Can we be righteous by our good works and actions so as to obtain eternal salvation?
The Catholic Catechism teaches that we may obtain eternal life through our life and actions:
“...‘we all rise together and offer prayers for ourselves . . . and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation’ ” (para. 1345).
However, the Bible tells us that we are made righteous, not through our actions, but through Jesus’ obedience:
“...through the obedience of one [Jesus] the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
Man cannot be 100 percent obedient to the law, but Jesus could and was. Therefore, it is not through our life, our actions, and our obedience to the commandments that we are found righteous. It is through Jesus’ obedience that we are made righteous. The Bible further confirms this fact when it tells us,
“For all who depend on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not persevere in doing all the things written in the book of the law.’ And that no one is justified before God by the law is clear, for ‘the one who is righteous by faith will live’ ” (Galatians 3:10, 11).
The Catholic Catechism also tells us,
“Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life...” (para. 2027).
We cannot merit God’s grace. Grace by definition is undeserved or unmerited favor. Even the Catholic Catechism states,
“Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call...” (para. 1996; italics in original).
The Bible tells us,
“...all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. They [believers in Jesus] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as an expiation, through faith, by his blood, to prove his righteousness because of the forgiveness of sins previously committed, through the forbearance of God—to prove his righteousness in the present time, that he might be righteous and justify the one who has faith in Jesus. What occasion is there then for boasting? It is ruled out. On what principle, that of works? No, rather on the principle of faith. For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:23–28).
The Bible also teaches that as Christians,
“...we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16).
The Bible plainly tells us in these verses that we are not justified by works, but by faith apart from works of the law! The Bible further tells us that those who attempt to be justified by their works have fallen from grace and are not getting closer to God, but are actually separated from Christ!
“You are separated from Christ, you who are trying to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4).
The Bible also tells us,
“...how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).
If we are doing good deeds (good works) to try to obtain eternal life, they are “dead works.” They are being done to earn something for oneself out of love for self and not out of selfless love for God. They are being done for selfish reasons and not out of pure love for God. When someone tries to be good enough to earn his or her salvation, that person is attempting to establish his or her own righteousness and is not submitting to God’s righteousness. As the apostle Paul wrote,
“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on their behalf is for salvation. I testify with regard to them that they have zeal for God, but it is not discerning. For, in their unawareness of the righteousness that comes from God and their attempt to establish their own [righteousness], they did not submit to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1–3).
Although Paul wrote this passage specifically about the Israelites, the message applies to anyone in the same situation. Paul was writing about people who have a zeal for God but who are unaware that righteousness comes from God and that we must submit to God’s righteousness. Such people may go to church every Sunday, maybe even daily, and they may try to do all the right things. But they continue trying to be good enough to establish their own righteousness to enter Heaven instead of trusting in God and submitting to His righteousness. Therefore, instead of growing closer to God, they are actually separated from Him.
How does one receive God’s righteousness? The apostle Paul told us that it is not through good works, but through faith in Christ. He wrote,
“...I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith” (Philippians 3:8, 9).
He also wrote,
“But when one does not work, yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
The Bible clearly teaches that we cannot establish our own righteousness through our own good works and actions to obtain eternal life. Instead, when we stop working at establishing our own righteousness and submit to God’s righteousness by accepting Christ through faith (John 1:12), we don’t have to worry or be concerned about whether we are good enough or have done enough good to have earned eternal life. Eternal life is truly a gift from God received through faith in Jesus. Romans 6:23 states,
“...the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
When we have received and submitted to the righteousness of God through faith in Christ and received forgiveness of sins through Jesus’ blood, our consciences are cleansed from dead works; we are then free to truly worship God with our good works and actions. We are then no longer using our good works to try to get something from God. We are, instead, reconciled to God, and our good works and actions are pure worship to our God out of pure love for Him and thankfulness to Him. Yes, we should do good works, but they do not contribute to the forgiveness of our sins, and we are not saved by them. The good works that we do are, or should be, the result of and the expression of our faith. Any good works we do were prepared by God for the way in which we should live, as is evident in Ephesians 2:10:
“For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)
We should do our good works, not in an attempt to obtain salvation or to gain praise for ourselves but to bring glory to God.
“Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:16).
If good works did indeed cleanse us from sin, how much would we need to do? How many acts of “sincere worship or devotion” would we have to do to attain complete forgiveness? How much would be enough? And what would happen to us if we were not completely forgiven at our death? The Catholic Catechism teaches that if we have not completely made satisfaction for our sins (or the temporal punishment due us) while we were on earth, we must be purified from our sins in purgatory, the topic of the next chapter, Purgatory.
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