Jesus and the saints always had great love and compassion for the sinner, possessed, sick and poor. Good works are good because they spring not from a lifeless faith but a “true and lively faith” (WCF 16.2). But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Catholic theology insists that the Christian's good works are truly his good merits, and by these works, he preserves and increases the initial righteousness received in baptism to finally attain eternal life (canons 24 and 32). You can corrupt the Gospel easily by requiring any type of works to be saved. Or if you have good management and accounting skills, you may help out in the administrative work of your parish. So you have to keep adding good works in the hope of gaining eternal life. Are you aware that they don’t have the new testament. A full response to God’s grace involves responding in faith and responding in the way we live. Now I will expand on that concept somewhat. In this time of lent it is good to imitate Jesus and the saints by also doing corporal works of mercy. The bible verses in question are when Paul says that we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law (Gal 2:16), and when James says that faith without works is dead (James 2:26). The battle between “faith alone” vs. “faith and works” for salvation has been going on ever since the Protestant Reformation in 1517. The ironic tragedy, however, is that Protestantism, after the Reformation, most often refers to good works solely in a negative fashion. Works all involve human effort! According to Catholic doctrine, the … We are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone; however, the faith that saves is never alone but is accompanied by spiritual life and loving obedience. The works in Ephesians 2:10 are the results of faith working in us, as a future action after baptism. Without doubt, the official documents of the Roman Catholic Church teach justification by works. One objective of such activities is to stir us up to "good works" - He 10:24-25 3. We know that Jesus had a purse with money to give to the poor that Judas stole … Continue reading "Traditional Catholic 7 Corporal Works of Mercy" For example, if you love children and enjoy teaching, you may help out in the children’s catechism of your church. Previous | Index | Next >> "A CLOSER WALK WITH GOD" The Christian And Good Works INTRODUCTION 1. Salvation is not Jesus + something. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. Note, “Do you want to be shown you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren” (Eph 2:20). For the sake of completeness, one small point should be made in this article before giving some closing thoughts. He supplies the free gift of faith through his love and mercy, in the present, resulting from a past action. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. In Other Words The works in Ephesians 2:8 is the initial call from God. It is a false plan of salvation to require doing good works to be saved. This is, of course, because of its insistence on justification by faith. In a previous lesson we discussed the matter of devotion or worship to God, especially in our public assemblies 2. But the New Testament epistles are filled with this idea of good works as an expression of our calling: In this short but important lesson, we shall examine the matter of "good works… There are three types of works: evil (or bad) works, good works and dead works, but they are all works! 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