Imperfect Works

Have you ever had anyone tell you that Catholics believe that they are saved by works and protestants believe they are saved by faith? It is a common comparison that is completely mistaken. It is true that many protestants believe that it is only "faith" that they need to make themselves right with God (though there are just about as many definitions of what that supposed "faith" looks like as there are protestant denominations!). It is not true, however, that Catholics believe they are saved by works.

In fact, the official Catholic teaching on salvation is that we are saved by Christ. I know that might sound simplistic, but it is true. It is not true, however, to say that Catholic teaching says Christ saves us without any means. In other words, He does not merely jump down from Heaven and zap us with a sprinkling of salvation magic. He uses things in us, and in the world around us, to save us.

The most specific thing that He uses is both the faith and the works that we perform (for both of these are actions). Few would doubt that Scripture tells us that it is necessary to believe in God and His Son and the salvific work He did for us. Many, however, claim that there is nowhere in Scripture that tells us that works are a necessary part of our salvation.

In today's first reading for Mass there is one of the (many!) clear examples of the necessity of works. One of the church's in the first century is told by Jesus Himself that He has not "not found [their] works perfect in the sight of . . . God" (Rev 3:2). Did you notice that? They are being chastised because they are not doing "perfect works".

If works did not matter for a person's salvation, then Jesus would never have said something like that. It would have been more like, "I have not found your works perfect, but it really doesn't matter, because you're saved by faith, and that means you just need to have a nice gooey feeling in your tummy about God and all is well, so take it easy because you've got nothing to worry about, just go ahead and sin all you want and keep believing that everything's gonna be okay!"

Yeah, that ain't in the Bible!