The works vs. faith argument was under-way when SS. Paul and James were writing their epistles to confused and upset communities. There is not contradiction regarding faith and works, as the present Pope noted several years ago.
What is confusing to Catholics is this point. That when they see someone doing good works, they assume that person is in sanctifying grace.
Not necessarily so. And, our works are only efficacious if done in and for the love of God and not for other altruistic reasons. We are not saved by works but by the salvific act of Christ on the Cross. If we believe, are baptised and live as good Catholics, our justification in Christ is seen by our works.
Good works are a simple manifestation of a life of grace; but not always.
The liberal Catholics emphasize good works at the expense of obedience to doctrine. These good works do not merit grace unless these good people, who may be confused, are in and with the Catholic Church. Many heretics begin as good Catholics but get caught up in one or more "disagreements"with the Church. If one is in disobedience knowingly in any way
Our redemption by the Blood of Christ on the Cross demands that we respond in Love and gratitude and charity towards our neighbor. This is lost in many congregations, and the socialist mentality, that the government is there to help people in need has deceived many Catholics into thinking that real charity is not their business.
So the problem is a two-edged sword. Good works without real faith are useless and faith without good works is selfishness. Our good works must be an overflowing of the realization and gratitude that we are not only saved but made holy in Christ.
The balance is a hard lesson. The argument I hear is that all one needs to do is be good, that all good people go to heaven.
Sadly, this is not so. Only God is the judge, but we do have objective criteria in the Church to help us understand.
Here are some helpful quotations from the CCC.
1996 Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.46
1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an "adopted son" he can henceforth call God "Father," in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.
1998 This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends entirely on God's gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as that of every other creature.47
1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification:48
- Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.49
If we are not doing good works in faith and in grace, these mean nothing. Here is another quotation.
Gregory of Nyssa stated that “Paul, joining righteousness to faith and weaving them together, constructs of them the breastplates for the infantryman, armouring the soldier properly and safely on both sides. A soldier cannot be considered safely armoured when either shield is disjointed from the other. Faith without works of justice is not sufficient for salvation; neither is righteous living secure in itself of salvation, if it is disjointed from faith.