No one denies that Rome officially rejects salvation solely by works; it condemned Pelagianism (salvation by works) at the Synod of Carthage in 418 and semi-Pelagianism at the Council of Orange in 529—and Trent upheld these condemnations.

Second, historically, the practical effect has been to uphold a doctrine of works salvation in the lives of its people—irrespective of its claim to absolutely honor the grace of God. In essence, throughout Catholic history, grace has been subjugated to Church teaching and institutionalized into a system of works. Indeed, the Catholic Church is known for its stress upon works salvation—eternal life simply cannot be had without meritorious works.

Thus, official condemnations of salvation by works mean little when they are wholly undermined by other official declarations and the basic practices and beliefs of the Catholic Church as a whole.

To illustrate the theme of one hand taking away what the other has offered, it should be emphasized that the Catholic Church has never denied that justification occurs by an act of God’s grace. In fact, Catholic writers often sound perfectly biblical—and this is what leads to confusion.

The issue here is not that Catholics teach that "justification occurs by grace." This is their teaching. The problem is that the Catholic definition and function of "justification" and "grace" are different than what the Bible teaches. For example, the Catholic Church teaches that justification is the infusion of sanctifying grace or supernatural ability which actually works to make a person objectively righteous and pleasing in the eyes of God. If sustained until death, this grace permits one to merit entrance into heaven because of the righteous life he lived: One actually deserves heaven because one’s own goodness, in part, has earned it. This explains why the basis for justification in Catholic theology is not the fact of Christ’s righteousness being reckoned (imputed) to a believer solely by faith. Rather, it is the fact that—through the sacraments—Christ’s righteousness is infused into our very being so that we progressively become more and more righteous. And on that basis—the fact we have actual righteousness now—we are declared "righteous." Thus, in Catholicism justification occurs primarily by means of the sacraments and good works and not exclusively by personal faith in Jesus Christ.

Because this infusion of sanctifying ability is not merited by anyone, the Church argues it is therefore entirely a free gift of God’s grace. While this is technically correct, in the end, all this really seems to be saying is that God gives the means by which individuals can subsequently help earn their own salvation. In other words, what actually saves us is the works we do after conversion that have been energized by grace. Let’s explain this more fully.

Perhaps a review would be helpful at this point. In Catholicism, justification is an internal renovation and empowering of man—both a regeneration and sanctification. It comes through an infusion of God’s grace and it means that man himself, in his own being, is made just or pleasing to God.

In essence, justification is the gracious act of God whereby an individual, in cooperation with God, makes himself righteous. Another way of saying this is that in Catholic theology justification is the work of grace within a man to make him internally and externally holy. As Keating argues:

The Catholic Encyclopedia defines justification in the following manner, "Primarily and simply justification is the possession of sanctifying grace. ...We are justified by Christ...and by good works,…" 7 Thus, as Ott says, "eternal blessedness in heaven is the reward for good works performed on this earth…." 8

The Bible, however, teaches that justification is God’s work of grace in Christ. It is not God’s work of grace in man to actually make him righteous, which is sanctification. Again biblically, justification is God’s judicial declaration that because of a man’s faith in Christ, God has now declared him perfectly righteous irrespective of his personal righteousness or sanctification.

Because Catholicism denies the biblical teaching on justification, it opposes the very heart of the Christian Gospel: by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone. As we proceed with our discussion of the Catholic view of justification, this will become more evident.