Catholics believe works are necessary for salvation because Jesus said so. Our Savior affirmed this, revealing how He will say to the righteous on Judgment Day: "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, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me" (Matt. 25:34-36). While the Catholic Church teaches that works are necessary for salvation, she does not say we are saved solely by virtue of the good that we do. Back in the fifth century, in fact, she denounced the teachings of Pelagius that works are meritorious apart from grace.
It has ever been the Catholic position that we are saved by grace, which cannot be earned but only received. This is affirmed by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states:
Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life (par. 1996).
From the Catholic perspective, no controversy exists between faith and works. Rather the two are viewed as two sides of the same coin, for our works are merely our faith in Christ lived out in our daily lives. This is why Jesus says, "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 7:21). Similarly, Saint Paul says, "For he will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life" (Rom. 2:6-7). And Saint James says, "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (2:24).
Read more about salvation in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
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