thus you will know them by their fruits”- reflection on God’s blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.
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anawim:
Salvation is by grace. Faith and works are what justify and sanctify us.
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But isn’t sanctification a part of salvation in Catholicism? Any Portestant can affirm what you have said.

Mel
 
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Melchior:
But isn’t sanctification a part of salvation in Catholicism? Any Portestant can affirm what you have said.

Mel
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Sanctification is the means through which God increases our holiness.
 
Eph 2:8-10 refers to works of the law. We are not justified by works we are required to perform. Works that flow out from our Faith are freely offered works. These count as righteousness and will be used by Jesus at our trial to see if we are “saved” or not upon our death.

Works cannot save us without Faith. Faith without works is dead. A living Faith in Jesus will have works flow out of it like an alluvial well. I refer to the parables of the fig tree and the lamps with and without oil.

We are saved by Gods Grace ‘alone’. We are justified for that Grace by our Faith. Our works are the fruit/proof of our Faith.

A simple way to say it: Jesus is our judge. The Holy Spirit is our Advocate (defense attorney). Give the Holy Spirit something positive to use at your trial! The saints are expert witnesses if you pray to them. Blessed Mary is an expert witness with a bit of extra pull with Jesus, she is after all His mother and is therefore the mother of God.
 
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Malachi4U:
Eph 2:8-10 refers to works of the law.
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Eph. 2:10 says that we were created for good works, which Jesus prepared before hand, that we might walk in them.

While Paul often refers to works, as the works of the law, I don’t know that this was one of them.
 
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anawim:
Eph. 2:10 says that we were created for good works, which Jesus prepared before hand, that we might walk in them.

While Paul often refers to works, as the works of the law, I don’t know that this was one of them.
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I agree. The context does not support the “works of the Law” approach. This was not a primarily Jewsh audience.

Mel
 
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Melchior:
I agree. The context does not support the “works of the Law” approach. This was not a primarily Jewsh audience.

Mel
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Actually, the emphasis made in Ephesians 2:8 regarding works IS in reference to works of the Law. Whenever the Pauline tradition refers to “works” negatively it almost always pertains to the Jewish understanding of works.

The fact that this particular section of Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus immediately precedes a direct instruction for his Gentile audience is indeed quite pertinent to the issue of “works.” It is precisely BECAUSE he is meaning to communicate the great generosity and perrogative of God in choosing the “uncircumcised” (Gentiles) that is necessary for Paul to make such a distinction regarding “works.” The fact that he may not be speaking directly to a Jewish audience is WHY it is important for him to distinguish between the faith of the Gentiles versus the works of the Law that the Jewish converts could not easily surrender.

It is important to note that St. Paul never once denounces or expresses a disregard for Christian works in any of his letters. In fact, he clearly communicates the true message of the gospel which always depicts an active, working faith which is the harmonious tangent to the words of St. James that “faith without works is as dead as a body without breath” (James 2:26). Indeed, in light of Ephesians 2:8-10, we must not forget or overlook St. Paul’s comprehensive instruction which he expresses so beautifully in Galations 5:6:

“In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor the lack of it counts for anything; only faith, which expresses itself through love.”
 
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