Faith/Grace...Grace/Faith

[paul_c]

finally, lets look at revelations:, look what the Lord says to the church of Ephesus:
rev2:4 Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first.
5 Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent
.
Again, he clearly is saying that your salvation can be lost…

 

[pablope]

paul c;7638385**:

I can show you several scriptural passages that demonstrate that people who were saved by faith are not guaranteed eternal life in heaven. let’s look:

If the great apostle Paul felt he could lose his salvation, why would you think otherwise.

My humble contribution:

Romans 11:

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree, …“Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off.

Hebrews 10:

26 For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries… 29 How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? …36 For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised.

 

[moondweller]

**If **we die in the state of grace, we will enter heaven.

It’s late and I can’t spend a lot of time on the computer. But you, like BRB, have the burden of that big IF strapped on your back. As I said to BRB, Jesus calls those who are heavy-laden to come to Him and said “I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28).

One is not/can not be “saved” as long as that big** IF **is strapped to his back.

As we do good works, partake of the sacraments and devote ourselves increasingly to God, it becomes increasingly easy to avoid sin and become increasingly holy.

IOW, by these you hope to meet the requirements for your future entrance into heaven if you should die in a “state of grace.”

Throughout your life you are required to have that burdensome “if” strapped to your back. For the Catholic it’s secured on at the time of ritual, water baptism. And as long as it’s on the back one is not “saved.” There is only a hope to be saved, and that by fulfilling all the above requirements which are bound to that burdensome “if”. IOW, salvation by works.

God will judge us perfectly by seeing into our hearts.

In Catholicism that’s called the “particular judgment.” But Jesus said:John 3:17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."I don’t think you and Jesus see eye-to-eye on this.

 

[moondweller]

I can show you several scriptural passages that demonstrate that people who were saved by faith are not guaranteed eternal life in heaven. let’s look:

In none of the quotes you gave did the writer ever say “You have lost your salvation.” I asked you to show me where any of the writers stated just that.

matthew 7: 21-23:

21 "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’
23 Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’

Notice Jesus said “I NEVER knew you.”
Jesus knows those who are His (2 Tim. 2:19). So how can you say they were once “saved.” “Never” means never.

I could go through every one but I don’t have time. Plus, I’ve already addressed them all on other threads which you and I were involved.

So I take it that you couldn’t find one Epistle where the author wrote: "You have lost your salvation?’ Right? There’s a reason for that, you know.

 

[pablope]

In none of the quotes you gave did the writer ever say "You have lost your salvation?’ Right? There’s a reason for that, you know.

Romans 11: 17 to about 29 and Hebrews 10.

Look at post 277.

 

[paul_c]

Quote:
Originally Posted by paul c
If we die in the state of grace, we will enter heaven

Don’t mistake the fact that we know we have responsibility to actually follow Jesus for doubt. Because we know if we do what is asked of us, we will enter heaven. You seem to think that Catholics are worried about this. This is a huge misconception on your part. We live in the peace fo Christ, trusting in his mercy and justice if we cooperate with him. It is not Catholics that are perpetually concerned with " are you saved" and are looking for Guarantees of heaven. There is a reason for that.

Quote:
As we do good works, partake of the sacraments and devote ourselves increasingly to God, it becomes increasingly easy to avoid sin and become increasingly holy.

. Honestly, you think just because you are anxious about your eventual judgment that we are. Your couldnt’ be further from the truth. We are called to love and given the graces to do so. We are truly endowed with the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. We follow Jesus daily and allow him to judge us

Throughout your life you are required to have that burdensome “if” strapped to your back. For the Catholic it’s secured on at the time of ritual, water baptism. And as long as it’s on the back one is not “saved.” There is only a hope to be saved, and that by fulfilling all the above requirements which are bound to that burdensome “if”. IOW, salvation by works.

Your doubt is a burden for you, as it should be… Our hope is not burdensome, nor is living a life of love. Maybe someday, you will come to understand what Catholicism actually teaches, follow it, and have the inner peace that you are seeking.

 

[paul_c]

Quote:
God will judge us perfectly by seeing into our hearts.

Yes, his purpose is not to condemn but to save, but that doesn’t mean he won’t judge everyone . There is ample scriptural evidence to say that he will. Do you deny this?

Matthew 25; 31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne,
32 and all the nations 15 will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’
37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?
39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
40 And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
44 Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’
45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’
46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Romans 2: 5-11

5 By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God,
6 who will repay everyone according to his works:
7 eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality through perseverance in good works,
8 but wrath and fury to those who selfishly disobey the truth and obey wickedness.
9 Yes, affliction and distress will come upon every human being who does evil, Jew first and then Greek.
10 But there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does good, Jew first and then Greek.
11 There is no partiality with God.

John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
I don’t think you and Jesus see eye-to-eye on this.

Truly, Moondweller, your eyes are completely shut to the true meaning of the Gospel. Let’s look at the whole passage:
19 Jesus answered and said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also.
20 For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed.
21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes.
22 Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to his Son,
23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.
25 Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself.
27 And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

So doesn’t this passage actually say that Jesus will judge the world? And what does Jesus say about those that hear his word? Let’s check scripture==>
Luke 6:
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I command?
47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them.
48 That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.
49 But the one who listens and does not act is like a person who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed.”

 

[AmbroseSJ]

paul c:

Don’t mistake the fact that we know we have responsibility to actually follow Jesus for doubt. Because we know if we do what is asked of us, we will enter heaven. You seem to think that Catholics are worried about this. This is a huge misconception on your part. We live in the peace fo Christ, trusting in his mercy and justice if we cooperate with him. It is not Catholics that are perpetually concerned with " are you saved" and are looking for Guarantees of heaven. There is a reason for that.

The irony is, right after the Reformation, Catholics were accused of being too self-assured regarding their salvation, as the Sacrament of Penance was seen as giving Catholics a blank check to do whatever they wanted, with the assurance they could easily get their sin forgiven.

Now in our own day, we see the fundamentalist OSAS believer exceeding even the supposed Catholic assurance of salvation.

But the obvious hole in the OSAS doctrine is their erroneous belief that Faith can never be lost (or else so is salvation.) They claim there never was Faith in that case, but then they are quick to disown the idea once the logical idiocy of that assumption is made clear to them. Then like a broken record they start all over again from the beginning, pretending they don’t hear and pretending that they don’t see.

 

[paul_c]

Quote:
Originally Posted by paul c
I can show you several scriptural passages that demonstrate that people who were saved by faith are not guaranteed eternal life in heaven. let’s look:

You will also not be able to find the quote " once saved, always saved" in scripture. What does that prove? The New Testament was written approximately 2000 years ago in another language in another culture. To expect an exact quote is ridiculous. Many times Jesus used parables and stories because the thoughts they conveyed would be more easily understood across time, language and cultural barriers, at least to those open to the truth. I showed you a half dozen scritural readings which make the point that your salvation is not guaranteed. Pablope added a couple more. That they didn’t use the exact words you use is of no consequence. Now you can attempt to ignore or explain them away, along with 2000 years of Catholic traditon, but that won’t get you any closer to the truth. Swallow your pride and try learning what the Catholic Church really teaches. I have faith that the Spirit has motivated you to stay on this site for 2+ years for a reason. But the Spirit works in mysterious ways, so that reason probably won’t be what you expect.

Quote:
matthew 7: 21-23:

Maybe this is a point of soul searching for you. These people called Jesus Lord and even did mighty deeds in his name, yet Jesus disowned them because they did evil. They undoubtedly thought they were saved, just as you do now. but they didn’t do what Jesus actually required, which was to do the will of his Father. Remember, this is in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus laid out his full moral teaching. And just after the verses above, he concluded the sermon with these passages:

24 “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
26 And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
28 When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Please, for the good of your soul, take this to heart…

I could go through every one but I don’t have time. Plus, I’ve already addressed them all on other threads which you and I were involved.

I appreciate your time constraint. And I know you’ve probably addressed many of them just as you have addressed the one above. But the answers weren’t particuarly adequate in retrospect, were they?

So I take it that you couldn’t find one Epistle where the author wrote: "You have lost your salvation?’ Right? There’s a reason for that, you know.

---

Sure, there’s a reason for it, They were speaking in another language with different ways of expressing the same idea. But we’ve shown you 7-10 passages that clearly show that your salvation is not guaranteed. Its said in many different ways and with different examples so that you could understand at least one of them.

Moondweller, let me leave you with a thought. Life is a test to see whether you are suitable for heaven. By your actions, you will either support the cause of Christ or you will support the cause of the devil. You do the work of Christ if you do works of mercy and love for God and your fellow man. If you do this, you will carry on with it in heaven. However, if you sin and especially if you tempt others to sin and even if you simply fail to do the good works you are called to do, you are doing the work of Satan and will be condemned to continuing to do so in Hell. This is what Jesus was saying in Matthew 25: 31-46. Take it to heart. On these pages you sometimes come across as saying that good works are not beneficial to the soul → be careful not to lead people down the path of condemnation…

 

[paul_c]

The irony is, right after the Reformation, Catholics were accused of being too self-assured regarding their salvation, as the Sacrament of Penance was seen as giving Catholics a blank check to do whatever they wanted, with the assurance they could easily get their sin forgiven.

Now in our own day, we see the fundamentalist OSAS believer exceeding even the supposed Catholic assurance of salvation.

But the obvious hole in the OSAS doctrine is their erroneous belief that Faith can never be lost (or else so is salvation.) They claim there never was Faith in that case, but then they are quick to disown the idea once the logical idiocy of that assumption is made clear to them. Then like a broken record they start all over again from the beginning, pretending they don’t hear and pretending that they don’t see.

Tell me, do you ever lose a minute of sleep worrying about whether you will ever get to heaven? I certainly don’t. I would never even think about it consciously if it wasn’t for this apologetic work where every evangelical is asking where our guarantee of heaven resides. They are so desparate for assurance…

 

[AmbroseSJ]

Tell me, do you ever lose a minute of sleep worrying about whether you will ever get to heaven? I certainly don’t. I would never even think about it consciously if it wasn’t for this apologetic work where every evangelical is asking where our guarantee of heaven resides. They are so desparate for assurance…

That is why Catholics put so much emphasis on the three theological virtues; Faith, Hope and Charity. We have Faith in Jesus, Trust in his Mercy and Love God and our neighbor as ourselves. Catholics firmly believe that these three theological virtues are gifts from God (grace) and that without God we are incapable of any good. Therefore we don’t trust ourselves to “have” Faith the ways fundamentalist OSAS believers do.

They must be in terror of never knowing if they REALLY have Faith, because if at some future date, they ever lose it, then they NEVER had it, thus were NEVER saved. Their whole doctrine hinges on self-deception.

 

[moondweller]

Romans 11: 17 to about 29 and Hebrews 10.

Look at post 277.

Romans eleven isn’t soteriological. IOW, it’s not about an individual’s salvation or loss of it (an oxymoron). Contextually Romans eleven is about the nation of Israel and the Gentiles: “…a partial hardening has happened to ISRAEL until the fullness of the GENTILES has come in” (i.e., into the church, v. 25). Paul warns the GENTILES (corporately, “Gentiledom”), which are grafted into the Abrahamic covenant of promise (the “holy root”) during this church age, that they stand only by their FAITH (v. 20). Israel (except for the remnant) was/is (temporarily) broken off because of unbelief, and such will happen to the GENTILES for the same reason. Verse 25 is key to understanding the chapter. It’s not about an individual losing his salvation.

Heb. 6 and 10 are the standard, “you can lose your salvation” proof texts. But they are standard warnings to those who after “receiving the knowledge of the truth” (they didn’t believe the truth regarding Christ unto salvation) in unbelief trample under foot the Son of God, and regard as unclean (i.e., common, has no redemptive value or effect) the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace. These “sanctified” mentioned here are not saved (see 1 Cor. 7:14 for a comparison). It’s a sanctification by association, not unto salvation.

 

[moondweller]

That is why Catholics put so much emphasis on the three theological virtues; Faith, Hope and Charity. We have Faith in Jesus, Trust in his Mercy and Love God and our neighbor as ourselves. Catholics firmly believe that these three theological virtues are gifts from God (grace) and that without God we are incapable of any good. Therefore we don’t trust ourselves to “have” Faith the ways fundamentalist OSAS believers do.

They must be in terror of never knowing if they REALLY have Faith, because if at some future date, they ever lose it, then they NEVER had it, thus were NEVER saved. Their whole doctrine hinges on self-deception.

“For by GRACE you have been saved THROUGH FAITH.” Key there is “have been saved.” The object of the faith through which I have been saved “by GRACE,” is Jesus Christ. I haven’t been saved BY FAITH, but rather “by grace” (God’s). And the power behind that divine grace is the Person and sacrificial work of Jesus Christ which He finished 2000 years ago. That’s why it’s “not as a result of works.” Any works, bar Christ’s.

I “have been saved” (a done deal) by grace," I am not “being saved” by faith. Nor is my faith in faith, but in the One who saved me and gifted me eternal life in His resurrected Son.

 

[AmbroseSJ]

“For by GRACE you have been saved THROUGH FAITH.” Key there is “have been saved.” The object of the faith through which I have been saved “by GRACE,” is Jesus Christ. I haven’t been saved BY FAITH, but rather “by grace” (God’s). And the power behind that divine grace is the Person and sacrificial work of Jesus Christ which He finished 2000 years ago. That’s why it’s “not as a result of works.” Any works, bar Christ’s.

I “have been saved” (a done deal) by grace," I am not “being saved” by faith. Nor is my faith in faith, but in the One who saved me and gifted me eternal life in His resurrected Son.

Jeff Patton:

It is widely understood that to be against a doctrinal eternal security is to be for losing salvation. Unfortunately, those in opposition to the false doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved have set a framework in which we are sometimes forced to work. With the nearly universal idea that “losing salvation” is the antithesis to doctrinal eternal security, one must consider answering questions about it in a way that people can relate to and understand. It is wise to use the framework they already have their minds set upon. It is a common ground foundation, a place in which to start the discussion.

remainder here

Perhaps a more clear explanation of what we have already been saying in this thread.

 

[moondweller]

You will also not be able to find the quote " once saved, always saved" in scripture. What does that prove?

You don’t need it. The word “SAVED” is enough. Saved means saved. The problem lies not with Scripture but with those who don’t believe that God Himself “saves” (by grace alone) the one who believes in Christ (alone). If a religious system has no concept of the word “saved,” naturally it will translate any admonitions in Scripture as a condition for a future “salvation,” which is not received (one only hopes) until the end of one’s life. Hence, there can be no real salvation in this life time based on the numerous conditions attached to it.

The New Testament was written approximately 2000 years ago in another language in another culture. To expect an exact quote is ridiculous.

It has nothing to do with the culture. It has to do with one not believing that God has the power to save to the uttermost (forever, completely, Heb. 7:25) the one who believe in the Lord Jesus (Acts 16:31).

Maybe this is a point of soul searching for you. These people called Jesus Lord and even did mighty deeds in his name, yet Jesus disowned them because they did evil.

He didn’t “disown” them (as if they were once His). He said “I NEVER knew you.”

They undoubtedly thought they were saved, just as you do now. but they didn’t do what Jesus actually required, which was to do the will of his Father.

And what is the will of the Father if not to believe in His Son. They did many “works in His name,” and by those works they pleaded to enter the kingdom. But what was Christ’s response to them?

Remember, this is in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus laid out his full moral teaching. And just after the verses above, he concluded the sermon with these passages:

24 “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
26 And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
28 When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,
29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Please, for the good of your soul, take this to heart…

But where does it say one is saved by those acts? In the Scriptures salvation always points to the work of only ONE MAN, the Man Christ Jesus. Hence, it’s “by grace through faith.” Why do you always gravitate to works?

I appreciate your time constraint. And I know you’ve probably addressed many of them just as you have addressed the one above. But the answers weren’t particuarly adequate in retrospect, were they?

Depends if one believes if God’s grace is adequate or not.

Moondweller, let me leave you with a thought. Life is a test to see whether you are suitable for heaven.

So one must himself pass the test. Works?

By your actions, you will either support the cause of Christ or you will support the cause of the devil.

Define “cause of Christ?”

You do the work of Christ if you do works of mercy and love for God and your fellow man. If you do this, you will carry on with it in heaven. However, if you sin and especially if you tempt others to sin and even if you simply fail to do the good works you are called to do, you are doing the work of Satan and will be condemned to continuing to do so in Hell.

All of the above is that big “IF” strapped on your back.

This is what Jesus was saying in Matthew 25: 31-46.

In Matt. 25:31ff Jesus separates the sheep from the goats. It’s not a judgment, it’s a separation.

On these pages you sometimes come across as saying that good works are not beneficial to the soul → be careful not to lead people down the path of condemnation…

I have said “good works” are for the saved by grace through faith, a gift of God, not as a result of works." They’re reserved for those who are now “created in Christ Jesus” for them - not by them. Good works follow salvation, they are never the cause of it. For instance:Titus 2:11-14 "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."It’s those who have been redeemed from every lawless deed, purified (by His blood) and are now His own possession, that are to be zealous for good deed. Good deed follow salvation, they’re not the cause of it.

All the saved enter heaven (what Philthy defines as the KOG). They ALL have their citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20-21).

 

[david_friol_1]

Pope Benedict XVI on these topics in Paul

Saint Paul (13):

The Doctrine of Justification: from Works to Faith.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On the journey we are making under St Paul’s guidance, let us now reflect on a topic at the centre of the controversies of the century of the Reformation: the question of justification. How does man become just in God’s eyes? When Paul met the Risen One on the road to Damascus he was an accomplished man; irreproachable according to the justice deriving from the Law (cf. Phil 3: 6), Paul surpassed many of his contemporaries in the observance of the Mosaic Law and zealously upheld the traditions of his fathers (cf. Gal 1: 14). The illumination of Damascus radically changed his life; he began to consider all merits acquired in an impeccable religious career as “refuse”, in comparison with the sublimity of knowing Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 3: 8). The Letter to the Philippians offers us a moving testimony of Paul’s transition from a justice founded on the Law and acquired by his observance of the required actions, to a justice based on faith in Christ. He had understood that what until then had seemed to him to be a gain, before God was, in fact, a loss; and thus he had decided to stake his whole existence on Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 3: 7). The treasure hidden in the field and the precious pearl for whose purchase all was to be invested were no longer in function of the Law, but Jesus Christ, his Lord.

The relationship between Paul and the Risen One became so deep as to induce him to maintain that Christ was no longer solely his life but also his very living, to the point that to be able to reach him death became a gain (cf. Phil 1: 21). This is not to say he despised life, but that he realized that for him at this point there was no other purpose in life and thus he had no other desire than to reach Christ as in an athletics competition to remain with him for ever. The Risen Christ had become the beginning and the end of his existence, the cause and the goal of his race. It was only his concern for the development in faith of those he had evangelized and his anxiety for all of the Churches he founded (cf. 2 Cor 11: 28) that induced him to slow down in his race towards his one Lord, to wait for his disciples so they might run with him towards the goal. Although from a perspective of moral integrity he had nothing to reproach himself in his former observance of the Law, once Christ had reached him he preferred not to make judgments on himself (cf. 1 Cor 4: 3-4). Instead he limited himself to resolving to press on, to make his own the One who had made him his own (cf. Phil 3: 12).

It is precisely because of this personal experience of relationship with Jesus Christ that Paul henceforth places at the centre of his Gospel an irreducible opposition between the two alternative paths to justice: one built on the works of the Law, the other founded on the grace of faith in Christ. The alternative between justice by means of works of the Law and that by faith in Christ thus became one of the dominant themes that run through his Letters: “We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law; because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Gal 2: 15-16). And to the Christians of Rome he reasserts that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rm 3: 23-24). And he adds “we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (ibid., v. 28). At this point Luther translated: “justified by faith alone”. I shall return to this point at the end of the Catechesis. First, we must explain what is this “Law” from which we are freed and what are those “works of the Law” that do not justify. The opinion that was to recur systematically in history already existed in the community at Corinth. This opinion consisted in thinking that it was a question of moral law and that the Christian freedom thus consisted in the liberation from ethics. Thus in Corinth the term “πάντα μοι έξεστιν” (I can do what I like) was widespread. It is obvious that this interpretation is wrong: Christian freedom is not libertinism; the liberation of which St Paul spoke is not liberation from good works.

So what does the Law from which we are liberated and which does not save mean? For St Paul, as for all his contemporaries, the word “Law” meant the Torah in its totality, that is, the five books of Moses. The Torah, in the Pharisaic interpretation, that which Paul had studied and made his own, was a complex set of conduct codes that ranged from the ethical nucleus to observances of rites and worship and that essentially determined the identity of the just person. In particular, these included circumcision, observances concerning pure food and ritual purity in general, the rules regarding the observance of the Sabbath, etc. codes of conduct that also appear frequently in the debates between Jesus and his contemporaries. All of these observances that express a social, cultural and religious identity had become uniquely important in the time of Hellenistic culture, starting from the third century B.C. This culture which had become the universal culture of that time and was a seemingly rational culture; a polytheistic culture, seemingly tolerant constituted a strong pressure for cultural uniformity and thus threatened the identity of Israel, which was politically constrained to enter into this common identity of the Hellenistic culture. This resulted in the loss of its own identity, hence also the loss of the precious heritage of the faith of the Fathers, of the faith in the one God and in the promises of God.

 

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Against this cultural pressure, which not only threatened the Israelite identity but also the faith in the one God and in his promises, it was necessary to create a wall of distinction, a shield of defence to protect the precious heritage of the faith; this wall consisted precisely in the Judaic observances and prescriptions. Paul, who had learned these observances in their role of defending God’s gift, of the inheritance of faith in one God alone, saw this identity threatened by the freedom of the Christians this is why he persecuted them. At the moment of his encounter with the Risen One he understood that with Christ’s Resurrection the situation had changed radically. With Christ, the God of Israel, the one true God, became the God of all peoples. The wall as he says in his Letter to the Ephesians between Israel and the Gentiles, was no longer necessary: it is Christ who protects us from polytheism and all of its deviations; it is Christ who unites us with and in the one God; it is Christ who guarantees our true identity within the diversity of cultures. The wall is no longer necessary; our common identity within the diversity of cultures is Christ, and it is he who makes us just. Being just simply means being with Christ and in Christ. And this suffices. Further observances are no longer necessary. For this reason Luther’s phrase: “faith alone” is true, if it is not opposed to faith in charity, in love. Faith is looking at Christ, entrusting oneself to Christ, being united to Christ, conformed to Christ, to his life. And the form, the life of Christ, is love; hence to believe is to conform to Christ and to enter into his love. So it is that in the Letter to the Galatians in which he primarily developed his teaching on justification St Paul speaks of faith that works through love (cf. Gal 5: 14).

Paul knows that in the twofold love of God and neighbour the whole of the Law is present and carried out. Thus in communion with Christ, in a faith that creates charity, the entire Law is fulfilled. We become just by entering into communion with Christ who is Love. We shall see the same thing in the Gospel next Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King. It is the Gospel of the judge whose sole criterion is love. What he asks is only this: Did you visit me when I was sick? When I was in prison? Did you give me food to eat when I was hungry, did you clothe me when I was naked? And thus justice is decided in charity. Thus, at the end of this Gospel we can almost say: love alone, charity alone. But there is no contradiction between this Gospel and St Paul. It is the same vision, according to which communion with Christ, faith in Christ, creates charity. And charity is the fulfilment of communion with Christ. Thus, we are just by being united with him and in no other way.

At the end, we can only pray the Lord that he help us to believe; really believe. Believing thus becomes life, unity with Christ, the transformation of our life. And thus, transformed by his love, by the love of God and neighbour, we can truly be just in God’s eyes.

 

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Saint Paul (14):

The Doctrine of Justification: The Apostle’s Teaching on Faith and Works

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In the Catechesis last Wednesday I spoke of how man is justified before God. Following St Paul, we have seen that man is unable to “justify” himself with his own actions, but can only truly become “just” before God because God confers his “justice” upon him, uniting him to Christ his Son. And man obtains this union through faith. In this sense, St Paul tells us: not our deeds, but rather faith renders us “just”. This faith, however, is not a thought, an opinion, an idea. This faith is communion with Christ, which the Lord gives to us, and thus becomes life, becomes conformity with him. Or to use different words faith, if it is true, if it is real, becomes love, becomes charity, is expressed in charity. A faith without charity, without this fruit, would not be true faith. It would be a dead faith.

Thus, in our last Catechesis, we discovered two levels: that of the insignificance of our actions and of our deeds to achieve salvation, and that of “justification” through faith which produces the fruit of the Spirit. The confusion of these two levels has caused more than a few misunderstandings in Christianity over the course of centuries. In this context it is important that St Paul, in the same Letter to the Galatians radically accentuates, on the one hand, the freely given nature of justification that is not dependent on our works, but which at the same time also emphasizes the relationship between faith and charity, between faith and works: “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal 5: 6). Consequently, there are on the one hand “works of the flesh”, which are “immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry…” (Gal 5: 19-20): all works that are contrary to the faith; on the other, there is the action of the Holy Spirit who nourishes Christian life, inspiring “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5: 22-23). These are the fruits of the Spirit that blossom from faith.

Agape, love, is cited at the beginning of this list of virtues and self-control at the conclusion. In fact, the Spirit who is the Love of the Father and the Son pours out his first gift, agape, into our hearts (cf. Rm 5: 5); and to be fully expressed, agape, love, requires self-control. In my first Encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, I also treated of the love of the Father and the Son which reaches us and profoundly transforms our existence. Believers know that reciprocal love is embodied in the love of God and of Christ, through the Spirit. Let us return to the Letter to the Galatians. Here St Paul says that by bearing one another’s burdens believers are fulfilling the commandment of love (cf. Gal 6: 2).
Justified through the gift of faith in Christ, we are called to live in the love of Christ for neighbour, because it is on this criterion that we shall be judged at the end of our lives. In reality Paul only repeats what Jesus himself said and which is proposed to us anew by last Sunday’s Gospel, in the parable of the Last Judgment. In the First Letter to the Corinthians St Paul pours himself out in a famous eulogy of love. It is called the “hymn to love”: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal… Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way” (1 Cor 13: 1, 4-5). Christian love is particularly demanding because it springs from Christ’s total love for us: that love that claims us, welcomes us, embraces us, sustains us, to the point of tormenting us since it forces each one to no longer live for himself, closed into his own selfishness, but for him “who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor 5: 15). The love of Christ makes us, in him, that new creation (cf. 2 Cor 5: 17), which comes to belong to his Mystical Body that is the Church.

 

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Paul’s preaching, does not clash with faith that works through love; indeed, it demands that our faith itself be expressed in a life in accordance with the Spirit. Often there is seen an unfounded opposition between St Paul’s theology and that of St James, who writes in his Letter: “as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead”(2: 26). In reality, while Paul is primarily concerned to show that faith in Christ is necessary and sufSeen in this perspective, the centrality of justification without works, the primary object of ficient, James accentuates the consequential relations between faith and works (cf. Jas 2: 24). Therefore, for both Paul and James, faith that is active in love testifies to the freely given gift of justification in Christ. Salvation received in Christ needs to be preserved and witnessed to “with fear and trembling. For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure… Do all things without grumbling or questioning… holding fast the word of life”, St Paul was to say further, to the Christians of Philippi (cf. Phil 2: 12-14, 16).

We are often induced to fall into the same misunderstandings that characterized the community of Corinth; those Christians thought that since they had been freely justified in Christ through faith, “they could do as they pleased”. And they believed and it often seems that today’s Christians also think this that it is permissible to create divisions in the Church, the Body of Christ, to celebrate the Eucharist without looking after the neediest of our brothers, to aspire to better charisms without being aware that each is a member of the other, and so forth. The consequences of a faith that is not manifested in love are disastrous, because it reduces itself to the arbitrariness and subjectivism that is most harmful to us and to our brothers. On the contrary, in following St Paul, we should gain a new awareness of the fact that precisely because we are justified in Christ, we no longer belong to ourselves but have become a temple of the Spirit and hence are called to glorify God in our body with the whole of our existence (cf. 1 Cor 6: 19). We would be underselling the inestimable value of justification, purchased at the high price of Christ’s Blood, if we were not to glorify him with our body. In fact, our worship at the same time reasonable and spiritual is exactly this, which is why St Paul exhorts us “to present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rm 12: 1). To what would a liturgy be reduced if addressed solely to the Lord without simultaneously becoming service to one’s brothers, a faith that would not express itself in charity? And the Apostle often places his communities in confrontation with the Last Judgment, on the occasion of which: “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body” (2 Cor 5: 10; cf. also Rm 2: 16). And this idea of the Last Judgment must illumine us in our daily lives.

If the ethics that Paul proposes to believers do not deteriorate into forms of moralism and prove themselves timely for us, it is because, each time, they start from the personal and communal relationship with Christ, to be realized concretely in a life according to the Spirit. This is essential: the Christian ethic is not born from a system of commandments but is a consequence of our friendship with Christ. This friendship influences life; if it is true it incarnates and fulfils itself in love for neighbour. For this reason, any ethical decay is not limited to the individual sphere but it also weakens personal and communal faith from which it derives and on which it has a crucial effect. Therefore let us allow ourselves to be touched by reconciliation, which God has given us in Christ, by God’s “foolish” love for us; nothing and no one can ever separate us from his love (cf. Rm 8: 39). We live in this certainty. It is this certainty that gives us the strength to live concretely the faith that works in love.

 

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1 Tim. 6:3-6…“Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the religious teaching is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid disposition for arguments and verbal disputes. From these come envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, and mutual friction among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth, supposing religion to be a means of gain.”

This long drawn out conversation seems to be already past this point of Paul’s