As a cradle Catholic, I certainly agree with the good points you’ve raised in your articles regarding salvation. Nevertheless, I have a Protestant (Presbyterian) friend who brought up Galatians 2:16 and most of the verses in Galatians 3 where Paul states that we are not justified through works of the law, but rather through faith. How does this correlate to your statements that both faith and works are necessary for salvation?
Answer:
The key phrase in Galatians, that Paul uses over and over again, is “works of the law.” In chapter 3 of Galatians, Paul tells us that the law “came four hundred and thirty years” after Abraham. He is quite obviously speaking of the Mosaic law. So, if “the law” spoken of here refers to the Mosaic Law, then the “works of the law” are referring to all of the rites and rituals that were part of the Mosaic Law. Circumcision, which pre-dates the Mosaic Law, was included as part of the “works of the law” because it was only after one was circumcised that they were bound to keep the “works of the law.”
What was happening in Galatia was that some Jewish Christians were telling the new Gentile Christians, that in addition to the gospel message that they had been taught by Paul, they also needed to accept circumcision and the tenets of the Mosaic law in order to be justified (or saved). The overall message of Paul to the Galatians, however, is that the Old Covenant law does not save anyone. If it did, then there would have been no need for Christ to become man and to be crucified.
Paul goes on to tell the Galatians (chapter 5) that if they accept circumcision - which would mean they are, in effect, accepting the Mosaic Law in place of the new law in Christ - then Christ would be “of no advantage” to them. He tells them they would be foolish to accept the old law.
In other words, when Paul is telling the Galatians that they are justified by faith and not by works of the law, what he is saying is that the Mosaic Law has been perfectly fulfilled in the person of Christ and that the Old Covenant has been superceded by the New Covenant. The Mosaic Law no longer needs to be followed. He is not telling them that they are saved by “faith alone” and that good works have nothing to do with salvation as many Protestants would like to interpret these verses.
And, just to re-visit the previous articles on faith and works, it is important to emphasize that, as Catholics, we do not believe we receive our justification because of our works or even because of our faith, but we receive our justification through our faith (or the faith of our parents), by the grace of God, in the Sacrament of Baptism. However, once we have been baptized into Christ, once we have been justified, we must pick up our cross daily to follow Christ (Lk 9:23) and we must bear good fruit (John 15:1-6) or we can lose our justification.
Salvation is a process. Our initial justification is by God’s grace alone, but once we have received the grace of our initial justification, then it is through our faith and works - all by the grace of God - that we remain justified. Or, as the Scripture says in Galatians 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision are of any avail, but faith working through love.”
 | About John Martignoni John Martignoni is the Director 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. |
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