Good Works

Their place in the life of a Christian

All the good works we do, we should do for the glory of God. We do not have to do them so that we merit salvation, that is already what God has promised us through his Son Jesus Christ. If we had to do good in order to receive God's grace, it would no longer be God's grace, it would be what God owes us for what we do. Instead, those who believe they are saved because of the work of Another are free to do good works because they please God, not to earn anything. While our works do not save us, they are pleasing to God, and in any case He has commanded we do good works.

There is another thing which is very interesting about good works. Without good works, our faith is dead. This is another way of saying our faith is false if we do not do good works. If we say we have faith and still carry on like we always have, we do not show the work of the Holy Spirit, or sanctification in our lives, and without the Holy Spirit we can have no faith. This is why St. James said " Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." [James 2:18] Our works show the world that our faith is true, not a mere philosophical opinion, or one held because our parents held it. It shows that we truly love all our neighbors, not just the ones it is easy to love.

So, are good works necessary for salvation? Not if we mean by "necessary" that we must do good works to earn our place in heaven, that is purely God's gift to us! But if we mean by necessary that we do them because, as new creatures we cannot but help showing the effects of the Holy Spirit in our lives, to please God, and because He has commanded them, then yes, good works are "necessary" for salvation.

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