Stone & Incense Search
Start hereCurious, or no faithEvangelical, Pentecostal or ProtestantFrom another faithSomeone I love is CatholicBecoming CatholicI was Catholic once Today in the ChurchLibraryHard questionsVoices of the revivalTake the next stepAboutSources & methodSupport the site
Evangelical, Pentecostal or ProtestantStep 3 of 8

Faith and works

Saved by grace. Both sides say it. So why the fight?

Start here

Watch this first

Are We Saved by Faith Alone? - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon · Bishop Robert Barron

Give it 14 minutes, then come back and we’ll walk through it together.

Video: Are We Saved by Faith Alone? - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon, Bishop Robert Barron, published Sep 9, 2023. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

Catholics agree with Paul: justification is a free gift of grace that nobody earns.12 The disagreement is about living faith: Catholics read Paul and James together, faith working through love.34

Watch first Or start reading1 min read
Rembrandt, Head of Christ

Rembrandt, 1645. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Journeys / Evangelical, Pentecostal or Protestant / Step 3 of 8

On this page

Quick answers to related questions

Keep reading

All 8 steps in Evangelical, Pentecostal or Protestant You’re on step 3
  1. 1. What we share
  2. 2. The Bible and Tradition
  3. 3. Faith and works
  4. 4. The Lord’s Supper
  5. 5. Peter and the pope
  6. 6. Mary: honored, not worshiped
  7. 7. The saints, and asking for prayers
  8. 8. Coffee and next steps

Ephesus and Jerusalem, two letters

Here’s the line every Protestant knows: by grace you have been saved through faith, not by works.5

Here’s the surprise: the Catholic Church agrees. Nobody can earn the first grace of being made right with God.2

The argument isn’t grace versus effort. It’s what living faith looks like.

01Common ground

All grace, all gift

Church teaching

Justification comes from the grace of God, a free and undeserved gift.61

“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one would boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-95

Then what about works?

02The real disagreement

Faith that works through love

Disputed questionScripture

Paul also says what counts is faith working through love.3 James says a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.7

Catholics read these together: faith without hope and love doesn’t fully unite you to Christ.4

Your reading: good works are the fruit of being saved. The Catholic reading: good works done in grace are also God’s gift growing in you, and God rewards them, but the merit is His grace first.8

Has anyone tried to close the gap?

03Honest history

Closer than 500 years ago

History

In 1999, Catholics and Lutherans signed a joint declaration saying they share a basic understanding of justification by grace. The differences that remain are real, but smaller than the old shouting suggested.

Every Catholic Mass begins by admitting we need mercy. That’s not a church that thinks it earns heaven.

Next: the Lord’s Supper, and what Jesus meant by “this is My body.”

Your move

Try this, this week

  1. Read Ephesians 2:8-10. Don’t stop at verse 9.
  2. Read James 2:14-26. Ask what James is afraid of.
  3. Read Galatians 5:6. Faith, working, through love.

You’ll need

  • A Bible.
  • Ephesians 2 and James 2 open side by side.

Remember Not grace versus effort: grace, and then grace at work.

If this is hard

If you were taught Catholics think they earn heaven, you were taught something the Catholic Church itself rejects. See the first section above.

How to talk to a priest

Only one thing to do

Your one next step

Watch the video, then go to one Mass and listen for how many times the prayers ask for mercy.

Find a parish near you

Step 3 of 8 · Evangelical, Pentecostal or Protestant

Next: the Lord’s Supper.

Step 4: The Lord’s Supper
Back to all steps

Take it with you

Printable one-page cardDownload card (A4 PDF)Download card (US Letter PDF)

Short link: stoneandincense.com/go/cg3

Your real next step

This page can’t give you the sacraments. A parish can.

We’re just pointing. People walk with you. Find a Catholic parish near you, go to a Mass, or just ask a priest for ten minutes. You don’t need to have it figured out.

Take the next step What to say when you call

Notes

How we know · 8 sources for this page
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1996. vatican.va
  2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2010. vatican.va
  3. Galatians 5:6, World English Bible. read the chapter
  4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1815. vatican.va
  5. Ephesians 2:8-9, World English Bible. read the chapter
  6. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1987. vatican.va
  7. James 2:24, World English Bible. read the chapter
  8. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2008. vatican.va

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America Copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with Permission. English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Modifications from the Editio Typica copyright © 1997, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain), modern verse numbers; Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Early Christian writers: Ante-Nicene Fathers (1885, public domain). Video: “Are We Saved by Faith Alone? - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon,” Bishop Robert Barron, supporting material, not a teaching source.

Scenes marked “Imagine” are an invitation to picture the moment, not a historical record. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.