Comparing Catholic and Protestant’s view on good works

Catholicism	Protestantism and “Bible onlyism”
Good (or evil) works before our conversion to Christ do not merit (or demerit) the gift of faith in Christ from God.  Faith (in Christ) is a free gift from God, given irrespective of our past behaviour, whether we were good or evil persons.
In our Sanctification God’s Grace first moves us to do good works, which we cooperate using our freedom.	In our Sanctification we do good works as fruit of our faith, i.e. we do it because we are saved, not for being saved.
Good works in our Sanctification are necessary for our Salvation because it is commanded by God and He makes it possible through His Grace.	They are divided into two groups on this issue. The first group says good works are necessary as fruits of true faith or “salvation by faith alone but not by faith that is alone“. The second group say true faith should, but not always, produce good works – and the person is still saved.
We do not deserve any merit from our good works because without God’s Grace we cannot do it, not even have the initiative to do it.  When God rewards us for our good works, it is a gift from Him.  Because our merit is God’s gift then it may come in the form of (increase of) Grace and even eternal life.	We do not merit Grace or eternal life from our good works because (1) we are saved by faith alone, (2) by definition Grace cannot be merited, (3) our good works are imperfect and defiled (according to Luther and Calvin) and (4) are sinful acts (according to Luther).  Obviously not all Protestants and “Bible only” Christians agree with what Luther and Calvin taught – they may not even be aware that those two great Reformers taught such things.

Melito and Canon of Old Testament

Melito was (c. last third of 2^nd century AD) was bishop of Sardis in Asia minor (present day Turkey).  According to Church historian and bishop of Caesarea Eusebius (c. 260 to 339 AD), he wrote at least seventeen books – only fragments of (most of) them survive today.  His sermon on Easter (in Greek) was discovered in 1932.  Melito gave us the earliest known list of Old Testament books, recorded in Eusebius’ Church History (written in c. 324).

“Melito to his brother Onesimus, greeting: Since thou hast often, in thy zeal for the word, expressed a wish to have extracts made from the Law and the Prophets concerning the Saviour and concerning our entire faith, and hast also desired to have an accurate statement of the ancient book, as regards their number and their order, I have endeavored to perform the task, knowing thy zeal for the faith, and thy desire to gain information in regard to the word, and knowing that thou, in thy yearning after God, esteemest these things above all else, struggling to attain eternal salvation.

Accordingly when I went East and came to the place where these things were preached and done, I learned accurately the books of the Old Testament, and send them to thee as written below. Their names are as follows: Of Moses, five books: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy; Jesus Nave [Joshua], Judges, Ruth; of Kings, four books; of Chronicles, two; the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, Wisdom also, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job; of Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah; of the twelve prophets, one book; Daniel, Ezekiel, Esdras. From which also I have made the extracts, dividing them into six books.” Such are the words of Melito.

Eusebius, Church History 4:26

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, Vol. 1, page 206

If we assume he combined Lamentation with Jeremiah and Esdras in the list is equal to Ezra Nehemiah, compared to the present Jewish Scripture, missing from the list is Esther but it includes Wisdom (footnote of NPNF equates this Wisdom with Proverbs of Solomon).  Note also that he referred Old Testament as “Law and Prophets”, i.e. without the third division (Writings) as in the present Jewish Scripture.

Once saved always saved?

Catholics believe that the Elect have assurance of salvation but unless God reveals their Elect state to us we cannot identify them.  On the other hand, some (not all) Protestants and “Bible only” Christians believe that once they have faith in Christ then they are one of the Elect and therefore have assurance of salvation.  Verses that are generally quoted to support “once saved always saved” are:

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. 

John 6:37-39

My sheep hear my voice; and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.

John 10:27-28

For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Catholic will reply that it is true that Christ will not cast out those who believe in Him and nobody can snatch them from Him but the verses do not rule out the possibility they are the ones who decide (using their freedom) to leave Him.  In John 17:12 Christ said: While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that Scripture might be fulfilled.  Here Christ talked about his twelve disciples whom God the Father gave to Him. This means He would not cast them out and no one can snatch them from Him.  However we know that one of them (Judas) later betrayed Him. Similarly Catholics understand Romans 8:38-39 as talking about external factors that are unable to separate us from God’s love; it does not support assurance of salvation as we can use our freedom (internal factor) to reject God.   Consider this analogy: some countries in the world do not recognize dual (or more) citizenships.  If we hold citizenship of that country, no one can snatch it from us – even committing crime will not make us lose our citizenship.  Our citizenship is indeed secured but we will lose it if we decide (using your freedom) to take citizenship of other country.  

Other argument to support assurance of salvation is since the Bible says those who become believers in Christ are adopted as sons of God (John 1:12, Romans 8:15, 23, Galatians 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5) then their salvation is assured because God won’t reject His sons.  But Christians are not the only ones in the Bible whom God calls as sons.  In Exodus 4:22-23 and Hosea 11:1, God also calls the Jews His sons.  Romans 9:4 reaffirm their adoption as sons, i.e. they do not lose their son-ship in the new covenant.  The Greek word translated as adoption or son-ship in Romans 9:4 is huiothesia.  The same word is used in Romans 8:15, 23, Galatians 4:5 and Ephesians 1:5 to indicate son-ship of Christians.  If being God’s adopted sons guarantees us heaven, then all Jews will go to heaven, just by being Jews, which is certainly not the case (Romans 11:26 says “and so all Israel will be saved” but hardly any will interpret it to mean all Jews will be saved.  To see the context we need to read Romans 11:13-36).   Furthermore Scripture says that whoever does not do right is no longer child of God, thus son-ship is not something that is always guaranteed once we believe in Christ.

By this it may be seen who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not do right is not of God, nor he who does not love his brother.

1 John 3:10

Forbidding marriage is the doctrine of demons (1 Timothy 4:1-3)

One issue closely related to ministerial priesthood is the celibacy imposed by the Catholic Church to those who want to become priests and bishops.  Does the Bible say that bishop is a husband of one wife (1 Timothy 3:2) and that forbidding marriage is the doctrine of the demons (1 Timothy 4:1-3)?  First celibacy of the priests and bishops is neither doctrine nor dogma but a discipline imposed by the Western (or Latin) Catholic Church.  In the Eastern Catholic Church married men can be ordained as priests (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 1580).   The Church also welcomes as married priests, former (married) clergies of Anglican or Episcopal or Lutheran church who converted to Catholicism.   The Church does not and never forbids marriage – married Catholics far outnumber non-married ones, be they bishops, priests, monks, nuns or laity.   The candidates for priesthood are fully aware of celibacy discipline before and during their seminary times – they have ample time to consider whether this vocation is for them or not.   Thus it is celibacy based on voluntary, not a forced one, as stated in1 Timothy 4:3.  Mandatory Celibacy for all members is practised by sects like Cathar in Europe (12th – 13th century) and Shaker in USA.   What happens if a priest decided to get married after being ordained?  The Catholic Church would not stop him either for doing so – he can undergo laicization process to leave priesthood.  http://www.totustuus.com/index.htm is the web site of such priest, now happily married and father of nine children and is still in good standing with the Church.

1 Timothy 3:2 say bishop is to be a husband of one wife – it excludes men who are polygamists, but it does not impose marriage as a necessary condition for a bishop.  If this verse is to be interpreted to mean a bishop must marry, then how about 1 Timothy 3:4 that mentions his children (plural)?  If being married is mandatory, then having children is also mandatory, i.e. those who are childless or have only one child cannot become bishop.  Remember that the apostle Paul himself was celibate – it will make him hypocrite if he made marriage mandatory, something that he himself would not obey.  Does celibacy have biblical support?   In Matthew 19:12 Christ mentioned those who make themselves eunuchs (not married) for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, if they are able to receive it.   While Paul is not against marriage – For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion (1 Corinthians 7:9), he wished all were as he was (i.e. unmarried, 1 Corinthians 7:7) and told the unmarried and widows to remain single, provided they can exercise self-control (1 Corinthians 7:8).   The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about wordly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided (1 Corinthians 7:32-34) and he who marries his betrothed does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better (1 Corinthians 7:38).  Being celibate and being married are both gift from God given to each person according to His plan, i.e. not all of us is called for celibacy.   God is not against celibacy – He commanded prophet Jeremiah neither to take a wife nor to have children (Jeremiah 16:1-2).