JUSTIFICATION AND SALVATION
The differences between Roman Catholicism and biblical Christianity on these subjects can be summed up by one notable contrast. The Catholic Church teaches that eternal life is a merited reward. The Bible says in Romans 6:23 that the gift of God is eternal life.
That is the heart of the matter, and since this is such an important point, we have quoted the Bible, and must also look at The Catechism of the Catholic Church to see just what they believe. In paragraph 1821 we are told God has promised heaven to those who do his will. Then it says we must persevere to the end, and that heaven is God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished by the grace of Christ.
But there is a great difference between saving grace and Catholic grace. For the lost sinner, God's grace gives him the free forgiveness of sin and assurance of eternal life. For a Catholic, grace is merely God's enabling you to do the things necessary for eternal life.
These definitions of grace, unfortunately, do nut add up to the same thing. While some of our Catholic friends might rejoice in the fact that God's Grace helps them to accomplish eternal life, there is never any realization of the completion of this work. No one knows exactly how much is necessary, and no one knows how close they are to Heaven. All they know is that good works are necessary, but never that good works are adequate. It leaves the eternal destiny of the soul to the outcome of a competition between good and evil. And your life is the determining factor.
The determining factor for Christians is that when we were saved, we were brought to faith in Christ through the convicting and renewing work of the Holy Spirit. That transaction placed eternal salvation on a wholly different plane. And we see clearly see this contrast by looking at a number of scripture verses.
In John 3:16 we are told of God's love, and that it was for the world. That included me. Then when I saw the word whosoever I knew that meant me too. But it didn't say whosoever worketh or whosoever persevereth. It said whosoever believeth, which simply means to trust Christ alone.
That same truth is presented so many times. In Ephesians 2:8,9 we see the difference between being saved by grace and trying to be saved by works. In Romans 11:6 we see that grace and works for salvation are mutually exclusive, for when God saves you by His Grace, the works that you had done for salvation go out the window. God has given us so many truths in the Bible to underline the facts of His saving Grace. Catholic Grace can only try to make a person better; God's Grace makes a person perfect in Christ.
Some of our Catholic friends assure us that he is not trying to merit heaven but is trusting Jesus alone.
But while he might say that but not really understand what trusting Christ is. Or he may not understand what the Church he claims to be his own really teaches. This latest catechism, given directly by the Pope John Paul, says in paragraph 2010 that after initial grace is received in Baptism, "we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our salvation."
We may wonder, that since we have to merit our salvation, what is the use of sanctifying grace?
We are told in The Catholic Dictionary that sanctifying grace is given to us so we may practice virtues. Without this grace we could not react positively to God. Sanctifying Grace is given so we can DO something; without this infusion we are powerless to do good.
But certainly Christians need God's Grace to live our Christian lives. What is the difference?
There is a real difference. Briefly, Catholic Grace propels one toward a possible salvation. For the Christian, Grace produces salvation and then continues to produce the fruits of salvation. But these fruits are not the cause of salvation; they are the outcome of a salvation that God has already completed.
Many Catholics talk about what happens if we turn away from God? What if we don't do everything we should do?
Every Christian neglects to do some of the things he should, and does some of the things he shouldn't. The Bible plainly tells us there will be a judgment for all Christians, and that some will suffer loss because of their negligence. But even those who suffer loss will be saved. 1 Corinthians 3:15 gives a picture of the loss of disobedient Christians.
When the Catholic Church teaches that Justification is furthered by sacraments and good works, if they want to be logical, they would have to say that the Justification they have received is not a work of God, since we are told in Ecclesiastes 3:14 that no one can add to, or take away from, God's work, which is complete.
And the Bible also assures us that God's gift is eternal life - a life that will never end. But we already talked about the Roman Catholic sacraments being necessary. How do they fit into the Roman Catholic's meriting salvation?
This subject could cause confusion to a thinking Catholic. We talked about the efficacy of the sacrament just because the act was performed. The Catholic Church clearly teaches this, in what they call ex opere operato, which means the Catholic gets the benefit of the sacrament even if he doesn't deserve it.
Then they use another Latin term - ex opere operantis. That term which is supposed to signify the importance of the state of mind of the person receiving it. He must desire the grace given by the sacrament, and be willing to abide by the conditions imposed by the sacrament. That makes the recipient responsible for the efficacy of the sacrament. And because of that, it can cause the person to have a lot of doubt. One example is the Sacrament of Penance , now called the Rite of Reconciliation.
In coming to the Confessional, there are certain requirements for the Catholic. First, he must confess all his known sins, and detest them because they displease God. If he intends to do the same sins over and over again, he lacks the disposition to make the sacrament valid. Because he doesn't have the right disposition, the sacrament has done him no good.
Few Catholics realize this. Many of them look upon Confession as an unpleasant duty that had to be done, and very often withhold sins from the priest. There are some sins that are so bad that you don't want the priest to know.
If you deliberately made an incomplete confession, none of your sins would be forgiven, and you would add to them the mortal sin of having made the bad confession. So if you were really sincere, you would have to try real hard to do everything just right.
When the Holy Spirit dealt with my heart, I did not have to try real hard to trust Christ. That is the difference between the message of the Catholic Church and the message of the Bible. The Catholic Church says Try. The Bible says Trust.
You could tie that in with what we discussed a few weeks ago, that, for the Catholic, Salvation from the eternal consequences of sin is a lifelong process. A process talks about something that is continuing, but for the Catholic, it is never complete.
It is amazing how these things fit together. The Catechism talks about a process - something that is continuing. The Catechism talks about meriting, doing good works. These must be continuing. We will discuss, in the future, the theological center of Roman Catholicism, the Mass. That is continuing. Everything we will meet in Roman Catholicism talks about an ongoing process, but the Bible clearly teaches the glorious truth of a finished work.
How can they be so devout, and have the same Bible, but come to such a different conclusion?
The very core of this problem is found in their not understanding what the Bible is and what the Bible says. Basic truths are absolutely essential if we hope to come to the right conclusion. Everything I have ever learned about mathematics started back to the first grade when I was taught 2 + 2 = 4. If my first Math teacher had convinced me that 2 + 2 = 5, everything mathematical that I touched would be incorrect.
I believe an understanding of the authority foundation of the Catholic Church will shed a lot of light on all the doctrinal difficulties that have arisen.