Earlier today I felt like leaving catholicism because I’d heard a couple of people making statements that affirm the idea of salvation by grace alone. Since then I’ve come to believe that this is not true of catholicism and hence I’m not leaving.
See below article.
theologyofandrew.blogspot.com/2009/09/sola-gratia-catholicism-doesnt-teach-it.html
Well, I am glad that you have decided not to leave. I would highly recommend that you read paragraphs 1987-2029 in the
Catechism for a better understanding of Justification, Grace, and Merits.
While this “Andrew” fellow has this analogy
Or to use another analogy. Imagine the difference between these two scenarios. In Protestantism, you’re Paris Hilton with your dad’s credit card, you can spend as much as you want and he still thinks your just a silly little starlet. In Catholicism, you work in a coal mine, your dad got you the job, and if you screw up you get fired, and slowly little by little you accumulate your own money. In both cases you didn’t deserve the job, so it’s technically by grace, but one is definately grace alone, and the other is definately grace and works.
His analogy falls down on the Catholic side. Better would be “In Catholicism, you work in a coal mine, your dad got you the job, he gives you the tools, he works beside you, and if necessary he finishes what you cant, and you either choose to remain and persevere with him or you choose to throw down your pick and quit.”
Think about it for a minute. What do you have that God has not either given you directly (Body, soul, mind, emotions, intellect, family, etc) or allowed you to possess (money, cars, stuff, etc). Everything that you have, even what you use to do the work of our Father, is only yours by the Grace of God. To say that salvation is possible through works is a misunderstanding of salvation. We are given the free gift of God of salvation (A job in a coal mine shown above, which I take to be far more realistic and far more loving than the paris hilton analogy) to which we may assent or dissent and if we “remain in [His] love” and if we persevere unto the end we can return to our Fathers house at the end of the day and rest with him.
I dont know about you, but I used to do a “hard” days work alongside my father when I was a child. He would let me help him with things that he could do better and faster and made me feel like it was ME doing something great when the whole time anyone outside could tell it was just him letting me help. THAT is a glimpse of what Gods Grace is. I could not have even helped my father had he not provided me with the means to do so, but because he loved me and wanted me to grow into a good man he allowed me those moments where I could feel pride in my work and also look back later in life and understand just what he did for me.
I will take a Father who allows me to swing a pickaxe shoveling coal next to him in the mine any day of the week. A Father who loves me enough to allow me to feel pride in something that I accomplished, even in the understanding that all of my accomplishments are only due to His Grace. A Father who allows me to show my love through what I attempt (however weak, inept and bumbling those attempts may be) to do for Him.
So in essence, everything I have, everything I am, everything I can be or may possibly do is solely because God has given me the Graces necessary to be/do anything at all. He has also shown his love by telling me that I just need to persevere, to run the race, to listen to him and that will allow his Grace to flow through me and operate within me.
Salvation is by Grace, through Faith, made perfect by works.
FSC
