Saved by Grace through Faith and not by Works is a long standing disagreement between Catholic and Protestants with regard to justification and salvation. So what are we to make of this? What does the Bible say?

As with everything in scripture, the context is always key.

As Dr. Pitre will show, when Paul speaks of being saved through faith, it is with regard to people's initial justification by being made right with God and grafted into the Body of Christ (usually through Baptism) fas opposed to when they were not part of the Body of Christ.

And, when Paul (and for that matter Jesus in the Gospels and St. James in his epistle) speak of salvation by works, it is always after the initial justification and being made righteous (either during this life and/or at the end of time in the final judgment).

Watch this video and be sure to pay close attention to Paul's context: When are we saved by grace through faith? At the point of initial justification (which is completely gratuitous on God's part), when we are initially made righteous (typically through Baptism, the sacrament of dying and rising to new life for Paul). And, when are we saved or justified through works? After we are part of the Body of Christ in the context of our final justification at our final judgment and/or to maintain communion in the body of Christ so as to not be "cut down" or cut off as Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 and John 15.

To learn more about this reading from Paul, and the connection between the readings at Mass on the 2nd Sunday of Lent, subscribe today to The Mass Readings Explained:

https://catholicproductions.com/pages...

For more Bible studies by Dr. Pitre, visit:
https://catholicproductions.com/colle...

Commons Images used:
Armand_Gautier_-_Three_Nuns_in_the_Portal_of_a_Church_-_Walters_371383

Artgate_Fondazione_Cariplo_-_Molteni_Giuseppe,_La_confessione

Baciccio-Saint_Francesca_Romana_Giving_Alms

Battesimo_dei_neofiti_2

Benjamin_West_The_Expulsion_of_Adam_and_Eve_from_Paradise

Concilio_Trento_Museo_Buonconsiglio

Conversion_on_the_Way_to_Damascus-Caravaggio_(c.1600-1)

Council_of_Trent_by_Pasquale_Cati

Francisco_de_Zurbarán_001

Francisco_José_de_Goya_-_The_Repentant_St._Peter_-_Google_Art_Project

josh-applegate-mjn1LcoU1Cw-unsplash

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Probably_Valentin_de_Boulogne_-_Saint_Paul_Writing_His_Epistles_-_Google_Art_Project

Rembrandt,_The_Baptism_of_the_Eunuch,_1626,_Museum_Catharijneconvent,_Utrecht

Saint_Thomas_Aquinas,_Protector_of_the_University_of_Cusco

The_Four_Evangelist_-_Cartone

Young_Nun_at_Prayer_by_Sergei_Gribkov_1852

The_Theological_Virtues-_Faith,_Charity,_Hope_MET_DT7353