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NASB | Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace [God's remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; |
Subject: Are Catholics saved because of religion? |
Bible Note: HHannaJr, You and some other may be interested to know that the Catholic Church does not teach Justification by works. Unmerited grace is what allows the redemmed sinner to receive the gift of faith and works in Christ lest the faith without works be dead. Faith and works in Christ are two sides of one coin. But the grace of initial Justification is entirely unmerited and gratuitous. Below is the actual teaching on the Council of Trent on this matter. The matter of clerical celibacy is a discipline peculiar to the Latin Rite and not a doctrine. Disciplines can be changed. Many Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church have married priests. HOW THE GRATUITOUS JUSTIFICATION OF THE SINNER BY FAITH IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD But when the Apostle says that man is justified by faith and freely,[44] these words are to be understood in that sense in which the uninterrupted unanimity of the Catholic Church has held and expressed them, namely, that we are therefore said to be justified by faith, because faith is the beginning of human salvation, the foundation and root of all justification, without which it is impossible to please God[45] and to come to the fellowship of His sons; and we are therefore said to be justified gratuitously, because none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification. For, if by grace, it is not now by works, otherwise, as the Apostle says, grace is no more grace.[46] 44. Rom. 3:24; 5:1. 45. Heb. 11:6. 46. Rom. 11:6. CHAPTER X THE INCREASE OF THE JUSTIFICATION RECEIVED Having, therefore, been thus justified and made the friends and domestics of God,[49] advancing from virtue to virtue,[50] they are renewed, as the Apostle says, day by day,[51] that is, mortifying the members[52] of their flesh, and presenting them as instruments of justice unto sanctification,[53] they, through the observance of the commandments of God and of the Church, faith cooperating with good works, increase in that justice received through the grace of Christ and are further justified, as it is written: He that is just, let him be justified still;[54] and, Be not afraid to be justified even to death;[55] and again, Do you see that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only?[56] This increase of justice holy Church asks for when she prays: "Give unto us, O Lord, an increase of faith, hope and charity."[57] 50. Ps. 83:8. 51. See 2 Cor. 4:16. 52. Col. 3:5. 53. Rom. 6:13, 19. 54. Apoc. 22:11. 55. Ecclus. 18:22. 56. James 2:24. 57. Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. |