One suggestion was to look at the combination of verses like Ephesians 2:8-9 compared to Matthew 25:34-46. These passages present apparently opposing messages regarding how much our moral efforts have to do with our salvation.
So today we're going to examine the passage, apply it to the controversy... and answer the question:
Background on the Controversy:
This disagreement is in an area we’ve talked about before: Soteriology. Again, that word refers to a school of thought regarding how we are saved.
One major reason why there is so much disagreement among Christians is because the New Testament itself seems to be of two minds about this subject.
On the one hand, there are strong statements which indicate we cannot earn our salvation. It is a gift received by faith - (the faith is a gift too) – and our good works count for nothing. We see this in places like Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, lest any man should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9On the other hand, the New Testament contains teaching which explicitly ties salvation to good behavior. An example of this is found in Paul’s letter to the Romans:
"For he will repay according to each one’s deeds. To those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life."- Romans 2:6-7This is also the obvious theme of Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats [Matthew 25]. In that story we see two groups of people who acknowledge Jesus is Lord, but they are either saved or damned based on whether they performed works of mercy for the poor and downtrodden.
So perhaps you can understand why many see a tension in the New Testament. Some places describe salvation as a gift received by faith apart from our trying to earn it. Other places say we are rewarded for our good works with eternal life and are ultimately judged by our actions.
What now?
Some Guiding Principles:
What is the Catholic approach? We have to keep three principles in mind:
1. Starting and Ending Points:
First, we have to keep in mind the big, overall picture of an individual’s salvation. The goal is to bring a fallen, wayward human into right relationship with God so he can dwell with his Creator in Heaven forever.
This entails two things. First, you have to establish that relationship through the forgiveness of sins. Second, you have to bring the person to complete righteousness and holiness. This second part is necessary because nothing impure can be allowed into God's presence. (1) As it says in the Psalms:
“Who may go up the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his holy place? "The clean of hand and pure of heart, who are not devoted to idols, who have not sworn falsely.” – Psalm 24:3-6So the bottom line is you’re not going to be the same jerk you are on earth while in heaven. Jesus was not kidding around when He told us:
"You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." – Matthew 5:48
2. Steps Along the Way:
Now, obviously no one instantly goes from depraved sinner to perfect saint. It is a process which lasts a lifetime. Most non-Catholics call this process "sanctification" - which is a fine word for it. But they also erect a great big philosophical wall between salvation and sanctification. They'd say the latter is absolutely NOT part of the former.
Catholics disagree with this. We regard sanctification as an integral part of one's salvation. Why? Because everything which moves us closer to that ultimate perfection is a necessary step toward entry into Heaven. So while you make distinctions between aspects of this process – the beginning, middle, and end – the whole thing is rightly placed under the heading; “Salvation”.
3. Overlapping Words:
Lastly, the authors of the Bible were not using their language in the technical and specialized way we try to use it today. There are some words, such as “faith” and “saved” which are used in different senses. So a person trying to approach the text thinking there is a rigid meaning to each term will only find contradictions and frustrations.
Okay. Now let’s start assembling.
[For those who want to hear this explained in detail, check out the video series I made on the subject.]
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Putting it Together:
Humble Beginnings:
Starting from scratch, a person begins estranged from God and - (in the words of Saint Paul) - a child of wrath, dead in his sins. (2) He is helpless in this state, possessing no merit before God. No amount of good deeds will earn his salvation. This is why Saint Paul insists our salvation is not earned by our own power in Romans 3:20 and Galatians 2:16. (3)
Rebirth:
Then the Holy Spirit moves this person toward repentance, belief in the Gospel, and finally baptism. These three things – each of them gifts in their own right – bring a person into relationship with God. The love of God is poured into his heart, his sins are forgiven, and he receives the Holy Spirit dwelling within him. (4)
Now, at this point it can rightly be said that the person has been "saved" in the past tense. That is because he has experienced a real, distinct change in his status before God. This is why verses like Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:9, and 1Peter 3:18-21 refer to salvation in the past tense - and make clear this is not earned through our own moral behavior. (5)
Day by Day:
Moving forward, we can look at the actual living out of the Christian life after Baptism. Three things can we said about this phase:
First, the person remains “saved” in that same past-tense way mentioned above.
Second, the Christian is renewed day by day. He is being perfected, becoming less attached to the temptations of the Evil One, and he is coming to know God more intimately. (6) All this is making him more ready to stand in God’s presence in Heaven. In this sense he is becoming MORE saved. This is why you will see certain passages like 1Corinthians 1:18 and Phillippians 2:12 speak of salvation as present-tense, ongoing reality. (7)
Third, while his good works did nothing to earn salvation in the past tense, they do matter for salvation in this present and ongoing sense. Because these actions are motivated by grace, they have the effect of strengthening our relationship with God.
Now, Saint John said our relationship with God is our eternal life (8). Thus, by growing in relationship to God, one is increasing his capacity for eternal life. This is why passages like Matthew 10:42, Romans 2:6-7, and Galatians 6:7-10 actually speak of being rewarded with eternal life due to our actions. And it is why Saint James writes that we are “justified by works.” (9)
In the End:
Then you die.
At our judgment God holds us accountable for what we did with the grace we received. Since God was giving us the grace to love our neighbors, it is entirely appropriate for God to judge us on the basis of how we lived out our call to love one another. Hence, every vision of the judgment seen in the Bible shows God judging us by our works. (10)
Those who rejected the call to love - even if they believed - will be consigned to eternal death – as is seen in Matthew 25:34-46. Those who didn't resist grace and have the love of God in their hearts will go to their eternal reward.
Those of us alive here on earth can look forward to this final reception in Heaven as the future culmination of our salvation. Hence, Scripture also refers to salvation in the future tense as well in passages like Romans 5:9 and Romans 13:11. (11)
Nothing Left Out:
Not too many people get enthusiastic about the Council of Trent – so perhaps I am just odd.
But before I read Session 6 of the Council, all of this data from the Bible looked to me like incoherent jigsaw pieces. They seemed to form two very different pictures and I could not imagine how it all went together.
Reading the Council was like turning over the box and seeing the picture. For me, the key meant reorienting my framework. I came in asking, “What do I have to do to be saved?” But I soon realized this was the wrong question. Instead I needed to ask, “What is God doing to save me?”
I had to re-imagine this as a whole project of redeeming and renovating a fallen human being. Then all the pieces fit together in a way which made a single picture without compromising the meaning of a single passage.
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CITATIONS:
(1)
“The city had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and to it the kings of the earth will bring their treasure. During the day its gates will never be shut, and there will be no night there. The treasure and wealth of the nations will be brought there, but nothing unclean will enter it, nor any who do abominable things or tells lies. Only those will enter whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.” – Revelation 21:23-27
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“Who may go up the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his holy place? "The clean of hand and pure of heart, who are not devoted to idols, who have not sworn falsely. They will receive blessings from the LORD, and justice from their saving God. Such are the people that love the Lord, that seek the face of the God of Jacob." – Psalm 24:3-6
(2)
“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” – Romans 5:19
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"And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." - Ephesians 2:1-3
(3)
"Because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before him. For by the law is the knowledge of sin." - Romans 3:20
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"But knowing that man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." - Galatians 2:16
(4)
“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” - Acts 2:37-39
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“And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” – Romans 5:5
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“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” - 1 Corinthians 6:19
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“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” – Galatians 3:26-27
(5)
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, lest any man should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
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“He saved us - not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness but according to His mercy - by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” - Titus 3:5
(6)
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:23
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"Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." - 2 Corinthians 4:16
(7)
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” - 1 Corinthians 1:18
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“Now I would remind you, brethren, in what terms I preached to you the gospel, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” – 1 Corinthians 15:2
"Just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure." – Philippians 2:12-13
(8)
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” – John 17:3
(9)
“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward." – Matthew 10:42
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“God ‘will repay each person according to what they have done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” - Romans 2:6-7
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“Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows, because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit. Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up. So then, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all, but especially to those who belong to the family of the faith.” – Galatians 6:7-10
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"Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,' and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead." - James 2:20-26
(10)
“But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” - Matthew 12:36
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“Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’
Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’
Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” - Matthew 25:34-46
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“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” - 2 Corinthians 5:10
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“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” – Revelation 20:12
(11)
“Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” - Romans 5:9
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“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” – Romans 13:11
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