Catholic doctrine on the role of “works” in justification is often
misunderstood by those who criticize it. It’s also misunderstood by many
Catholics who try to defend it. Critics claim the Catholic Church teaches that
man can be justified by his own works, contrary to the Scriptural doctrine of
justification by faith alone. Many
Catholics counter by arguing that man is justified by faith, but needs to prove
that his faith is genuine by performing good works.
They’re both wrong. Catholic teaching on justification is none of
the above.
There is a central, crucial insight, stated very plainly in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, that seems to go unnoticed by both parties.
We’ll get to that insight in a bit, but first let’s lay the Biblical foundations
for both sides of the argument.
Both camps like to cite Scripture verses that seem to support
their view. Those upholding the “faith apart from works” theory often point to the
following. (All Scripture verses cited here are from the New King James
translation.)
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in
His sight, for by the law is
the knowledge of sin. But now
the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the
Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus
Christ, to all and on all who believe.” (Romans
3:20-21)
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from
the deeds of the law.” (Romans
3:28)
“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not
before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as
debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the
ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”
(Romans 4:3-5)
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)
Those
proposing an argument for the inclusion of works in justification like to cite
these passages:
“But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works
is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he
offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together
with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which
says, “Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is
justified by works, and not by faith only.” (James
2:20-24)
“He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is
a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4)
“What does it
profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can
faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you
do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by
itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James
2:14-17)
On the surface these two sets of quotations seem to contradict
each other. But there is a link; the reconciliation can be found in magisterial
documents of the Catholic Church, which complement these Biblical teachings about
justification and illumine their full meaning.
Before looking to these documents, let’s revisit these two sets of
passages. Each set speaks of a different type of “works”—namely, works that
have different origins. One type of works can justify a man, the other can’t.
Read very carefully the kind of works St. Paul says are powerless
to justify a man:
“Therefore
by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of
sin. But now the
righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed…. a man is justified
by faith apart from the deeds of the law…. For if Abraham was justified
by works, he has something
to boast about, but not before God.”
The “works” spoken of here are man’s
own works, what he does completely by himself of his own natural powers or the
teaching of the law. (Paul is adamant that he is speaking here about man’s own works.
He says Abraham would have “something to boast about, but not before God” because
he’s speaking in the context of works performed solely by man’s own natural
power.) Paul clearly teaches that man’s own works, done by his own power or by
the law, are powerless to justify him.
This is exactly what the Catholic
Church teaches. This is stated clearly in Canon 1 from the Decree on
Justification from the Council of Trent:
“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.”
The last part of this canon hints at
the other type of “works” that can justify a man, the kind spoken of in
the second set of Scripture quotes. The “works” they refer to are not works man
performs by his own power under the law—they are the works God himself
performs through a man who has faith, as God’s proof that the man’s
faith is genuine.
James says this when he writes: “Do you see that faith was working
together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?” James
speaks of faith working through a man, not the man on his own. Faith by
definition is the surrender to the God we don’t fully understand, in confidence
that His grace works through us to do things we cannot accomplish on our own.
It’s interesting that both Paul and
James quote the same Scripture verse to support what on the surface seem to be contrary
arguments: “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness.” (Genesis
15:6) But they’re both making the same point, using this verse in different
contexts.
Paul distinguishes between a work God
performs through man, and man’s own work apart from God, teaching that the
former justifies and the latter does not. He also makes the case that faith
itself is a work of God, not man.
Consider this carefully: “For if Abraham was justified by works, he
has something to boast about, but not before God.” No man can boast before
God of his own works; Paul is saying that faith in itself is a work God accomplishes
through a man, not man’s own work, and emphasizes it here: “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness.’” Faith is an act that is accounted
for righteousness, so it must be God’s act, not man’s. (Jesus taught this
in John 6:29 when he said “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him
whom He sent.”) This is the context for Paul’s next remarks: “Now to him who works [his own works
apart from God] the wages are not counted
as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who
justifies the ungodly, [faith, God’s work performed through man] his faith is accounted for righteousness.”
James uses the same verse from Genesis to make the same point in a
different way: “Was not Abraham our
father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you
see that faith was working together with his works, [his faith was a
work of God performed through him, not by his own ability] and by [God’s] works faith
was made perfect?” This is a particularly profound example of God’s
work in a man, not man’s own work. For who else but God would be willing to
sacrifice his own son whom he loves? This is God’s work by which Abraham is
justified, not his own.
The Catholic Church teaches that these “works” do play a part in justification
; the works of God performed through a man who believes, not the works of man
of his own natural power or under the law. It plainly teaches that the source
of all good works is God, not man himself. It is the works of
God accomplished through man, together with man’s acceptance of the faith
that also comes from God alone, that justifies man. Thus justification
through faith and works is ultimately God’s work and accomplishment, not man’s,
though man must cooperate through his free will to allow justification through
faith and God’s works to take place.
This is the true Catholic doctrine, as clearly taught in the
Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“Justification has
been merited for us by the passion of Christ who offered himself on the
cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has
become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men.”
(CCC 1992)
“Justification is
the most excellent work of God’s love made manifest in Christ Jesus and
granted by the Holy Spirit.” (CCC 1994)
“Our
justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and
undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to
become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of
eternal life.” (CCC 1996)
Now here’s the central, crucial insight often overlooked by both Catholics
and critics of Catholic doctrine, stated plainly and clearly in The Catechism, in
which the Church gives the ultimate credit for all good works to God, not to
man:
“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.” (CCC 2008)
So even though we read “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,” (CCC 2010), it is in the context of what precedes it in 2008 (quoted
above) and what follows it, quoted here—the crucial insight mentioned at the
beginning of this article:
“The charity of Christ is the source in us of all our merits
before God.” (CCC 2011)
In other words, when speaking of “works,” Catholic doctrine
clearly and ultimately gives the credit for all good “works,” and all our
“merits,” to God, not man, for God is the ultimate source of all good works. Man
is justified through the love and mercy of God so that he may become an
instrument of God’s good works .
This is clearly Biblical. Man is made in the image and likeness of
God (Genesis 1:27), the God of good works (Genesis 1, 2). God intends to accomplish good through us as
his instruments; none of us can boast of our own accomplishments. (John 3:30, Acts
9:15, Galatians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 1:29, 3:9).
For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not
of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should
walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)
So justification by faith alone, without the accompanying good
works of God performed through man as God’s instrument, would be incomplete.
“Though I have all faith, so that I
could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:2)
“For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through
love.” (Galatians)
With this context established, we can
now better understand the Canons from the Decree on Justification issued by the
Council of Trent. Among them:
Canon
3
If anyone says that without the predisposing
inspiration of the Holy Ghost and without his help, man can believe,
hope, love or be repentant as he ought, so that the grace of justification may
be bestowed upon him, let him be anathema.
Canon
10
If anyone says that men are justified without
the justice of Christ, whereby He merited for us, or by that justice
are formally just, let him be anathema.
Canon
12
If anyone says that justifying faith
is nothing else than [man’s own] confidence in divine mercy, which remits sins
for Christ’s sake, or that it is this [man’s] confidence alone that justifies
us, let him be anathema. [Note that “confidence” does not justify us—“faith”
does. There is clearly a difference, otherwise “confidence” would not have been
used. Confidence is man’s work, faith is God’s work accomplished through man.]
The final two canons we’ll consider
lead us to our final point on this topic:
Canon
19
If anyone says that nothing besides
faith is commanded in the Gospel, that other things are indifferent, neither
commanded nor forbidden, but free; or that the ten commandments in no way
pertain to Christians, let him be anathema.
Canon
20
If anyone says that a man who is
justified and however perfect is not bound to observe the commandments of God
and the Church, but only to believe, as if the Gospel were a bare and absolute
promise of eternal life without the condition of observing the commandments,
let him be anathema.
Once again, faith alone, without the
accompanying works of Jesus performed through us, is not enough. It is the
works of God performed through us, not our own works, that justify us along
with faith.
Consider these words of Jesus:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works
that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John
14:12-14)
It is in this context that Jesus then immediately says the following:
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He
may abide with you forever— the
Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor
knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I
will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18)
“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John
15:14)
Earlier in
this chapter Jesus makes it clear that even when we obey him and the
commandments, it is truly his works through us, not our own:
“I am the vine, you are
the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without
Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
This is what
the Catholic Church really teaches about justification.
