We live in a thoroughly Protestant culture here in the United States of America. We can’t help it, and we might not even notice it, but we do. As Catholics, then, we should attempt to understand certain Protestant objections to Catholicism and be able to at least provide a basic explanation of our beliefs. One area of great misunderstanding between us and Protestants is brought forward by the letter of St. James today.

“[F]aith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” St. James continues, “Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.” A little later in his letter, St. James writes, “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” When we combine all of these things together, it sounds like the Church, and St. James, is teaching that when we do good works, this helps us to earn our way into Heaven. The Protestants rejects this view, referring to it as works righteousness. They are correct in doing so. Catholicism condemned a similar view in 418A.D. at the Council of Carthage and called it the heresy of Pelagianism.

But what is St. James talking about then? And what is this justification business?

When you hear a Protestant talk about justification, they are referring to God forgiving a person’s sin and declaring them righteous in his eyes. This occurs at the moment they turn to God, as some might say: when they “accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.” To do this, Protestants teach that you must place your faith in Jesus Christ. Once that happens, you are justified.

Catholics, on the other hand, do not believe that this justification is a result of faith or works. We believe that we are justified by the grace of God alone. That is: we are forgiven and made holy because of the gifts of God, and not by our humanity. If our humanity was in charge, we would constantly be taken aside by our Lord as Peter was in the Gospel and rebuked, being told “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Furthermore, Catholics believe that justification is not something that happens once. It is an ongoing process of conversion to conform ourselves to God throughout our life. The Council of Trent teaches that justification is “not only a remission of sins but also the sanctification and renewal of the inner man.” (Decree on Justification, no. 7) This ongoing process of justification, which we sometimes call “growing in righteousness” in English (because translations!), is what St. James is speaking of today.

I’m glossing over a lot here, but these are the basics. When we speak of justification by faith and by works as Catholics, we are referring to a life-long process of cooperating with God’s grace and through his grace doing good works so that we might grow in justification–or righteousness if you prefer that term. Our Church does stress that our cooperation with grace and doing of good works is important. We err, gravely, if we believe that We can have a merely intellectual faith. (see DJ 9) Without the action of works, our faith is not expressed and we do not grow in holiness (or justification or righteousness). St. James warns against a merely intellectual faith, saying, “You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.” (2:19)

To summarize: God forgives us and makes us holy through the gift of his grace. We must cooperate with this grace not only through words, but through action. This cooperation with the grace of God, in turn, allows us to conform ourselves to God and grow in holiness. If we fail to do the good works that flow from the cooperation with the grace of God, our faith will die. (see James 2:26)

This work, of cooperating with God’s grace, is the work of a lifetime. But we have nothing to fear. Isaiah teaches us that:

“The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
[…]
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?”
Isaiah 50:7a, 9a

The Lord is, therefore, with us as we strive to cooperate with his grace and to put away our human desires so that we may follow him more closely.

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the gospel will save it.”
Mark 8:34-25