WHAT MUST WE DO TO GAIN SALVATION? God s Gift and Our Faith in Him We tend to think of salvation as something we win by our own efforts, such as by our observance of the moral law. However, our salvation is not the result of our human effort but is a free gift of God that we accept in faith. The actual cause of our salvation is the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who took on our human nature and by His suffering and death atoned for the sin against God by our first parents. Faith is not simply an intellectual recognition of God s power and goodness but is rather gratitude to Him as a person, a gratitude that expresses itself by doing His will out of love for Him. And Christ said, If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15) Christ tells us there are two great commandments, both of which involve love. (Mark 12:29-31) The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The Ten Commandments, given to the Jews through Moses (Ex 20:2-17) and ratified by Jesus, provide details for observing the two great commandments; first, reverence for God as our Creator and Benefactor; then, the honor due our parents, followed by a series of negative precepts (Thou shalt not s) regarding our relations with our neighbor that correspond to the operating instructions for human nature itself. There are also positive actions which we must do for our neighbor, and these Christ mentioned in a talk about the reasons for praise or punishment at the final judgment, involving what we must do for that neighbor in time of need giving him food and drink, shelter, clothing, medical help and our companionship. In speaking of these actions Christ made it clear that whatever we do for our neighbor we are doing for Him. (Mt 25:31-46) Faith, the basic requirement, we exercise first by observance of God s moral law, and this He makes known to us through our human nature itself and through the awareness or His law imparted by conscience; secondly we accomplish it by communication with God in prayer; and then by
imitating Him in caring love for the other human beings He has created. Grace, Sin and Redemption All of this is made possible by a series of gifts from God, called grace, which is not something that He provides to enable us to perform the actions we choose to do for Him but rather something that comes before our actions and inspires us about what God wishes us to do. The principal form of grace, called sanctifying grace, is not something external to us that we must acquire, but is actually the super-natural life of our souls, God Himself residing in us. The first parents of the human race possessed this grace and by it God would bring them to salvation, but they lost it for themselves and all of us, their descendants, by their serious offense against God called original sin. To atone for that offense God sent into our world His divine Son, who added our human nature to His nature as God, and was born as Jesus Christ. He satisfied God s justice by His voluntary acceptance of death on Calvary, thereby atoning for original sin and making salvation possible for every member of the human race. Our faith in God must be centered therefore on the very possibility of our coming to salvation and include repentance for actions of ours that would have prevented it. When Christ went about preaching to all the villages and towns of Galilee His message was, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 4:17) Our Acceptance by Faith and Love It is up to us to accept the salvation Christ made possible by having faith in Him and observance of His moral law. Christ expressed this in different ways to different people, taking into account the level of their belief and understanding. --On the day following His multiplication of loaves and fishes people came seeking more bread rather than seeking Him, and asking what they must do to accomplish the works of God. To these He said, This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent. (John 6:29) --On another occasion, to a man who had been a faithful observer all his life and who asked how to inherit eternal life, Christ said, If you would enter life, keep the commandments. (Matt 19:17). Both faith and works are necessary but salvation is the free gift of God for which we show our acceptance by our faith and works. First we have to work on increasing our faith.
Observing the natural moral law is actually a means of advancing faith because it indicates awareness of our dependence on the Lawgiver and our willingness to do His will. Additional means are communication with God in prayer, and also study to learn more about Him. Since salvation consists of eternal life with God it would be wise to commence now the regular two-way communication with Him in prayer. Do God s Will and be Faithful Faith is not just a matter of words. We must deliberately do God s will. Christ said, 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) Christ gave the example Himself in praying to the Father before His arrest, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:42) He even put it into the prayer He gave the Apostles, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. (Matt 6:10) And He warned, Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matt 10:33) There are also habits of mind that we must cultivate to express our faith in God. These habits must include rejection of the three harmful attitudes that lead us to offend God pride, greed and lust. Humility Love for God and neighbor require a genuine sense that we ourselves are not all-important, that we owe our existence to God and He has made our neighbor equal to us. This sense of our rightful position must be carried into practice. -- Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. (Mark 10:43-44) -- Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. (Mark 9:15) Forgiveness, for Ourselves and Others An important application of humility is our need to acknowledge that we offend God, and to repent of
those offenses. The mission of John the Baptist, the one designated to prepare the way for Christ, was to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins. (Luke 1:77) Forgiveness of sin was so important that it was the first statement Christ made to His Apostles after His resurrection. Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. (John 20:23) The statement implies that we must seek His forgiveness through those Apostles and the bishops and priests ordained by them. But the forgiveness we seek for ourselves we must first give to others. Christ expressed this condition in the Lord s prayer: Forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matt 6:12) Describing punishment for an unforgiving servant, He said, So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. (Matt 18:35) Christ s forgiveness for our offenses has no limits when we are truly sorry, and we must extend the same benefit to others. -- Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?... I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. (Matt 18:21-22) Forgiveness must go as far as even loving one s enemies, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matt 5:44) No Attachment to Riches In several places Christ spelled out the attitudes we must have in order to carry out in our lives this required love of God and neighbor. One of the most important is that of living for the next world rather than this one, especially in regard to riches. -- Do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. (Matt 6:31-33) -- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 5:3) It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God... but with God all things are possible. (Matt 19:24-26) For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matt 16:26) Determinants of Morality External and Internal For keeping the Commandments, the things that make an act good or evil are both external and internal to us. The external things, such as God s law, we have described. Internally, people are responsible for, and will be judged on, their human acts acts which involve specifically human nature intellect and will. The sources of morality of an act are: 1. the object (the nature of the action itself) 2. the intention in the will of the doer 3. the circumstances The object and the intention must both be good, or at least indifferent, for the act to be morally acceptable. If the object is evil, no amount of good intention can make the total action acceptable (e.g., killing an innocent person to save the nation). An evil intention can make the total action evil, even though the thing done is good in itself (e.g., prayers and sacrifices to impress people). The circumstances, including the consequences, are secondary: --They increase the goodness of a good act or the evil of an evil act (e.g. amount of money stolen). --They do not change the moral quality of the act itself. For a serious offense against God, three things are needed: --serious matter (the external thing done); --sufficient reflection (the intellect s knowledge regarding the goodness or evil of the action); --full consent of the will (freedom from coercion in the will s decision to act). Conscience The intellect s knowledge regarding the goodness or evil of the action is provided by conscience, which is a function that enables us to apply the principles of morality to a given situation, and thereby arrive at a judgment regarding whether an action is in accord with God s law.
--Conscience is in the intellect and enables us to discern the morality of an action; --It is not a function of the will by which we make a decision about the morality of an act. Everyone has an obligation to act according to conscience; no one should be forced to act contrary to conscience. A person who acts on an erroneous conscience is not subjectively guilty of offending God provided he has made an honest effort to learn and to arrive at a correct moral judgment. But he is responsible if the erroneous conscience is due to his own failure to inform it correctly. No one may act with a doubtful conscience. But everyone has an obligation to inform himself about the relevant moral principles, either by reasoning, by research or by consultation with a knowledgeable, conscientious advisor. The Will and Passions --Freedom does not imply a right to do or say everything one might want to do. --The decision to act is in the will. --People have a right to act freely, without coercion. The right use of human freedom of the will is to act in conformity with the will of God, as discerned by the intellect. Passions are feelings or emotions that incline the will to action. Passions are necessary, for without them we d never act; they can lead us to good or to evil. There are many passions, but the principal ones are: love and hate, desire and fear, joy and sadness, and anger. Passions must be kept under the control of the intellect & will, so that we may act only for good and not for evil. The will must also be trained: --to act in accordance with judgements of the intellect; --to keep passions and emotions under control; --to be decisive and to carry through on our resolutions. Supernatural Life Through Christ Salvation is a free gift of God, due to His power and goodness, and which we are free to accept or reject. It requires more than knowledge of doctrine, obedience to moral law or celebration of rites. We must acknowledge His gift by faith in Him, a faith that expresses itself in love for Jesus Christ and all His other human beings by
observing His moral law. -- I am the vine, you are the branches... for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5) His gift consists of a supernatural life which He gives us in baptism, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5) --This supernatural life must be nourished by means of the Eucharist. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:53-54) Invitation, Challenge, Reward Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me... For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matt 11: 29,30) He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matt 10:38) But he who endures to the end will be saved. (Matt 10:22) WHAT MUST WE DO TO GAIN SALVATION? e704 CATHOLIC EVIDENCE GUILD NEW YORK CHAPTER OFFICE OF ADULT FAITH FORMATION ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK 1011 FIRST AVENUE, SUITE 1327 NEW YORK, NY 10022 Phone or Fax: 1-877-635-8205 E-Mail: ceg@ureach.com Web Site: www.catholicevidence.org Copyright 2007 Catholic Evidence Guild New York Permission granted to reproduce and distribute