Appropriation of works

[Jake Huether]

It is common among non-Catholics to wonder why the Bible says we are saved by faith, yet Catholics believe that good works are bound up in solid faith.

It's obvious that "Faith without works is dead". However, non-Catholics still do not understand how good works can save.

It occurred to me last night the reason for good works, and how and why God will judge us according to our deeds!

I'd appreciate advice and feedback, as this is an issue that I'm still working out (haha - no pun intended).

When we speak of the Crucifixion and the Sacrifice of Christ for our salvation, it is an appropriation to the Person of Christ Jesus which God has done. So that while it was God who saved us, and the Father is God, we normally don't say that the Father saved us, but rather the Son.

God is creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. Yet while it is God who does all of these, each action is appropriated to one of the Blessed Trinity!

And so too do we appropriate good works to the Catholic individual.

Patience, for example, is a virtue, which is a gift from God. One who possesses this gift then is in possession of it not on their own accord, but according to God who gave it! So that the good work of one who is patient cannot claim the work themselves, for the work was produced by this gift, which isn't their own, but God's.

However, while it was God who actually owns the work which was done by His gift, the work that was done is appropriated to the individual who performed it.

In this way we see now that it isn't us who merit salvation by doing good works. It is Christ in us who has already merited our salvation. Christ merits our salvation by the work which He owns that is done by His Gift! But since the action is done by us, although only through His Power, the work and the merit are appropriated to the one who does it.

It is in this way that a Catholic may merit Grace, yet it is understood that it wasn't merited by their own power. Just as God is our Savior, but Salvation is appropriated to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

Edited September 6, 2005 by Jake Huether

[phatcatholic]

jake.............here's how i look at it, and i think we are saying the same thing, just in two different ways.

only those works that we are compelled to perform by the power of God's grace are meritorious. the fact that we are compelled to do them means that we are open to being inspired and motivated by the Lord. we have a heart that is softened, that is amenable to the molding of his hands. so, good works reveal to the Lord that we have lived a life of openness to him. b/c salvation is a process, it is this openness to his grace that saves us. "God works for good [i][b]with[/b][/i] those who love him." our lives must be a witness to the degree with which we united our will with his and worked with him to achieve the salvation of mankind, including ourselves. good works are evidence of this. their presence saves us b/c of what they reveal about us and b/c of what they achieve in the world.

what do u think?

[Jake Huether]

[quote]only those works that we are compelled to perform by the power of God's grace are meritorious.[/quote]

Exactly. Because these works are gifts from God - they belong to Him to begin with. They are meritorious, because of the fact that the Grace that they give was merited by Christ - and it is only in Christ that we can have these works appropriated to us, since it is Christ who works through us.


[quote]the fact that we are compelled to do them means that we are open to being inspired and motivated by the Lord. we have a heart that is softened, that is amenable to the molding of his hands. [/quote]

Right. But they bring us merited Grace only if we are Baptised Christians. Because as a Baptised Christian we have died in Christ. And being in Him means that the good works that I do, I do not do on my own - but it is He who does them in me. This way the works that I do are appropriated to me, though it is Christ who owns them and has merited the Grace associated whith them.

Can a pagan merit Grace by doing good works - since he does them on his own, without the life of Christ in him?

In this case the good work is still of Christ, yet it cannot be appropriated to him, since it wasn't in Christ that he did it. It was only him doing work, and Christ who made it good.

Only by appropriation do I say that "I merited" anything, or I "did" anything. Because it is really Christ who has.

In the same way does Paul say that he will fill what is lacking in Christ. Of course nothing was lacking from the Sacrifice. But by appropriation we are filling out what the Body of Christ, the Christian community, is lacking - even thought all that we have has already been merited by Christ.

[quote]so, good works reveal to the Lord that we have lived a life of openness to him. b/c salvation is a process, it is this openness to his grace that saves us. [/quote]

I shrink from saying that anything is revealed to the Lord, since He knows all before it even happens. But I understand what you are saying. Indeed, it is a cooperation in the work of Christ that merits us salvation, not because we've done the work ourselves, but because it was done by Christ, and has been appropriated to us through our cooperation.


[quote]"God works for good [i][b]with[/b][/i] those who love him." our lives must be a witness to the degree with which we united our will with his and worked with him to achieve the salvation of mankind, including ourselves. good works are evidence of this.[/quote]

Yes. If we recognize that we are doing the will of God, it is evidence that we have died to Christ and He is alive in us. Therefore, any good work that we do is, by this appropriation, us meriting salvation for ourselves. It is a cooperation in the work of Christ who has already merited our salvation by his ultimate work - His death on the Cross. And by our Baptism, since we have died with Christ on the Cross, the good works we do are united to this ultimate work on the Cross.


[quote]their presence saves us b/c of what they reveal about us and b/c of what they achieve in the world.[/quote]

Yes. What they reveal about us is that Christ is alive in us. And what they achive in the world is what Christ has achieved by His Cross- it is a renewal of humanity to it's original state. Good works are owned by God. They are given to us. We do not own them, and we cannot claim them on our own. We can only cooperate with Christ in us, and by this, the works are appropriated to us.

So, contrary to how non-Catholics might view good works, Catholics view good works as belonging to Christ anyway. Good works do have saving power, but only in Christ.

[quote]what do u think?[/quote]

I think I'm understanding it better.

Let me know if I'm off somewhere??

God bless.