God's Love/Faith vs. Works

[AveChriste11]

Hi everyone,

I wasn’t sure where to post this, so please feel free to move it just in case it’s in the wrong area. I know we are taught in the Church, that faith must be accompanied by what we do and not just a mere intellectual assent. In the Protestant churches they told me that there is nothing we could ever possibly do to earn his Love, that his Love is offered freely and was demonstrated on the cross to save us from our sins. That salvation is a free gift from God, that we could never earn and all we have to do is to come to know the God who created a thousand galaxies by renewing our minds daily with his promises in the Bible, and trusting him with all of our heart and soul.

At least in my mind, I’ve often fallen into the trap of thinking that when I commit a mortal sin then I am no longer loved by God. That I must do good works, say so many rosaries, in order to “earn” his Love. I realize that mortal sin will separate us from our Creator for that is the nature of “sin”, even more so when it is a deliberate act of the will. My question is, what does the Catholic Church teach in regards to this? Are we doing good works, so that we can be “good enough” in his eyes? Some people tell me that God’s love is unconditional, but I’m not even sure if the Bible or Holy Tradition ever taught that.

I hope you all can tell me what the Catholic Church says about this, because it would seem my mind has possibly gotten the wrong idea and we’re accomplishing acts of charity and good works for something more than just because we don’t want to go to Hell, or because we want to be “Loved”.

Sincerely,
Andrew

 

[snarflemike]

The Church does not teach that we can “earn” God’s love, because we can’t. God gives his love freely (that is, without condition).

The concept of “works” is not about earning salvation or changing God’s mind about us. It is always about converting ourselves to be more like God, and closer to God. All works boil down to the 2 great commandments, love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. It’s not that we can “earn” a place in heaven by having enough love, it’s that heaven is only heaven for those who have been perfected in love. To anybody else, heaven would be horrible.

There is a saying, “the road to heaven is heaven.” I have found there is a great deal of truth in this saying. Striving to love God and neighbor, striving to abandon our basic “me first” impulses, doesn’t just earn us points towards future heaven, it lets us experience a taste of heaven here and now.

God calls us to good works to transform ourselves and others. Then he gives us the grace to perform those good works. But we must cooperate, we must also act. There can be no love relationship between 2 people if one acts and the other does not.

IMO a faithful Catholic and a faithful Protestant have a very similar view toward works. They don’t ponder the theology of works endlessly, they simply do them because they know God desires them, and because they want to do them. I think there has been FAR too much straining at gnats in the whole faith/works battle.

 

[Christy_Beth]

We don’t “lose” his love. But we do sometimes get in the way. By trying to do things our way, we go the wrong way. Our “works” are in response to God’s love. If you are married, consider this. If you say to your spouse, “I love you,” would that be enough? Or would it be necessary to show that love by what you do? My ex was all into that “I love you more” stuff. But did his actions back it up? Are you kidding?!?! No way! His actions were the opposite of love. The same goes to our relationship with God. If we truly love him, then our actions should show that love on a daily basis.

 

[fhansen]

Hi everyone,

I wasn’t sure where to post this, so please feel free to move it just in case it’s in the wrong area. I know we are taught in the Church, that faith must be accompanied by what we do and not just a mere intellectual assent. In the Protestant churches they told me that there is nothing we could ever possibly do to earn his Love, that his Love is offered freely and was demonstrated on the cross to save us from our sins. That salvation is a free gift from God, that we could never earn and all we have to do is to come to know the God who created a thousand galaxies by renewing our minds daily with his promises in the Bible, and trusting him with all of our heart and soul.

At least in my mind, I’ve often fallen into the trap of thinking that when I commit a mortal sin then I am no longer loved by God. That I must do good works, say so many rosaries, in order to “earn” his Love. I realize that mortal sin will separate us from our Creator for that is the nature of “sin”, even more so when it is a deliberate act of the will. My question is, what does the Catholic Church teach in regards to this? Are we doing good works, so that we can be “good enough” in his eyes? Some people tell me that God’s love is unconditional, but I’m not even sure if the Bible or Holy Tradition ever taught that.

I hope you all can tell me what the Catholic Church says about this, because it would seem my mind has possibly gotten the wrong idea and we’re accomplishing acts of charity and good works for something more than just because we don’t want to go to Hell, or because we want to be “Loved”.

Sincerely,
Andrew

God’s love is unconditional for man, but we can reject even unconditional love. That’s precisely where our wills come into play, which He won’t violate. Even Protestants maintain that God expects our faith at the very least; salvation is not universal IOW.

 

[snarflemike]

Even Protestants maintain that God expects our faith at the very least; salvation is not universal IOW.

This is a good point. If not everybody is automatically saved, then what differentiates those who are saved from those who are not. It can only be either divine fiat - God chooses to save some, and not others, and neither group has any say in the matter - or it involves something that the saved choose to do, and the unsaved do not.

 

[Used2beSherryG]

Good works can never “make up” for sins committed. One has nothing to do with the other. We can go to receive the sacrament of penance or reconciliation. First we must recognize our sin, then confess it to a priest who is “in persona Christi”, say an act of contrition, and carry out whatever penance we are given by the priest. Jesus absolvesusf of any sin, provided that we are heartily sorry and resolved never to commit that sin again.

Jesus himself asks us to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. That is why good works are necessary. We are not earning anything by doing good works, we are imitating Christ in loving our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. We cannot earn God’s love, He loves us all regardless of our weaknesses. It is not a question of doing good works or not to “earn” His love. We know that God loves us. But we have free will and can choose to go away from God and follow our own desires, which can be disordered due to original sin.

 

[Used2beSherryG]

This is a good point. If not everybody is automatically saved, then what differentiates those who are saved from those who are not. It can only be either divine fiat - God chooses to save some, and not others, and neither group has any say in the matter - or it involves something that the saved choose to do, and the unsaved do not.

God chooses each one of us, however, we, through our own free will can refuse God’s love and choose evil. We are all called to be saved. But we have to choose His way in order to be saved and be with Him eternally. Your logic is based on an incorrect assumption.

 

[snarflemike]

God chooses each one of us, however, we, through our own free will can refuse God’s love and choose evil. We are all called to be saved. But we have to choose His way in order to be saved and be with Him eternally. Your logic is based on an incorrect assumption.

Huh? We’re saying the same thing. Where is the incorrect assumption you refer to?