Stone & Incense
Evangelical, Pentecostal or Protestant · Step 3 of 8Faith and works
Saved by grace. Both sides say it. So why the fight?
In short. Catholics agree with Paul: justification is a free gift of grace that nobody earns.1,2 The disagreement is about living faith: Catholics read Paul and James together, faith working through love.3,4
Key points
- Justification comes from God’s free, undeserved grace.1
- No one can merit the initial grace of justification.2
- Merit is itself the fruit of God’s grace.5
Try this, this week
- Read Ephesians 2:8-10. Don’t stop at verse 9.
- Read James 2:14-26. Ask what James is afraid of.
- Read Galatians 5:6. Faith, working, through love.
“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.”
Common questions
Remember: Not grace versus effort: grace, and then grace at work.