Even the Demons Believe

Today it seems more than ever that Catholics are beleaguered by Protestants that promulgate the error that good works are worthless and that faith alone in Jesus Christ is sufficient for ones salvation. How many times have unsuspecting Catholics heard,"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."(Jn 3:16) After quoting this verse, presumptuous Protestants will exclaim, see the Catholic Church is wrong, works are not important! What most Catholics don’t know is that the ensuing verses in this chapter that stress the significance of works are conveniently never mentioned. "... and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God."(Jn 3:19 - 21) These verses are obviously ignored because they substantiate the importance of works and also reveals that the faith alone premise is unbiblical.

Once the (Jn 3:16) deception has been exposed, one or both of the atomic bombs of the so called faith alone passages will be dropped. "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 reckoned to him as righteousness.' Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness."(Rm 4: 2-5) and "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God not because of works, lest any man should boast."(Eph 2:8-9) These Bible texts at first glance seem to nuke the Catholic position, but these bombshells can be easily defused. First, Protestants again deliberately fail to quote passages in these chapters that proclaim the significance of good works such as (Eph 2:10),"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Second, Protestants make the tragic error of confusing the ceremonial works of the Mosaic law that were eradicated by Christ with works of love and charity. If these verses are read in their proper context one will discover that in both cases the subject being addressed is whether circumcision is a requirement for a follower of Christ and not if virtues acts are null and void. As one can imagine, circumcision would be a major stumbling block for an adult male to convert. The sole purpose of theses two verses is to reassure the ungodly, Gentiles that have not been circumcised, that they can belong to Christ and His Church along with their Jewish brothers through faith apart from the Mosaic law. The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that the ceremonial works of the Jews are now impotent and no one said it better than St. Paul who happen to write Romans and Ephesians, "If any other man thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents; as to the law a Pharisee, as to zeal a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law blameless. ... Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things, and I count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law,"( Phil 3:4-9)

The last weapon in any Protestant’s arsenal is the question, why do you Catholics do good works, didn’t Christ pay the price for our sins on the cross once and for all? This query is designed to confuse and place one on the defensive. Catholics should first respond by saying, I am redeemed by the Blood of Christ, I trust in Him alone for my eternal salvation, and as the (Phil 2:12 ) teaches, I am a working out my salvation in fear and trembling. Next, it must be stressed that Catholics participate in Christ's once and for all sacrifice on Calvary every time they attend Mass because they are one in the same. Jesus made this perfectly clear at the Last Supper, "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."(Matt 26: 26-28) and St. Paul confirmed this by saying, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Cor 10:16) Lastly, Catholics must state that the Church has always proclaimed that Christ paid the price for our sins by His crucifixion, and correctly teaches that through the grace of God, Catholics are given the strength to pick up their cross and follow Jesus and in doing so complete what is lacking in His afflictions to aid the Church militant on earth and those suffering in purgatory. “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church”(Col 1:24)

It is essential that Protestants be made aware that no where in the Bible can one find the phrase, “one is saved by faith alone”. As a matter of fact, the only place in the Bible where the phrase,“faith alone” appears is in the Book of James. “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone."(Jm 2 :19 - 24) Most of today's adherents to Protestantism have no idea that, Martin Luther, heretic and architect of the Reformation, belittled the Book of James calling it,“the epistle of straw”. Luther even went so far as to take this epistle out of the original Lutheran Bible because he knew it torpedoed his concocted theory of salvation. The Roman Catholic Church has always taught that salvation is a gift from God, and that justification and sanctification are accomplished by faith in Jesus Christ along with works of love and charity. The Church has never said that works are of ones’ own merit. Even the most official teaching of the Catholic faith, the Council of Trent, reiterates this teaching, "If any one saith, that man may be justified before God by his own works, whether done through the teaching of human nature, or that of the law, without the grace of God through Jesus Christ; let him be anathema."(The Sixth Session Canon I )

The evidence for necessity of good works is overwhelming. Jesus tells us in (Matt 25:31-46), that those who feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison will go to heaven, and those who do not perform these acts of love will not like where they end up. In (Matt 19:16-17), Jesus is asked the question, "Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?" He answered, “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." So the next time a Catholic is confronted by an erroneous statement such as, good works are worthless and that faith alone in Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation. They need only reply, that every time a Catholic is born again through baptism, humbly asks for absolution for their sins in the sacrament of confession, does penitence, receives the real body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist, prays a rosary, or just says a simple prayer from the heart they are following Christ’s mandate, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment."(Matt 22: 37-38); and when a Catholic feeds the hungry, gives alms to the poor, takes care of the sick, visits those in prison, buries the dead, instructs the ignorant, admonishes the sinner, comforts the sorrowful, prays for the living and the dead, or just lends a helping hand to their fellow man they are following the second greatest commandment. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."(Matt 22:39)