Catholics, can you explain the relationship between faith, grace, works and salvation?

The Catholic position on salvation can be summed up thus: We are saved by Christ's grace alone, through faith and works done in charity inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Sola gratia! Grace alone -- but a grace we have to co-operate with. Thinking that all one has to do is pray the "Sinner's Prayer" once to be saved is wrong. Thinking that all one has to do is be a "good person" to be saved is wrong.

"We are saved by 'Faith alone'": No!

It takes more than simply knowing Jesus is the Messiah to be saved; even the Evil One knows Who Christ is.

James 2:14-26

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

The Bible and the Catholic Church don't separate the "works of faith," preceded and caused by grace, from salvation (see relevant Scripture below) You can have all the faith in the world, enough to move mountains, but if you don't have charity, you are nothing:

I Corinthians 13:2 2

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

"We can work our way into Heaven": No!

Catholic teaching for 2,000 years:

we are saved by grace alone, through faith that works in love

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

James 2:24

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

The Catholic Church and Her Bible condemn the idea that one can work his way to Heaven on his own merit or that God "owes" a person for doing the right things.

All our works get their merit only from Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf. We can do "works" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for the rest of our lives, but without Christ's grace, they are nothing. Works have no merit in themselves -- and faith without works is not enough. We are saved by grace alone -- a grace that we accept neither "by faith alone" nor "by works alone," but "by faith that works in charity" (Galatians 5:6).

It is true that a person is not saved by his works and that salvation is completely of grace. However that does not mean that works have nothing to do with salvation.

The bottom line: all salvation comes from the grace of Christ's Sacrifice and only from the grace of His Sacrifice. Salvation is a free gift -- a gift that is not "owed" to us, that God didn't have to offer us, and that we could never "earn" on our own -- that we accept by faith and works. Christ doesn't have to give us this gift of salvation; we don't "deserve" this gift, we can't "earn" it; but He, in His endless Love for us, offers it nonetheless. We have to believe this gift exists (have faith) and then open our hands to receive it (obey, inspired by the grace given to us).

An analogy: there is a train called "Grace" that is the one and only route to Heaven and which is fueled by Christ's Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension alone. Some Protestants seem to believe that all one has to do is believe the train exists and all will be well. They accuse Catholics of thinking that belief in the train is unecessary, that we can give out free soup in the train station and, thereby, bypass the train altogether. But what Catholics actually believe is that the train -- Grace -- is the only way to Heaven, that it is the only means by which we are saved, that we can't take another route and can do nothing about getting to Heaven without that train. But we also teach that we have to believe in the train's existence and board it through repentance and obedience to what Christ teaches. God is the Conductor of the train, completely Sovereign, and can go off the tracks if need be to pick up those who are truly and invincibly ignorant of the train's existence but who are of good will, obey the natural law, and whom He deigns to save. If, when, and how He might do such a thing is completely up to Him and not for us to bicker about. It is to us to do what He has taught us: to believe, repent, love God and neighbor, and preach the Gospel.

tebone03 got it right on!!

of course, we all know that all good comes from God, including our capability of doing good works.

I think people can receive graces before they claim to have faith- hence you have NON-CHRISTIANS doing good/charitable works. I also think that choosing to act upon this grace can fertililize our hearts to receive faith. The more we do good in this world the more likely that we will eventually acknowledge God.

It definitely does not mean what Protestants seem to claim i.e I have faith and the good works I do are a proof or a consequence of this faith.

This claim is faulty because one: people who have no faith can do good works (therefore good works are not a result of faith)

and 2:

Jesus NEVER asked us to have faith before loving our neighbour as ourself. He never said that the Beatitudes are only for those who have faith. He was speaking to multitudes of Jews who were not acknowledging Him as the Son of God nor the Saviour and yet He still forbade adultery, He told them to multiply their talents etc.

Faith is not a precursor to good works, but good works can be precursors to faith. All good works are done through the grace of God!

cooperation with grace

witch isteself is a work of God's grace

All are deeply connected

No grace, No faith

No grace, No Works

No grace, no salvation

No works, no faith

I'll take a stab at it.

Let's start with salvation. Death looms before us, absolutely inescapable, however distant. Salvation is a way beyond death to eternal life with God. It depends on following Jesus, who himself is the way to salvation and eternal life.

Faith is confidence belief in statements for which we have no definitive proof. Applied to Christianity, it is taking Christ's word on his teachings that reveal God's plan for us, and especially the teachings concerning salvation: That we must repent, be baptized, make reparations of our sins, have the unquestioning trust in and dependence on God of a child, live according to his moral laws, make a habit of charitable actions, eat the bread of life, and endure to the end.

Grace is God's undeserved gift in making a way from death to eternal life.

Works--the habitual charity of the Christian--constitute our joyous response to God's grace, our obedience to his commands as his happy children.

Both faith (confident belief) and works (habitual charity) are needed for obedience to God. Neither presumes the other, and only together do they form the response God desires and requires.

Cheers,

Bruce

FAITH justifies initially but GOOD WORKS in SANCTIFYING GRACE are necessary for SALVATION.

yeah all were taken out of the catholic church at the turn of the 12 th century. faith and grace and works and salvation have to do with people who believe. the pope thinks he is god on earth so as long as you believe in the catholic you have a one way trip to hell. go catholics..

faith that the catholic church will save pedifiles

works of damnation for lies and changing the ten comandments.

grace in that any thing man does can becovered by the confesional. anything confessed the priest cannot devulge no matter what...

salvation in knowing that the catholic church has never erred nor will it . a perfect lie concieved by the church to cover all the lies it tells to its people for over 8 centurys

Heyyy! Is this a homework assignment by any chance??