Objection: The idea that good works contribute to justification can’t be right. The Gospel is a message of grace, not works-righteousness. We are “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:24-25). Our entrance into Heaven is secured by God’s mercy, not by our good deeds outweighing our bad deeds. Such a notion constitutes a cold and servile legalism that falsifies the Gospel and causes us to pridefully look in on ourselves. As Martin Luther put it, “Turning to myself and looking into myself, into what I am and ought to be and do, I lose sight of Christ, who alone is my righteousness and my life…[W]orks…only compel us to look to ourselves again, and turn our eyes from that brazen serpent, Christ crucified” (Commentary on Galatians, 1535; quoted in A Lutheran’s Case for Roman Catholicism, pg. 15-16).
Reply: The Gospel is indeed a message of grace. And it is only by grace that we can perform supernaturally good works. It is grace alone that saves us, but this grace manifests itself not only in faith but in good works as well. Faith alone is sufficient to initiate the process of salvation/justification/sanctification, but good works are a necessary outpouring of that grace-infused faith and indeed contribute to a growth in justification, a growth in righteousness (cf. A Lutheran’s Case for Roman Catholicism, pg. 116). Moreover, the faith that is sufficient for initiating justification is a living faith which works through love (cf. Galatians 5:6), and it is not itself meritorious but is rather a gift of pure mercy from God. As St. Thomas Aquinas teaches in his commentary on Romans:
God’s justice is said to exist through faith in Christ Jesus, not as though by faith we merit being justified, as if faith exists from ourselves and through it we merit God’s justice, as the Pelagians assert; but because in the very justification, by which we are made just by God, the first motion of the mind toward God is through faith: "Whoever would draw near to God must believe" (Heb 11:6). Hence faith, as the first part of justice, is given to us by God: "By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing; for it is the gift of God" (Eph 2:8). But this faith, out of which justice exists, is not the unformed faith about which James 2(:26) says, "Faith without works is dead," but it is faith formed by charity, about which Gal 5(:6) says, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith [working through love]," through which Christ dwells in us; "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Eph 3:17), which does not happen without charity: "He who abides in love abides in God and God in him" (1 Jn 4:16). This is the faith about which Acts 15(:9) says, "He cleansed their hearts by faith," a cleansing that does not occur without charity: "Love covers all offenses" (Pr 10:12) (Commentary on Romans, Rom. 3:21-26).
And our entrance into Heaven is indeed secured by God’s mercy. For it is through His gratuitous mercy that God bestows on us the grace of justification and empowers us to perform good works. Furthermore, the Last Judgement is not based on God weighing our good deeds vs. our bad deeds on the scales of justice. Such a doctrine is indeed a falsification of the Gospel and is no part of Catholic soteriology and eschatology. As the priest says during Mass, “[N]ot weighing our merits, but granting us your pardon, through Christ our Lord.” In contrast to the objector’s caricature, the Catholic understanding is that the Last Judgement is essentially based on love. The corporal works of mercy in the context of the Last Judgement (cf. Matthew 25:31-46) will demonstrate that we lived a life of faith working through love (cf. Galatians 5:6). As Pope Benedict XVI taught:
Thus in communion with Christ, in a faith that creates charity, the entire Law is fulfilled. We become just by entering into communion with Christ who is love. We…see [this] in the Gospel…It is the Gospel of the judge whose sole criterion is love. What he asks is only this: Did you visit me when I was sick? When I was in prison? Did you give me food to eat when I was hungry, did you clothe me when I was naked? And thus justice is decided in charity. Thus, at the end of this Gospel we can almost say: love alone, charity alone…At the end, we can only pray the Lord that he help us to believe; really believe. Believing thus becomes life, unity with Christ, the transformation of our life. And thus, transformed by his love, by the love of God and neighbor, we can truly be just in God’s eyes (The Doctrine of Justification: From Works to Faith).
The claim that good works are necessary for salvation is merely committed to the idea that we have to live out our faith and manifest the love of Christ and persevere in grace, all of which is made possible by God’s gratuitous mercy and grace. There is no set number of good works one must perform. The necessity of good works is of a qualitative character, not a quantitative character. Good works, as the products of grace, truly have merit in God’s eyes, but the state of grace itself (which is the principle of supernatural merit) is merited solely by the Passion of Christ on our behalf. Furthermore, anyone who dies in a state of grace has ipso facto merited eternal life in accordance with God’s grace, regardless of the good works one has done.
Once we are gratuitously justified, we can then merit an increase of righteousness and a greater degree of glory in the Kingdom of God, and we can even be said to merit eternal life itself. According to Sacred Scripture, eternal life is both a gift mercifully given (cf. John 10:27-28, Romans 3:24; 4:4-5; 5:15-21; 6:23; 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:4-7, 2 Timothy 1:9) and a reward justly rendered (cf. Matthew 25:31-46, John 5:25-29, Romans 2:6-8; 8:13, 1 Corinthians 9:24, 2 Corinthians 5:10, Galatians 6:7-9, Philippians 3:14, Colossians 3:24, 2 Timothy 4:8, Hebrews 10:35; 11:6, James 1:12; 2:5, Revelation 11:18; 20:12-15; 22:12). As the Council of Trent teaches:
Unto men, therefore, who have been justified after this manner, whether they have preserved uninterruptedly the grace received, or have recovered it when lost, are to be set the words of the apostle: Abound in every good work, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord [1 Cor. 15:58]; for God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the love which ye have showed in his name [Heb. 6:10]; and, cast not away your confidence, which hath a great recompense [Heb. 10:35]. And, for this cause, unto them who work well unto the end [Matt. 10:22], and hoping in God, life eternal is to be proposed, both as a grace mercifully promised to the sons of God through Jesus Christ, and as a recompense which is to be faithfully rendered to their good works and merits according to the promise of God himself. For this is that crown of righteousness which the apostle asserted was, after his fight and course, laid up for him, to be given to him by the righteous judge, and not only to him, but unto all that love his coming [2 Tim. 4:8]...[God's] goodness towards all men is so great, that he will have the things which are his own gifts to be [our] own merits (Decree on Justification, Ch. XVI).
With that being said, it must be stressed that everyone who dies in a state of justification, regardless of the degree of good works achieved, will equally receive eternal life. But some will have merited greater heavenly rewards (cf. Matthew 6:19-21, 2 Corinthians 9:6-8). As St. Augustine taught, “In that pay, then, we shall all be equal, the first like the last and the last like the first. Because that denarius [cf. Matthew 20:2] is eternal life, and in eternal life all will be equal. For although they will shine, some more and some less, by a diversity of merit, what pertains to eternal life will be given equally to all” (St. Augustine, Sermons, A.D. 391-430; taken from The Faith of the Early Fathers, Vol. 3, pg. 27).
Lastly, Luther’s concern about our works turning us away from Christ and in on ourselves is valid. Our good works must always be seen as gifts from God and should be performed with humility. Our good works should always be motivated by the desire to glorify God rather than ourselves (cf. Matthew 5:16). Performing good works with the intention of glorifying ourselves loses the character of being truly good and forfeits all supernatural merit. Such is a manifestation of the sin of pride. As Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange taught,
Pride leads…to vainglory, that is, the wish to be esteemed for oneself, without referring this honor to God, the source of all good, and often a wish to be esteemed for vain things…It has been justly said that pride is the great enemy of perfection because it is the source of numerous sins and deprives us of many graces and merits. Scripture says: “God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble” [James 4:6]. And Christ says of the Pharisees, who pray and give alms in order to be seen by men: “They have received their reward” [Matthew 6:2]; they cannot expect that of our heavenly Father, since they have acted for themselves and not for Him (The Three Ages of the Interior Life, Vol. I, pg. 385).
Continuing,
Obedience to God, to His spiritual and temporal representatives, daily assures us the conformity of our will with the divine will. It thus delivers us from self-will, that is, from a will which is not conformed to that of God, and which through pride goes astray, acting contrary to the current of grace and refusing to act in the true direction…Even what is best in man becomes evil when self-will enters in, for it takes itself as its end instead of subordinating itself to God. If the Lord sees that it inspires a fast, a penance, a sacrifice, He rejects them as Pharisaical works accomplished through pride in order to make oneself esteemed (ibid., Vol. II, pg. 151).
The Catholic doctrine of meritorious good works, therefore, does not turn us away from Christ and in on ourselves; on the contrary, it exhorts us to “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31) so that our heavenly Father will reward us by increasing our love both for Him and for our neighbor (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13).
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