Dear Parishioners,

Salvation by Faith Alone was first taught by Martin Luther who began the Protestant Reformation. It teaches that man cannot do anything to earn his salvation. Instead, Christ saves us and we take part in that salvation by having faith in Him, not through anything we do. They support this belief by citing scriptures such as Galatians 2:15-16 which reads, “We ourselves . . .who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified.”

However, to interpret Galatians this way would directly contradict James 2:24 which reads, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Also, St. Paul Himself really cares about how we act when he lists which sinners cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven in Galatians 5:19-21. So, just from these two passages, we see that we are not saved by faith alone. We are saved by a living faith as defined in 2:17, “So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” So, it is important not only to believe but also to let your beliefs inspire you to do works of charity.

When St. Paul criticizes “works of the law” he is not talking about the charitable works. He is specifically referring to the rites of the Old Law and explaining to Christians that they no longer have to follow the Old Law in order to be saved. These practices include ritual washing, temple sacrifice and circumcision. None of these rites save and therefore Christians do not need to do them. So, St. Paul is not criticizing charitable acts or people who think doing charitable acts will save them.

I think most Protestants would agree that one needs to live a holy life in order to be saved. However, they would see the works as a sign of being saved rather than a necessity. If that is the case, then I do not know why we are arguing about this. Since, most Catholics realize they are not saved by simply doing good since we need Jesus Christ in order to be saved. We cannot save ourselves. To believe that we are saved by works is not the Catholic teaching but the Pelagian heresy.

So, if you dialog with a Protestant about these topics, do not fall into the trap of trying to defend a works-based salvation. That is not what the Church teaches. Instead, focus on the “alone” part of Faith Alone and point out all the things the Lord requires of us. Faith does indeed save. But it is certainly not alone.

God Bless!

Fr. Carter