Justification: Is it by faith or works?

I recently found myself in a discussion with some protestants on the issue of justification, and, as Protestants do, they would pretend that it is either or; like it's either the Bible or Tradition, Christ or the Pope, that it is either faith or works. In regard to this issue I intend to show from not only the Bible, but Tradition, and the Fathers of the Early Church that it is both faith and works which contribute to the justification of man before God.

The phrase "faith alone" is found in only one place in the Bible, and oddly enough, it is refuting the Protestant view that man is justified by faith alone. The phrase comes from the second chapter of the epistle of St. James which states "you see that by works a man is justified and not by faith alone?". I'm sure that this topic has been very well covered by much better authors than myself, but as also, the error of sola fide is ongoing and still remains a big issue for Protestants, so, again, I'll treat this topic with the scripture, the Fathers, and from the Church pronouncements.

It is for good reason that Our Lord says "Every tree that brings forth not good fruits shall be cut down and shall be cast into the fire" (Matt. 7.19) because it is important for the faithful to understand that they must yield good fruit in order to be numbered among the elect. Our Lord is here giving warning to the faithful that faith without works is not enough to be saved. and, therefore, he adds: "Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven".

But, first of all, before we get carried away, just what is a "good work"? Good works are actions that are performed, while in the state of sanctifying grace, according to God's will. These are actions inspired by faith, and they are necessary for salvation, as they are the manifestation of faith, and are what is referred to in the gospel as "good fruit". This is not to say, of course, that a man may work his way into heaven, but that these works are a bi-product of faith. Christ explicitly states that those [souls] who yield not forth good fruit [works as a manifestation of their faith] shall be cut down and cast into the fire (damned). It is therefore, a great error for one to perceive that they may attain salvation simply because they yield not forth bad fruit [commit no evil].
Thus, those who do neither good nor evil, shall not see salvation, as heaven is the reward of those who have performed well, and if no good work has been done, then they may not expect a reward, as St. Ambrose illustrates in his 41st Letter: "And so He first bestows on us a gift by baptism, and afterwards gives more abundantly to those who serve Him faithfully. So, then, the benefits of Christ are... rewards of virtue"; so, we see that He only gives to those who serve him, and serve Him faithfully, and also, that the rewards of Christ are a consequence of virtue.

The Holy Ghost is the sanctifier, who sanctifies the world and men, but men can only be sanctified if they comply with that grace of the Holy Spirit through faith, hope, and love of God and his neighbor; and he must also perform other "works". It is a dogma of the Church that we must, in union with the Holy Ghost, of course, "merit" heaven by his "good works".

We see from St. Paul that God rewards good works: "If any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward" (I Cor. 3:14); and "Do not therefore lose your confidence which hath a great reward. For patience is necessary for you: that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise." (Heb. 10:35-36) , and still more, he exhorts us to do good works in these words: "... run that you may obtain" (I Cor. 9:24); he describes this life as a fight, a fight that we must win in order to be saved, which means doing and not simply being: "Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life..." (I Tim. 6:12), and encourages St. Timothy, which applies to all of us, "To do good, to be rich in good work, to give easily, to communicate to others" (I Tim. 6:18), that we may attain eternal life.

Now we have seen that works are necessary, but we must also understand that it is not simply works, nor is it simply faith, as we shall now cover. We know that we cannot work our way into heaven, no matter how holy we are. This entails that one must have faith, but what if we have faith, what if we have faith enough to move the mountains, is faith all we need to be saved?
The Holy Spirit, speaking through St. James in his epistle, says "What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but hath not works? Shall faith be able to save him?
So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself" (James 2:14-17). This clearly shows how faith without works is not sufficient for salvation. He goes on to say: "Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:19-20). Once again reiterating the fact that faith without works is dead, but he also adds that the devils believe and tremble, showing once again that faith is not all that is required. St. James goes on to say: "Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only?...For even as the body without the spirit is dead: so also faith without works is dead." (James 2:24-26). He states that faith without works is dead, but then adds "not by faith only" meaning that it [salvation] is by works, through faith, meaning both, he certainly does not say works only, and he does not say faith only, but that they are one, and must be done in unison with faith. Apparently we must not only believe, but we must "fight the good fight" so to speak. St. Paul says "Workout thy salvation" now we know that we can't work our way into heaven so what does St. Paul mean? He means we must not only believe BUT we must also as St. Paul says: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast: and hold the traditions, which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle... Exhort your hearts and confirm you in every good work and word." which means that we must hold the faith and keep it alive in everything we do, and do good works in faith. St. James further illustrates this: "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass. But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work: this man shall be blessed in his deed. " (James 1:22-25). This is simply further driving home the point that we must be a doer of the word and not simply a hearer, and that the doer will be blessed in his deed.

We also notice that when eternal life is promised it is always in the future.
It is not that "we are saved" but that "we shall be saved". So, we may not in truth say "I am saved" for he is a liar unless he be in the company of the Blessed. "Which some promising, have erred concerning the faith". The Council of Trent speaks thus of this error: "If any one saith, that it is necessary for every one, for the obtaining the remission of sins, that he believe for certain, and without any wavering arising from his own infirmity and disposition, that his sins are forgiven him; let him be anathema." (sess. VI, Can. XIII) and "If any one saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified, because that he assuredly believed himself absolved and justified; or, that no one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified; and that, by this faith alone, absolution and justification are effected; let him be anathema." (Sess. VI, Can. XIV). It is said by St. Paul "That thou keep the commandment without spot, blameless, unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." and "But thanks be to God, that you ...have obeyed from the heart unto that form of doctrine into which you have been delivered" meaning that we must hold the faith [that means live the faith and believe it inviolately], and not simply believe. For not even the great St. Paul was assured of his salvation, he too had to "run the Race" and "fight the good fight" even though he had been so great an apostle, even though the Holy Spirit had spake through him and delivered to us many epistles in the new testament.
We must not say to ourselves that because we read scripture and sing a couple of hymns and clap our hands and listen to a pastor provide us with his private interpretation of scripture that we are going to see God no matter what. We must practice virtue and be obedient to the traditions which God has given us. We must rely on His mercy and fulfill God's requests.

It is a great error for one to perceive that it is possible to work one's way into heaven, as defined by the Council of Trent: "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." (Sess. VI, Can. I) Thus we see, that the Protestant perception that Catholics believe that they can work their way to salvation is complete and totally false, but that Catholics hold that one must work by grace, through faith.
The council goes on to proclaim that it is error for one to assume that he may attain salvation without observing the commandments of God: "If any one saith, that the man who is justified and how perfect soever, is not bound to observe the commandments of God and of the Church, but only to believe; as if indeed the Gospel were a bare and absolute promise of eternal life, without the condition of observing the commandments ; let him be anathema." (Sess. VI, Can. XX).

We know that it is impossible to please God without faith, and therefore, without it will not be saved (Heb. 11:6), Justification is accomplished by faith and works. Protestants will argue against this by citing Eph. 2.9 which states that it is not by works that we are saved, but who is saying that we are saved by works, the Catholic Church does not say this, so where do they get the idea that Catholic believe that we are saved by works? St. Paul there says that faith is a gift from God that does not include "works of the Law". But according to this Protestant logic, St. Paul contradicts himself as shown above he says we must do good works in order to attain salvation as shown above, so obviously, the interpretation that the Protestants give this is not the correct context that this verse is to be understood by. In Galations Ch. 5 we see the context that this is to be read by "faith that worketh" meaning that faith is what drives the works, it is faith that powers them, and gives them life. This verse goes on to say "faith that worketh by charity" meaning that we have faith, by love, and St. Paul also says that faith without charity is nothing, meaning, that faith is accomplished by charity, which is an act and faith, which is an act of the will, are one; thus charitable works, it's why we have charities. Faith is a gift of God, and it is not achieved by men, and it is God who causes all of this, but, however, He requires of us actions on our part in order to perfect that faith that he has so graciously given us (James 2:22). St. James says that the man who know that he must do works and does them not is a sinner, (James 4:17) meaning that it is sin not to do good works. Faith and works are to be one, to be united as the body and the spirit are one as once again St. James tells us "For even as the body without the spirit is dead: so also faith without works is dead" (James 2:26) as St. Irenaeus, one of the most illustrious of the Early Church Fathers says: "For these two, faith and good works, rejoice in each other's company, and agree together and fight side by side to set man in the Presence of God".

All of this means that we must have both faith and works, and not simply one or the other.
We see how the argument that the Protestants use, that is the either or, is a faulty argument and falls short of a correct understanding of the scriptures according to the context they were written in. The Bible must be read as one, not simply taking verses and placing them to stand all by themselves as to serve as a rule, without a measurement, context, by which to read the rule.
And so, as we progress in our series on Justification, we will see the true context of what is meant by works, vs. works of the law, and we will see how justification is an ongoing process which is a continuing thing, and not something that happens all at once, but is something we must strive after each and every day. We will also see how justification begins on the inside, and that it is accomplished by our own dispositions and faith and is not simply what happens as a result of a divine pronouncement; so stay with us and we'll bring all of this and more to light in the near future.

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Limbo on a limb

Very recently the Vatican came out with a document that questioned the doctrine of Limbo.
Many believe that Limbo is nothing more than a theological speculation. They believe that Limbo has never been declared dogma, and thus is not to be believed as such, and we are free to question it's possibile truthfulness and existence. Many clerics and theological works of the last century have stated that the Limbo of the Children is nothing more than this sort of theological speculation, and thus it has passed into the minds and hearts of the laity. We know that unbaptized infants are conceived in a state of original sin. So how does all of this downplaying of this dogma of the faith square with this dogmatic fact? Below I will attempt to illustrate, not only that Limbo exists, but that it is de fide, to be believed as Catholic truth, from the Fathers, theologians, the popes, and the Councils of the Church. The Catholic Church teaches that no one can be freed from original sin without baptism, and that infants are excluded from the beatific vision if they die so unbaptized, that is, with original sin still on their souls. This is because no one can see the kingdom of God without the Sacrament of Baptism (Jn. 3:5), and this includes infants, indeed it includes the whole human race. The Catholic Church's teaching is that children and infants who die without baptism descend immediately into Hell, but that they do not suffer the fires of Hell. They go to a place in Hell called the limbo of the infants. The most specific definition of the Church that there is no way for an infant to be saved without the Sacrament of Baptism follows from one, Pope Eugene IV:

“Regarding children, indeed, because of danger of death, which can often take place, when no help can be brought to them by another remedy than through the sacrament of baptism, through which they are snatched from the domination of the Devil and adopted among the sons of God, it advises that holy baptism ought not be deferred for forty or eighty days, or any time according to the observance of certain people…” (Council of Florence, Session 11, Feb. 4, 1442)

This teaches that there is no other remedy other than baptism in the justification of a soul in original sin. It teaches that those in original sin are under the domination of the devil, and that the only way to become a Son of God and an heir of heaven is to have that sin washed away in Baptism, and thus, it should not be delayed because of local customs. Florence basically continued, in this manner, in the Tradition recieved from the Council of Carthage:

“It has been decided likewise that if anyone says that for this reason the Lord said: ‘In my Father’s house there are many mansions’ that it might be understood that in the kingdom of heaven there will be some middle place or some place anywhere where the blessed infants live who departed from this life without baptism, without which they cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven, which is life eternal, let him be anathema.” (Pope St. Zosimus, The Council of Carthage, Canon on Sin and Grace, 417 A.D.)

It anathematizes anyone who would say that there is a place where infants, who are not initiated, go to some place besides Hell, because since they do not have Baptism, they cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and thus have eternal life, and they do not go to purgatory because that is a place of purgation for those who have sinned actually, been forgiven, and are saved from Hell, and that there is no middle place outside of Heaven or Hell where these infants can go, thus, it logically follows that these infants go to Hell, since there is no alternative. Does this mean that the issue is up for debate? Can we question these dogmatic pronouncements? Limbo is not a Middle place, despite the misconceptions of some misinformed Catholics, but a punishment of the separation of God which is a "different" punishment from those who have sinned and are damned to Hell fire. A Tradition also echoed by the Council of Trent:

“If anyone says that recently born babies should not be baptized even if they have been born to baptized parents; or says that they are indeed baptized for the remission of sins, but incur no trace of the original sin of Adam needing to be cleansed by the laver of rebirth for them to obtain eternal life, with the necessary consequence that in their case there is being understood a form of baptism for the remission of sins which is not true, but false: let him be anathema.” (Pope Paul III, The Council of Trent, On Original Sin, Session V)

Trent declares that if anyone says that infants recieve the sacrament of Baptism for the remission of sins, but that infants don't incur original sin which needs to be so cleansed, that they are anathema - it is heresey for anyone to say that infants don’t need the “laver of rebirth” (sacramental baptism) to attain eternal life. The Council of Florence goes on to say:

“We define also that… the souls of those who depart this life in actual mortal sin, or in original sin alone, go straightaway to hell, but to undergo punishments of different kinds.” (Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Letentur coeli,” Sess. 6, July 6, 1439)

“The doctrine which rejects as a Pelagian fable, that place of the lower regions (which the faithful generally designate by the name of the limbo of the children) in which the souls of those departing with the sole guilt of original sin are punished with the punishment of the condemned, exclusive of the punishment of fire, just as if, by this very fact, that these who remove the punishment of fire introduced that middle place and state free of guilt and of punishment between the kingdom of God and eternal damnation, such as that about which the Pelagians idly talk” – Condemned as false, rash, injurious to Catholic schools. (Pope Pius VI, Auctorem fidei, Aug. 28, 1794)

The Council of Trent defined that infants do contract original sin which needs to cleansed, by baptism, without which cleansing they cannot enter heaven. The Council of Florence declared that those who depart this life in origina sin alone, such as would the infant who is not baptized would have, would descend into Hell, but to be punished differently from those with actual sin. Catholic Tradition teaches that they go to a place in Hell where there is no fire, they experience eternal separation from God. Auctorem fidei says the belief that condemns Limbo as some middle place between the punishment of God and eternal damnation, is condemned.

Pope Pius XI, Mit brennender Sorge (# 25), March 14, 1937: “‘Original sin’ is the hereditary but impersonal fault of Adam’s descendants, who have sinned in him. It is the loss of grace, and therefore eternal life, together with a propensity to evil, which everybody must, with the assistance of grace, penance, resistance and moral effort, repress and conquer.”

Pius IX teaches that Original sin is inherited by all men, and infants, and that by this Original Sin all men are by nature devoid of eternal life, so that infants with original sin do not have, and cannot have, eternal life.

St. Augustine, A.D. 415: “Anyone who would say that infants who pass from this life without participation in the Sacrament (Baptism) shall be made alive in Christ truly goes counter to the preaching of the Apostle and condemns the whole Church, where there is great haste in baptizing infants because it is believed without doubt that there is no other way at all in which they can be made alive in Christ.”

St. Augustine says that those who say that infants who die without Baptism will be saved not only act contrary to the Apostolic Tradition, but condemns the whole Church. He says that there is no other way for an infant to be "made alive in Christ" other than Baptism. Pope St. Innocent expressed the teaching of tradition on this matter, against the Pelagian heretics:

Pope St. Innocent, 414 A.D.: “But that which Your Fraternity asserts the Pelagians preach, that even without the grace of Baptism infants are able to be endowed with the rewards of eternal life, is quite idiotic… But those who defend this for them without rebirth seem to me to want to quash Baptism itself, when they preach that infants already have what is believed to be conferred on them only through Baptism.”

It must be remembered that it was Jesus Christ who laid down the requirement that all men, including infants, must be baptized for salvation: “Unless a man is born again of water and the Holy Ghost he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5), and the Councils express this doctrine most vividly. The Church thus teaches that unbaptized infants cannot go to heaven, and that there is no middle place for them, and that all in original sin go to Hell, but to be punished with different punishments, this is the teaching of the Church from which no one can deviate and keep his Catholic name, for this is what has been declared infallibly by the vicar of Christ on earth as the infallible truth. The above is basically Limbo by definition, which is the belief that unbaptized infants do not go to heaven, and do not go to a middle place, but that they go to Hell, and are punished differently from those with actual mortal sin by suffering the separation from God soley as a result of their original sin; aside from the definition of the non suffering of the fires of Hell but simply the separation from God and the beatific vision this is defined dogma.

So whether the Vatican likes it or not, Baptism is a requirement for salvation to all. And it is significant to note that Catholic doctrine is unchangeable, and that there is more of a likely hood that the sun could orbit Pluto than that Catholic doctrine be altered, as eternal truths from God do not change, no matter how many declarations are issued from the Vatican.

It must also be noted that the Vatican has also stated that Hell, Heaven, and Purgatory are not real places, and now that Limbo is not the fate of unbaptized infants. And this is coming from people who say that false religions are wonderful and enlightening and that Jesus might possibly not be Messiah prophesiesed in the Old Testatment. They have said that the Primacy of St. Peter is not dogmatic but simply a tradition and that the Jews' interpretation of scripture is valid etc. They are trying to eradicate Catholic dogma and replace it with the false notions produced by the Vatican assembly and the works of anti-papa. The post Vatican II religion is bit by bit attempting to overturn all of the traditions given by Christ and the apostles and dogmatically taught by the Catholic Church. They are deceiving Catholics into blindly following the errors of their new religion divorced from the Catholic religion, which is the bride of Christ.

A Prophetic Vision

Pope Leo XIII’s Original Prayer to St. Michael

On September 25, 1888, following his morning Mass, Pope Leo XIII became traumatized to the point that he collapsed. Those in attendance thought that he was dead.
After coming to consciousness, the pope described a frightful conversation that he had heard coming from near the tabernacle. The conversation consisted of two voices – voices which Pope Leo XIII clearly understood to be the voices of Jesus Christ and the Devil. The Devil boasted that he could destroy the Church, if he were granted 75 years to carry out his plan (or 100 years, according to some accounts). The Devil also asked permission for “a greater influence over those who will give themselves to my service.” To the Devil’s requests, Our Lord reportedly replied: “you will be given the time and the power.”

Shaken deeply by what he had heard, Pope Leo XIII composed the following original Prayer to St. Michael and ordered it to be recited after all Low Masses as a protection for the Church against the attacks from Hell. What follows is the original prayer:

O Glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil. Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.
Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces thewhole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels.
Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.
These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions.
In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.

Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and Patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.
Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David.
Let thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.
As we have hoped in thee.
O Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry come unto thee.
Let us pray.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon thy holy name, and as suppliants we implore thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel St. Michael, thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen.

In 1934, Pope Leo’s prophetic prayer (given above) was altered, the significant phrase referring to the apostasy in Rome, where the Holy Place is situated, was deleted, and the use of Leo XIII’s original Prayer to St. Michael following each Low Mass was replaced with a new concoction, the popular abbreviated Prayer to St. Michael, which goes as follows:

“St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.”

Not that there is anything wrong with this prayer to St. Michael, it is very effective and salutary, but that it is not the original prayer to St. Michael initially composed byHis Holiness Leo XIII and is not the prayer that he ordered to be recited at the close of every Low Mass. This prayer quoted here was substituted in the place of the original, in order that the faithful ignorant of the amazing content of the original prayer described above.

About VITW: Who we are

The Catholic Church is the one true Church founded by Jesus Christ upon St. Peter (Mt. 16:18-20;Jn. 21:15-17). Since the Second Vatican Council of the radical 1960's, many things have changed in the Roman Catholic Church, often for the worse, under the guise of "modernity". This spirit of change ushered in new theologies, sacraments, practices and disciplines. As a result, much of the traditional practices and traditional Catholic articles of faith are being ignored or simply trashed as being antiquated. Dedicated to the preservation of the Traditional Catholic faith and disciplines, A Voice Crying in the Wilderness was founded to pontificate on and document the happenings within the Catholic Church, as well as a soapbox for the publication of reviews and commentaries from a Traditionalist perspective.


Who Are We?

Leo A Standish - Traditionalist Catholic of five years, conservative political activist, and Southern Agrarian Distributist, Leo is the founder and Chief editor of "A Voice Crying in the Wilderness", "The Return to Christendom", and a contributing editor of "The New Distributist League".


Ryan Grant, AKA "Athanasius": Graduate of Steubenville with B.A. in Philosophy and Theology, Ryan Grant is a lay theologian, author of Athanasius Contra Mundum, and contributing editor to "The Rad Trad Review, The New Distributist League, and Voice in the Wilderness, his biography can be found here.