but the Bible says th opposite of what you say and this seems to be important. it says we are saved by grace through faith and its careful to say it is not of works.
8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. - St Paul Ephesians 2
but with all due respect because i do respect my catholic friends you changed your opinion in a next sentence. somethings not right with your ideas.
you said at firsat saved by grace through faith and works, and paul said specifically the opposite. then you say the good wortks we do are are because we love the Lord (which i agree with), but the Bible said only save dpeople love the Lord so you first staement again is incorrect isnt it?
And what are the good works thyat save you? no one answers this question qwhen i ask it, and i need to know - what are the good works? I know that St Paul said not alll are teachers, not all are evangelists and such. Aren't good works persuing righteosuness in our daily lives and being good Mothers and Fathers and living according to the Laws in our world? And I'm opretty certain good works are also attending our church and reading the Bible as well. But i was interested in what good works Catholicsbelieve save them along with faith?
marianna
Okay it is important to note the difference of works of man and of God, for instance no act of compassion is possible without grace, therefore any charitable work we do are from God and not from ourselves, the works being spoken of in the passage above are the works of the law, such as all the meaningless traditions the pharisees held on to.
We indeed are saved by Grace, because Grace gives us love, and that provides us with faith, and also from love come the works that please God, for example volunteer work, donating to charity and really anything you can do that will make someone elses life easier.
Now if you are atempting to do these works i mentioned above so that you might be saved, that will not work, the good works need to be based in love.
As he book of James says 2:17 "Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself."
So note here that James is not speaking of the works of the law, but the works of love.
Another driving force for good works is Matthew 25:40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
If you truly have love in your heart, you will love every single person as if they were Jesus themselves.
So if you have Grace you will have love, and from that love will come faith and works, both which are nessecary for salvation as they testify to each other.
Now another important thing i think is to remember, all people in the world recieve Grace, but some people suffer from hardness of heart and will not accept the Grace, thus they cannot be saved, but as long as you accept the Grace you will be saved.
1 Corinthians 13:4 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."