Good Works, Grace, and Sanctification

[phillovesourlady2]

I've been trying to understand the Catholic doctrine of justification recently because I attend a Lutheran school and we're being taught the Lutheran view (very heavy stuff....) I didn't know much about the Church's view on justification, good works, etc, so I decided to look into the Catechism. In paragraph 2010 it says:

"Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of grace, [i]no one can merit the initial grace of forgivness and justification[/i], at the beginning of conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, [i]we can then merit [/i]for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increases of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God's wisdom. These graces and goods are the object of Christian prayer. Prayer attends to the grace we need for meritorious actions."

This is how I translated it:

Good works [u]cannot[/u] save or justify, but can help us become sanctified by the grace of the Holy Spirit in order to become justified and acheive eternal salvation.

Is this translation along the right lines?

Edited April 12, 2006 by phillovesourlady2

[cappie]

Justification is the process by which a person is made righteous, holy and pure before God. This is accomplished by the grace of the Holy Spirit working within us; empowering us to recognize and repent for our sins and avoid sins in the future.

The grace working within us causes an interior conversion to take place so that we no longer desire things which we now recognize as sinful. [b]In the Catholic tradition, our justification comes about through our faith in Christ and in a life of good works which are a response to God's invitation to believe[/b].

St. Paul condemns claims that salvation comes through the "works of the law" (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; 3:10) but "works of the law" are different from the life of good works described above. Those who depended upon the "works of the law" were the Jews (like the pharisees for example) who depended upon performing all the rituals prescribed in the Book of the Law. Such rituals were circumcision, ritual washing, temple sacrifices, avoiding certain foods, etc. (they had enumerated 613 laws which, if observed perfectly, made the individual righteous). The life of good works which the Catholic Christian lives is the life one lives because of their love for God and their fellow man. It is the life through which their faith enables them to radiate their hope and love. God has given every person unique gifts and abilities; how we use these talents in our everyday lives are the good works upon which we will be judged (John 5:28-29).

There was a Joint Declaration on the controverted doctrine of justification agreed by the Catholic & Lutherans in 1997 which was accepted by the Holy See

The declaration confesses "that good works -- a Christian life lived in faith, hope, and love -- follow justification and are its fruits." Catholics go on to speak of such works as are "made possible by grace and. . . the Holy Spirit"; people are responsible for their actions, reward in heaven is promised biblically, but "justification always remains the unmerited gift of grace." Lutherans speak of "growth in grace and faith," with effects in Christian living; eternal life is, biblically speaking, "unmerited 'reward,"' a fulfillment of God's promise to the believer.