Eternal Life: Gift or Reward? Part One.

BY JOHN MARTIGNONI


Question:
An Evangelical friend of mine said the Catholic Church goes against the Bible because it teaches that a person can earn, or “merit,” eternal life as a reward for good works, while the Bible says eternal life is a free and unmerited gift of God to the believer. He quoted the following from the Council of Trent to make his point: “To those who work well right to the end and keep their trust in God, eternal life should be held out, both as a grace promised in his mercy through Jesus Christ to the children of God, and as a reward to be faithfully bestowed, on the promise of God himself, for their good works and merits,” while the Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved by faith…not because of works,” (Eph 2:8-9). Did the Council of Trent really say that and does the Church actually teach that we can “earn” eternal life by our works?

Answer:
Yes, that is a quote from the Council of Trent (Decree on Justification; ch. 16) and, yes, that is what the Church teaches. Although, not quite in the way your friend apparently understands it. I’ll need two or three of these columns to flesh this out a bit but, basically, your friend is focusing on only one aspect of the quote from the Council of Trent, in order to present a false “works-only salvation” caricature of what the Church actually teaches.

As the quote from Trent clearly states, eternal life is both a “grace,” or free gift, and a “reward.” So, for Catholics, eternal life is a both-and proposition – both a free gift and a reward - while for many Protestants it is an either-or proposition – either a free gift or a reward, it cannot be both. And, at first glance, it may seem like a contradiction to say that eternal life is both a gift and a reward, but when the Catholic position, which is also the scriptural position, is properly understood, one sees that there is no contradiction whatsoever.

First, what I’m going to do is give several Bible passages that show, quite clearly, that a person can “merit” eternal life - that eternal life is indeed a reward for one’s good works. Then, beginning in next week’s article, I will show how eternal life can be both a free gift and a reward, and I will use some Bible passages as examples of this teaching. I will then close this discussion with another quote from the Council of Trent to demonstrate how folks quite often lift a quote from some Catholic document, while ignoring the rest of the document, in order to distort what the Church teaches, which is quite often the same thing they do with the Bible.

Can a person merit eternal life – receive eternal life as a reward – for their good works? What does the Bible say?

Matthew 5:3-10, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven…Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy…Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God…Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Several examples from the Sermon on the Mount of folks being rewarded with eternal life for how they live their lives. At least, that’s what Jesus said.

Matthew 25:34-40, “Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink…as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” It seems pretty clear, from the Bible, that the people at the Lord’s right hand are going to “inherit” the Kingdom of Heaven because of their good works. At least, that’s what Jesus said.

Matthew 19:16-17, “What good deed must I do, to have eternal life?...[Jesus said] If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” People will be rewarded with heaven – eternal life - for keeping the commandments. At least, that’s what Jesus said.

Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.” Every Christian knows that when the Bible speaks of the “inheritance” we will receive from the Lord, it is referring to eternal life. This passage directly states that if you do the work the Lord has given you to do, whatever that may be, you will receive the “inheritance” - eternal life - as your reward.

Space limitations prevent me from giving dozens of other Bible passages that support exactly what the Catholic Church teaches about eternal life being a reward for our good works.

Next week: How can eternal life be both a free gift and a reward?

About John Martignoni John Martignoni is the Director of the Office of Evangelization for the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama and also the President of the Bible Christian Society. John's column, Apologetics 101, appears regularly in the diocesan newspaper, the One Voice.  If you have a question about the Catholic Faith, please send an email to: jmartignoni@bhmdiocese.org.  And check out John's free audio and written apologetics materials at: www.biblechristiansociety.com.