Do you believe salvation requires cooperation? Not works lest any man boast?

Question

I am Catholic and I beginning to see the true message of salvation within the mother church. Salvation indeed requires cooperation. Works will do you no good and will not please God. God desires your cooperation to his ways instead. That's the meaning of salvation. The cross makes reconciliation possible and forgives our sins. But what God want's of us is cooperation.

Answer 1

Not just cooperation but also God requires obedience.



Living life in God's will is not a game and should not be approached ignorantly nor frivolously. It is being within His will that assures our salvation and not all the legalism one may attach to God's plan.



Many people seem to think that all they have to do is in a moment of emotion and/or reason ascent to recognition of Christ being their savior and their salvation to eternal life is assured. From that point forward it makes no difference that their life is changed and they will live differently. The only thing that has changed is that evil in their lives as displayed outwardly and lived inwardly no longer has an effect on their eternity as their one act of acceptance has made them immune to the actions of their sins at judgment and obligated God to accept them into His presence. Some will go so far as to say that one's sinfulness and evil has nothing to do with the value of their souls before God because even the most evil, sinful soul is covered rather than purified by Christ's atonement. It would appear that these people are saying that Christ's atonement is a method or sinister plan to allow sin in the presence of God draped in a covering of righteousness to conceal the evil within and that salvation is assured regardless of the state of their souls.



The question comes immediately to mind, how one can come to such conclusions considering the context of the body of Scriptures that contradict such a notion. I believe that it all comes down to one verse which is unique in all of Scripture that depicts Christ as a personal savior dependent on one’s inner conviction. All other Scriptures depict only salvation through the Church saying that He died for us, meaning the Church. St. Paul certainly taught this as he practiced seeking salvation through Christ's Church.



Here is the Scripture which through the eisegesis of some causes misunderstanding:



(Gal 2:20 DRB) And I live, now not I: but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and delivered himself for me.



Some take this verse to mean that one need only repent and turn to God with the heart of a little child and their salvation is assured.



(Joh 3:3 DRB) Jesus answered and said to him: Amen, amen, I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.



Catholics see salvation quite differently than those who think that covering one’s sins is enough to enter the presence of God. We recognize that Christ has redeemed us on the cross and unlocked the gates of heaven and that redemption is not the same as salvation but instead a prelude to salvation. In order for us to receive salvation we must cooperate by being spiritually alive. Our soul cannot be in a natural state when we die to receive salvation and no covering of its sinfulness will be enough to hide what is beneath, a soul without the sanctifying grace cannot enter heaven. If, at death, the soul is sanctified then there is no doubt of heaven even if that soul needs to go to the purification of purgatory. Only souls that are indeed good and pleasing to God by being full of His sanctifying grace will merit heaven. It is the state of the soul at death that merits heaven and this fact emphasizes why we need God’s ongoing grace in our lives to persevere to the end.



In Christ

Fr. Joseph

Answer 2

Well, I think every honest Christian must admit that salvation requires some form of cooperation. Otherwise, we wouldn't even need faith since faith is a form of cooperation with God's grace (see Eph 2:8). And, if no cooperation was necessary then Jesus' atonement 2000 years ago would alone be enough without our faith or active cooperation in believing in him. Yet, scripture specifically states that faith in Christ is required for salvation.



Works is also another form of cooperation. However, the word 'works' has a lot of baggage attached to it along with misunderstandings. What kind of works are we talking about? A better description might be the 'obedience of faith' as Paul uses in the beginning and end of Romans. He said we are called to this obedience of faith. And, as James 2 says, a mere intellectual faith alone divorced from any obedience to that faith is a useless faith. Some might say it is not a saving kind of faith. 'For even the demons believe and shudder'.



What kind of obedience does our faith require one might ask? Well, an important thing is repentance, turning from a life of sin towards a life of holiness. Most Christians would agree that repentance is required. Otherwise you only have a bunch of intellectual Christians with no actual fruit of repentance. Christianity becomes a mere thought experiment or theory with no actual meat to it. Jesus came to save us from sin, not to have us continue to wallow in it. Jesus didn't die so we could continue to sin. He died so we could be forgiven and then lead a new life of holiness. This requires our participation in God's transforming grace in us. For we can do nothing apart from Christ.



In Catholicism salvation from hell requires we be in a state of grace. And we can not enter a state of grace through works. It can not be earned. It is a gift of forgiveness given at baptism and through reconciliation. We can not earn it. So Catholicism is not pelagianism. On the other hand salvation for heaven involves not just being forgiven, but being sanctified and made holy. So we are not just saved from something, but are being saved for something. That is why salvation is a past, present and future event.

Answer 3

Salvation means that the work is done that Christ has done it for you, but one has to be repentant in one's heart for the sins and transgression one has committed, as Christ came to call people to repentance, and if you broke one of the ten commandments even in thought or deed, you are guilty of disobedience towards the Lord God, this is why Christ came to open our hearts and mind to His Word and the Love of God, so that with His help we uphold the law. as God sents us His holy spirit to convict us of sin and point us toward the grace which is in Christ our Lord and saviour, if one sins wilfully after knowing the truth, then one is crucifying Christ all over again and there is no more forgiveness but only a fear of judgment. therefore we look to Christ at all times to help us and aid us, when confronted with temptation as He Himself was tempted and is able to show us the way of escape.

Answer 4

Then you have added ( your cooperation) to the work of Christ. That is not the gospel that Paul preached. It is a different gospel, which places you under the curse of Galatians 1:8-9

Answer 5

Nope. Salvation is not some prize to be competed for. We all get it. And indeed, why on earth not??



If (and that's a big IF) there were a hell, it would be contrary to the will of god that a single soul should ever go there.