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Section 4.6
ASSURANCE OF SALVATION
34. We confess together that the faithful can rely on the mercy and
promises of God. In spite of their own weakness and the manifold threats to
their faith, on the strength of Christ's death and resurrection they can
build on the effective promise of God's grace in Word and Sacrament and so
be sure of this grace.
35. This was emphasized in a particular way by the Reformers: in the midst
of temptation, believers should not look to themselves but look solely to
Christ and trust only him. In trust in God's promise they are assured of
their salvation, but are never secure looking at themselves.
36. Catholics can share the concern of the Reformers to ground faith in the
objective reality of Christ's promise, to look away from one's own
experience, and to trust in Christ's forgiving word alone (cf. Mt 16:19;
18:18). With the Second Vatican Council, Catholics state: to have faith is
to entrust oneself totally to God,(19) who liberates us from the darkness
of sin and death and awakens us to eternal life.(20) In this sense, one
cannot believe in God and at the same time consider the divine promise
untrustworthy. No one may doubt God's mercy and Christ's merit. Every
person, however, may be concerned about his salvation when he looks upon
his own weaknesses and shortcomings. Recognizing his own failures, however,
the believer may yet be certain that God intends his salvation. [See
Sources for section 4.6].
Section 4.7
THE GOOD WORKS OF THE JUSTIFIED
37. We confess together that good works - a Christian life lived in faith,
hope and love - follow justification and are its fruits. When the justified
live in Christ and act in the grace they receive, they bring forth, in
biblical terms, good fruit. Since Christians struggle against sin their
entire lives, this consequence of justification is also for them an
obligation they must fulfill. Thus both Jesus and the apostolic Scriptures
admonish Christians to bring forth the works of love.
38. According to Catholic understanding, good works, made possible by grace
and the working of the Holy Spirit, contribute to growth in grace, so that
the righteousness that comes from God is preserved and communion with
Christ is deepened. When Catholics affirm the "meritorious" character of
good works, they wish to say that, according to the biblical witness, a
reward in heaven is promised to these works. Their intention is to
emphasize the responsibility of persons for their actions, not to contest
the character of those works as gifts, or far less to deny that
justification always remains the unmerited gift of grace.
39. The concept of a preservation of grace and a growth in grace and faith
is also held by Lutherans. They do emphasize that righteousness as
acceptance by God and sharing in the righteousness of Christ is always
complete. At the same time, they state that there can be growth in its
effects in Christian living. When they view the good works of Christians as
the fruits and signs of justification and not as one's own "merits", they
nevertheless also understand eternal life in accord with the New Testament
as unmerited "reward" in the sense of the fulfillment of God's promise to
the believer. [See Sources for section 4.7].
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