They cannot be separated. One is the fruit of the other…
If it was required to have an apple tree in the yard you would get fruit too over time. Fruit however is not giving you an apple tree.
You get saved by faith alone and fruit is not a requirement. You will definitely bear fruit however if you are saved… if not you more than likely are not saved in the first place.
Just bearing fruit (a.k.a. lip service) does not get you saved on the other hand.
Official Protestant statements of belief emphasize the lack of all value to good works as conditions for justification, insisting on them as only the necessary fruits, and evidence of justification.
To determine the relationship of good works to salvation, it will be useful to review the teaching of the Church on grace. The supernatural graces of God which accompany us through life are those unmerited, interior helps which God in His infinite goodness, through the merits of Jesus Christ, bestows upon us sinful creatures in order to strengthen us, and by raising us to a supernatural state, to enable us to be freed from sin, to remain free from serious sin to the end of our lives, and thus attain our eternal salvation. We speak of the merits of Christ as its cause because all graces granted to fallen man are derived from this one source. It is for this reason that all the prayers of the Church either invoke Christ directly or conclude with the words “Through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Justification and salvation are the result of grace, with faith in Jesus Christ an essential condition (Rom. 3:22-26; Eph 2:8-13; Phil 3:8-10). In virtue of the bloody sacrifice of our Savior’s life, remission of sins and sanctification were granted. Grace is the cause of any good that we do, not the fruit of it.
St. Paul, who knew the place of grace, and was keenly aware of the fact that the just man is free, and can do good or evil, includes in most of his epistles instructions for the performance of good works. In his teaching on merit, there are two main thoughts. There will be a reward (1 Cor 3:8) according to the divine promise (1 Tim 4:8; Rev 14:13), and grace (Eph 2:8-10). And this reward for his good works will be faithfully rendered to every man. (Rom 2:5-10; 1 Cor 9:24-25; 2 Cor 9:6).
What do good works have to do with our salvation? For a definitive answer, we turn to the scene of the Last Judgment as depicted by our Savior: Matthew 25:31-46
In this description of the Last Judgment, those saved are those who did corporal works of mercy, and those condemned are those who did no good works. Corporal, as distinguished from spiritual works of mercy, are those which relieve the material, or bodily, needs of our neighbor. The chief corporal works are seven: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit the imprisoned, to shelter the homeless, to visit the sick, and to bury the dead.
The good works must be done in the name of Christ: “All whatsoever you do in word and or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him” (Col 3:17). And they must be done for the love of God, by one united to Him in charity (in the state of grace):
IF I SPEAK WITH THE TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS, AND HAVE NOT CHARITY, I AM BECOME AS SOUNDING BRASS, OR A TINKLING CYMBAL. AND IF I SHOULD HAVE PROPHECY AND SHOULD KNOW ALL MYSTERIES AND ALL KNOWLEDGE, AND IF I SHOULD HAVE ALL FAITH, SO THAT I COULD MOVE MOUNTAINS, AND HAVE NOT CHARITY, I AM NOTHING. AND IF I SHOULD DELIVER MY BODY TO BE BURNED , AND HAVE NOT CHARITY, IT PROFITETH ME NOTHING. (1 Cor 13:3)
Those who were welcomed into the kingdom had not been sure they were saved; they were surprised to hear it. The goats on His left were surprised, too. “Lord, when did we not minister to thee?” They may have arrived FEELING SURE they were saved, only to find that their confidence was misplaced. Not only that, the verdict on their eternal destiny was rendered without their having had any oppotunity to tell Him so. We conclude, from what is recorded in the New Testament, that we will not know until the Last Judgment whether we are saved or damned. We will not decide. He will! He will not ask us if we are saved. He will tell us!
Do you understand it now?
