Going To Confession, State of Grace and Heaven

[Anesti33]

You and your Catholic Catechists may be shocked to realize that salvation by works is a heresy that has been condemned since the earliest centuries of Christianity. Pelagius taught that we could work our way to Heaven through our own merits, apart from sanctifying grace. Apparently he is alive and well for you. For faithful Catholics, we acknowledge that we are saved by grace alone, a gratuitous gift of God that cannot be earned.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

You and your Catholic Catechists may be shocked to realize that salvation by works is a heresy that has been condemned since the earliest centuries of Christianity. Pelagius taught that we could work our way to Heaven through our own merits, apart from sanctifying grace. Apparently he is alive and well for you. For faithful Catholics, we acknowledge that we are saved by grace alone, a gratuitous gift of God that cannot be earned.

Sadly its not just a few fanatics on this forum. It’s everywhere, even priests give sermons that imply that we will be judged based on our works. Then why go to confession? Why be baptized? It’s like almost all Catholics believe something different than what is in the catechism.

 

[fhansen]

You and your Catholic Catechists may be shocked to realize that salvation by works is a heresy that has been condemned since the earliest centuries of Christianity. Pelagius taught that we could work our way to Heaven through our own merits, apart from sanctifying grace. Apparently he is alive and well for you. For faithful Catholics, we acknowledge that we are saved by grace alone, a gratuitous gift of God that cannot be earned.

The council of Trent put it this way, in session 6, chap 8 maintaining that its all a work of grace:

“…none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification.”

Once freely justified-made just- by God, though, we’re expected to walk like it, and that involves continuous choice, to will and to act like His children, remaining in Him so we continue to live in the Spirit, under grace. So Trent goes on:

“If anyone says that man can be justified before God by his own works, whether done by his own natural powers or through the teaching of the law, without divine grace through Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.”

Any works must be from God as per Eph 2:10, “under grace”, not of our own, not “under the law”. Trent continues, while also emphasizing the need for our cooperation:

“If anyone says that the just ought not for the good works done in God to expect and hope for an eternal reward from God through His mercy and the merit of Jesus Christ, if by doing well and by keeping the divine commandments they persevere to the end, let him be anathema.”

The catechism echoes all this:

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.

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.

I think most Catholic teachers understand this, and the error of Pelagius, but some may not.

 

[fhansen]

Sadly its not just a few fanatics on this forum. It’s everywhere, even priests give sermons that imply that we will be judged based on our works. Then why go to confession? Why be baptized? It’s like almost all Catholics believe something different than what is in the catechism.

Baptism and confession are to get us into the fold, onto the right path, or back onto it if we stray. But once on that path we’re expected to continue walking it with God, doing His will as grace prompts us, obeying the commandments (Matt 19), doing good (Rom 2:7), doing “for the least of these” (Matt 25), striving, persevering," investing" our “talents” (Matt 25), etc. We’re to love, to put it another way, and by that love we’ll be judged.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

We’re to love, to put it another way, and by that love we’ll be judged.

I’m sorry that doesn’t really make sense. If you sincerely confess your failures and lack of love, then how can you be judged for it? If you are judged by your actions, then confession didn’t actually do anything. You can’t have it both ways. Either confession absolves you of your failures, or you are judged by your actions. You can’t say you have been absolved if you are going to be judged.

 

[fhansen]

Confession of sin is-or should be- one expression of our love. Again, its not about a merely mechanical transaction between ourselves and God which I’m sure you understand. We confess because we’ve offended the One we love. And if we were to have little or no other fruit in our lives or evidence of love for God and neighbor, we might want to be more concerned about our status-and about our motivation and sincerity. Either way the church teaches, regarding our “particular judgment”:
"At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love." (CCC 1022). That’s the bottom line.

Anyway, keeping this in mind helps prevent us from falling into this very legalistic notion that I hear on these forums from time to time that if we only manage to somehow confess our mortal sins before we die that we’ll be saved. And that needs to be fleshed out to be understood properly IMO.

 

[Neil_Anthony]

Confession of sin is-or should be- one expression of our love. Again, its not about a merely mechanical transaction between ourselves and God which I’m sure you understand. We confess because we’ve offended the One we love. And if we were to have little or no other fruit in our lives or evidence of love for God and neighbor, we might want to be more concerned about our status-and about our motivation and sincerity. Either way the church teaches, regarding our “particular judgment”:
“At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love.” (CCC 1022). That’s the bottom line.

You may be correct, but there is still a contradiction to be resolved. If a person without love for God or fellow man receives sacramental absolution as a result of imperfect contrition (fear of hell), rather than out of love, then one dogma says he will go to heaven and the quote you posted says he will not. Which is correct?

 

[fhansen]

I think they’re both true. Our love will not be perfected by the time we die, at least not most likely. And love excludes sin and fulfills the law by its nature while mortal sin is taught to oppose and destroy love. So there’s a sense in which they’re both saying the same thing but we need to understand the key role of love in it all IMO, to safeguard us, for one thing, from slipping into legalism as I edited into my post above.

Also, when is contrition “too” imperfect? Consider some mobster who sinned- failed to love- all his life and then makes a deathbed confession. Now it could be authentic but the odds are probably against that. Another example is where people in the past have put Baptism off with the idea that they can sneak into heaven by the skin of their teeth after living a life as they wished, not in line with God’s wishes IOW. If nothing else that points to some very bad catechesis even if technically their thought may appear to be somewhat reasonable. But it’s not.