Catholic teaching: The sacraments are necessary for salvation. Catholic teachings state that the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Communion, Penance, Matrimony and the Anointing the Sick are needed to go to heaven.

Catholic teaching: Doing good deeds throughout your life will save you from hell.

Bible: Salvation is a gift of grace from God. Being good, doing good works, or fulfilling the sacraments will not save you from eternity in hell. Only by faith will you be saved. Follow the Bible which is God's Word and not the teachings of man. Good works come after you are saved as a showing of Christ's love in us.

Comment: If you are Catholic and believe that Jesus died for your sins and was raised from the dead you are saved even if you perform the Catholic sacraments. However, if you believe the sacraments or your good life are going to get you to heaven you are sadly mistaken.

Ephesians 2:8,9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Romans 3:27-28 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man (Ps 118:8).  

[Does James contradict Paul] "It is interesting that the great literary man Ruskin said that there was only one book in the world that made it clear concerning faith alone and works and that was the Bible.  Some people have said that the Bible contradicts itself at this point.  They have specifically said that James contradicts Paul, for Paul is one of the major teachers of the concept of grace by faith, though it is taught throughout the New Testament...

[Same truth defended]...Let us see if there is indeed a contradiction, or if Ruskin is right and the Bible is, indeed, the only book that is absolutely clear on the subject of faith plus works.  Are Paul and James defending two different truths?  I believe a careful examination of the text and context will reveal that they are both defending the same truth against different errors or against a different set of antagonists.

An illustration might be of a seventeenth--or eighteenth-century damsel dressed in a white gown who is being attacked by two different bands of cutthroats.  She is being defended by two heroes who have drawn their swords.  Approaching from the north is one group of brigands and cutthroats who have set their hearts upon destroying this fair damsel, and one hero is fighting them while another hero has taken his stand at her other side and is fighting another group of cutthroats who are coming from the south.  Though they are both defending the same truth, they are, in fact, fighting in opposite direction.  And so are Paul and James...

[Different errors fought]...Let us look first at the people to who they are speaking.  Paul is addressing the Pharisees, or the heathen who would attempt to justify themselves by their own efforts.  He is dealing with the legalist who is saying that by keeping some set of rules, whether it be the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament, or whether it be the laws of some heathen religion, he will obtain the favor of God.  it is against this legalist that Paul is so adroitly fighting.  James, on the other hand, is addressing the members of the Christian church--a particular portion of the members of the Christian church:  the hypocrites therein.  You have heard it said that there are too many hypocrites in the church.  That is not a recent saying.  James is saying the very same thing right here, for he is talking to the professing members of the church.  These are the people who think they will be saved by professing the right faith in Jesus Christ, and they have come to the place where they say, "We see that a man is not saved by his good works.  What we must do is profess our faith in Christ and hold to the right doctrines and be a part of a church which is sound in the faith." Yet there is absolutely nothing in their lives that would evidence the fact that a real faith exists.

Once, a lady became very distraught with me after I had told her the Gospel of Christ, of the free grace of God and the proffered gift of eternal life to those who would trust or believe in Jesus Christ.  She sat up indignantly in her chair and said, "Do you mean to tell me that all I have to do is sit here and say I believe in Jesus Christ, and I will go to heaven?"

My answer was, "No ma'am, that's not what I said."

She asked, "Well, what did you say?"

And I replied, "If you believe, or trust, in Jesus Christ, you will have eternal life as a free gift."  She said, "You said it again!  All I have to do is say that I believe, or trust, in Jesus Christ, and I'll go to heaven."

Again I answered, "No, ma'am, that's not what I said.  I didn't say it now, I have never said it in the past under any circumstances, to anyone, anywhere, at any time.  I have never made such a statement and never will because it is absolutely false."

She asked, "Well, what did you say?"

I said, "I did not say you would be saved by saying that you believed in Christ, but rather by believing in Him."

James says here:  "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man have faith and not works?  Will faith save him?"  Is that what James said?  It is not!  He said: "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?  Can faith save him?"

Unfortunately the King James Version does not deal too accurately with the last part of that verse.  If you examine the Greek text, the phrase is hay pistis.  It uses the definite article and should be translated, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say that he hath not works, can that faith save him?"  In order to understand what James is saying, you have to know that throughout this whole chapter, when James talks about faith, he is talking about a said faith, a profession of faith.  He never means "What shall it profit if a man have faith and not have works," because it is not possible that a man truly have real faith and not have works. 

[Three Key Words] ...There are three key words in this passage in James.  The first one we have just mentioned.  It is the word say.  "Though a man say he hath faith" (verse 14); "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works" (verse 18).

The second word is show.  It is found in verse 18:  "Shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew three my faith by my works."

The third word is see, which is found in verses 22 and 24:  "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works" and "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified." 

[Self-righteous or barren orthodox] ...Faith is invisible.  A man may say he has faith, but you cannot see it, nor can you show it apart from works.  There is absolutely no way anyone can know you have faith apart from your works.  That is precisely why, at the Judgment, people are judged by their works.  By their works they demonstrate the reality of their faith, though they are saved by faith.  But the genuineness of that faith is shown to the world, and the world sees that that faith is real by the works that the people have done.  So we see that Paul is dealing with the self-righteous, and James, on the other hand, is dealing with the barren orthodox--those who believe that by the correctness of their creed, they will be saved; those who may be expert on the confession, may argue it with great eloquence, may believe it in all of its details, may confess the Apostles'' Creed and the Westminster Confession, yet they have no fruit, no joy, no love, no peace, no works, no service for Jesus Christ.

Paul is talking to those who would deny faith in the cross of Christ for salvation, and James is talking to those who would demean that faith and reduce it and diminish it to nothing other than a bare, naked mental assent.  For Paul, faith is an act of the entire, the whole interior, being of man.  It is an act of the mind that accepts the deity of Christ and His atoning act in His resurrection as true.  It is the act of the affections that responds to the love of God and, in turn, loves God with all of the heart and mind, strength and soul.  it is an act of the will that bows to the sovereignty of God and determines to follow Jesus Christ.  Paul says that we are saved by faith, but he says it is a faith that works by love.  Even in Ephesians 2:8-9 where it says that we are saved by faith apart from works, it goes on in the next verse to say that we are created in Christ unto good works, which God has prepared for us.

We also see that James and Paul are using the concept of works in a different sense.  Paul is talking to those people who would do works in order to be saved--works which they believe would lead to salvation.  James is telling people that they need those works that flow out of salvation and result in salvation.  True faith reaches up to connect us to the dynamo of the universe, to the Holy Spirit of God, and it always results in a transformation of life by the surging of the power of God into our lives.  A man may say he has faith, but if he dos not demonstrate that transformation of life, then his faith is spurious.  The importance of trusting in Christ alone for our salvation may be further explained as follows:

[Faith and works boats:]  "Imagine that you are out in the middle of a lake, and there are two rowboats, and you are standing with one foot in each boat.  One boat, however, is filled with holes and is sinking fast.  it is obvious that unless you do something, you will soon by in the lake.  The boat with the holes represents ourselves with all of the leaks caused by sin.  The boat without holes represents Christ.  It should be obvious that with one foot in each boat, we shall end upon the same place we would have ended up if we had had both feet in the boat marked self.  The only safe place is to have both feet firmly planted in the boat marked Christ.

[Rope or thread?] "Or to change the picture, suppose you were trying to cross from one cliff to another one a hundred feet away.  It is five thousand feet down to the rocks below.  You have, however, a one-inch-thick piece of rope which is capable of holing up several tons.  There is a difficulty, though, for you have only fifty feet of rope.  I say, 'Do not worry!  I have fifty feet of thread.  We can tie my thread to your rope, and then tie that to trees on either cliff, and then you can go across.' You decline my offer, and I respond, 'What is the matter?  Do you not trust the rope?' 'Yes,' you say, 'I trust the rope, but I do not trust the thread.'

"Then let's change the story and make it ninety feet of rope and only ten feet of thread.  You're still not comfortable.  Then suppose we make it ninety-nine feet of rope and only one foot of thread.  One inch of thread?  You see, if you have one inch of thread, you will be just as dead on the rocks below as if you tried to cross on a hundred feet of thread.  The rope obviously represents what Christ has done, and the thread represents what we have done.  We must trust in Christ alone.  As Charles Spurgeon put it, 'If we have to put one stitch into the garment of our salvation, we shall ruin the whole thing.'"  Pg. 178-181, Kennedy. 

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

"Scripture clearly teaches that man is justified by faith alone, not by faith plus works. According to the Apostle Paul, "If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace" (Rom. 11:6). Elsewhere Paul testifies, "By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9, emphasis added; see Acts 16:31 and Rom. 4:3-6). In fact, it is clearly taught throughout Scripture that "a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law" (Rom. 3:28; see Gal. 2:16; Rom. 9:31-32; 10:3).

In contrast, Roman Catholicism places an undue stress on human works. Catholic doctrine denies that God "justifies the ungodly" (Rom. 4:5) without first making them godly. Good works therefore become the ground of justification. As thousands of former Catholics will testify, Roman Catholic doctrine and liturgy obscure the essential truth that the believer is saved by grace through faith and not by his own works (Eph. 2:8-9). In a simple sense, Catholics genuinely believe they are saved by doing good, confessing sin, and observing ceremonies.

Adding works to faith as the grounds of justification is precisely the teaching that Paul condemned as "a different gospel" (see 2 Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6). It nullifies the grace of God, for if meritorious righteousness can be earned through the sacraments, "then Christ died needlessly" (Gal. 2:21). Any system that mingles works with grace, then, is "a different gospel" (Gal. 1:6), a distorted message that is anathematized (Gal. 1:9), not by a council of medieval bishops, but by the very Word of God that cannot be broken. In fact, it does not overstate the case to say that the Roman Catholic view on justification sets it apart as a wholly different religion than the true Christian faith, for it is antithetical to the simple gospel of grace.

As long as the Roman Catholic Church continues to assert its own authority and bind its people to "another gospel," it is the spiritual duty of all true Christians to oppose Roman Catholic doctrine with biblical truth and to call all Catholics to true salvation. Meanwhile, evangelicals must not capitulate to the pressures for artificial unity. They cannot allow the gospel to be obscured, and they cannot make friends with false religion, lest they become partakers in their evil deeds (2 John 11)..." Full text:  Is Roman Catholicism Biblical?

"...No other source, whether inside or outside of religions, even comes close to what God in Christ shows of love. This is the first "move" of love in the process of redemption. "He first love us" (1 Jn 4:19)...

When we receive what is thus clearly given, the revelation of God's love in Christ, that in turn makes it possible for us to love. Love is awakened in us by him. We feel its call--and first to love Jesus himself, and then God. Thus the first great commandment, to love God with all our being, can be fulfilled because of the beauty of God given in Christ. This is the second movement in the return to love: "We love, because He first loved us."

But the second movement is inseparable from the third movement: our love of others who love God. "If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:12). The first great commandment makes it possible to fulfill the second: love of neighbor as oneself...

The Fellowship of Christ's apprentices in kingdom living is a community of love (John 13:34-35). This is the fourth movement in the process of redeeming love (pg. 132, Willard)."

"God's kindness is meant to lead sinners to repentance, but a stubborn and unrepentant heart stores up His wrath for the day of judgment (Rom. 2:4-5)..." Full text: The Role of Repentance in the Salvation of Sinners The Role of Repentance in the Salvation of Sinners

"...Only some of the works done after justification are intrinsically good and acceptable to God. All the works of a Christian will be tested by fire. The good works, described by Paul, as gold, silver and precious stones, will survive the fire and result in rewards at the Bema seat. They are works done in faith, motivated by a love of God, in obedience to the will of God and for His glory. The worthless works, described as wood, hay and straw will be burned up, and the believer shall suffer the loss of rewards (1 Cor. 3:12-15).

Following are four tests for good works: the timing of the works - they must be done after justification, not before (Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:12; 1 Thes. 1:3). the motivation for the works -they must be done in thanksgiving for being saved, not to merit salvation (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Thes. 5:18; Jn. 14:21); the power in which the works are accomplished - trusting God's power, not the power of the flesh (Jn.15:5; Rom. 15:13, Phil. 2:12-13; Col. 1:29; 2 Thes. 1:11; Heb. 11:6); and the glory produced by the works - they must glorify God, not man (Acts 4:21; Mat. 5:16; Jn. 15:8; 1 Cor. 10:31; 1 Pet. 2:12).

Worthless works will fail all or some of these tests. They include all works done as unbelievers, as well as works done after justification that either seek to earn God's favor or man's glory. Consider Jesus's rebuke of the Pharisees: "they do all their deeds to be noticed by men" (Mat. 23:5). There are also those who "profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed" (Titus 1:16)..." [Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries 12 Sept 12]

 God only pours His grace into empty hands