Like justification (which we discussed last post), merit is
another area of disagreement between Catholics and Protestants. Merit refers to a “reward” that we are owed
for our works. Another synonym for the
word “merit” is “recompense”.
Catholics acknowledge that between man and God, there is no
strict right to merit on the part of man. We owe everything to God. God owes us nothing in the strictest sense
of the word.
However, here is where Catholics and Protestants begin to
separate ways. Notice what I said above. I said man has no strict right to
merit. I did not say that man cannot obtain
nor have merit. That is an important
distinction. Protestants believe that
man cannot possibly come before almighty God with any merit whatsoever. God is good, we are creature. God is holy, we are not. Therefore, how can we possibly have any
merit whatsoever in God’s eyes? How have we possibly earned merit?
The key to understanding where our merit comes from as
Christians is as follows (which is stated in paragraph 2008) The merit of man before God in the Christian
life arises from the fact that God has
freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace. God
has chosen us to be co-workers with him in his vineyard. This is the key to the Catholic
understanding of merit. Our merit comes from
our works that are a response to the love of God for us.
Now here we touch
on the whole debate, which I am sure you most of you have heard of, on the
different understanding of salvation between Catholics and Protestants. Protestants believe we are saved by faith alone. Catholics believe we are saved by faith and
works. We merit salvation by our
works.
While “faith alone”
is found nowhere in the Bible, there are plenty of passages which speak on the
importance of good works. Here is one
such one from Paul’s letter to the Romans:
"For [God] will reward
every man according to his works: to those who by perseverance in
working good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal
life. There will be . . . glory and honor and peace for every one who does
good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality"
Here is another
example from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that shows a connection between
work and receiving a just reward (merit):
“Knowing that whatever good thing we do, we will receive the same again
from the Lord, whether we are slaves or free.”
Now it is very
important that we note that it is specifically works of grace that can merit us salvation. In other words, they must be
works done with the assistance of grace.
Natural works cannot save us, and there, Catholics would agree with
Protestants (although Protestants would not add the word “natural” in front of
it.)
It would behoove us now to continue
to read what the Catechism has to say about merit and how it is tied into
works, and what specific kind of works we must undertake to earn merit. Paragraph 2008 continues: The fatherly action of God is first on his
own initiative, and then follows man's free acting through his collaboration,
so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place
to the grace of God, then to the faithful. Man's merit, moreover, itself is due
to God, for his good actions proceed in Christ, from the predispositions
and assistance given by the Holy Spirit.
Any work we do that can
give us merit must be preceded and assisted by the Holy Spirit, the instrument
of grace. Grace, by uniting us to Christ in
active love, ensures the supernatural quality of our acts and consequently
their merit before God and before men. (p.2011). We respond to the love and mercy of God by
doing His works, which are supernatural. Doing these kinds of works earns
us merit, and they are the only kind of works that do.
Now, it is rare that a work inspired by the Holy Spirit,
will be performed by someone who is not in a state of grace, by someone who is
an unwilling participant in the work, or by someone who does it for a band
end. Nonetheless, we must also state
that if any of those conditions are present in the work, the possibility of
merit being earned as a result of that work lessens or is eliminated entirely.
Catholics do agree with Protestants that merit is a grace of
God. We cannot receive or earn merit
without God’s grace. However, Catholics
say also that merit can also be ascribed to collaboration between man and God. The two aspects of merit are not mutually exclusive.
In light of all this, it is right and just to say the
following about merit:
1) In the order of grace, man can earn
merit.
2) In the order of grace, man can say he
himself has merit.
The fact that man is allowed to have and earn merit is itself
a gift of God, but it is a fact nonetheless.
Protestants have a very difficult time with this statement. May the grace of God open their eyes and the
eyes of all humanity, to this beautiful teaching that so elevates both the
dignity of man, and the awesomeness of God.
There are three ends or goals of our merit that have been
discerned in the tradition of the Church.
1)
An increase in sanctifying grace
2)
Life everlasting (salvation)
3)
Increase in heavenly glory
To get into detail on each of these as they relate to merit is beyond the realm of
necessity right here, but I think one can get the basic ideas. We talked about sanctifying grace two posts
ago, and you can see why that is important.
We all want to get into heaven.
The final one may necessitate a little deeper explanation at some point,
but basically, Catholics do believe there are different degrees of glory in
heaven (different size “houses” so to
speak), and the more merit we earn, the more glory (bigger “house”) we will
have. We can get into that another time.
So, let’s work on building up some merit, so when we
approach the judgment seat at the end of our lives, we will have “something in
the bank” to take with us when we are judged.
Joseph, model of artisans, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment