20201104 WORKING OUT OUR SALVATION
04 November, 2020, Wednesday, 31st Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
These are the readings for the feria
First reading |
Philippians 2:12-18 © |
Work for your salvation, for God is working in you
My dear friends, continue to do as I tell you, as you always have; not only as you did when I was there with you, but even more now that I am no longer there; and work for your salvation ‘in fear and trembling.’ It is God, for his own loving purpose, who puts both the will and the action into you. Do all that has to be done without complaining or arguing and then you will be innocent and genuine, perfect children of God among a deceitful and underhand brood, and you will shine in the world like bright stars because you are offering it the word of life. This would give me something to be proud of for the Day of Christ, and would mean that I had not run in the race and exhausted myself for nothing. And then, if my blood has to be shed as part of your own sacrifice and offering – which is your faith – I shall still be happy and rejoice with all of you, and you must be just as happy and rejoice with me.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 26(27):1,4,13-14 © |
The Lord is my light and my help.
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?
The Lord is my light and my help.
There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple.
The Lord is my light and my help.
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
The Lord is my light and my help.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps118:88 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Because of your love give me life,
and I will do your will.
Alleluia!
Or: | 1P4:14 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
It is a blessing for you
when they insult you for bearing the name of Christ,
for the Spirit of God rests on you.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 14:25-33 © |
Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple
Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’
WORKING OUT OUR SALVATION
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18; LUKE 14:25-33]
In the history of Christianity, the theological and doctrinal tension between grace and good works has resulted in a split between the Catholic Church and the Protestants. Justification by faith through grace alone is the central doctrine of the Christian Faith. However, this doctrine has been interpreted differently by Roman Catholics and the different Christian denominations. The heart of the Protestant Reformation upholds the doctrine of Justification by faith alone in line with Martin Luther. Whilst the Catholic Church has no issue with this proposition, the Church is equally concerned about the need for human cooperation with the grace of God. The question that confronts us today in the scripture is the part grace plays in our salvation, and the part man plays in working for his salvation.
In today’s gospel, Jesus made it clear that discipleship is the way to enter the Kingdom of God. The price of discipleship is costly. It requires sacrifices and commitment. It is not for the faint-hearted and the weak. It demands total allegiance to the Lord even at the expense of one’s family. “If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple.” Jesus comes first before everyone else simply because He is the Lord. Obviously, when it comes to possessions, one must abandon all to follow the Lord. Jesus told the rich man, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Mk 10:22). Most of all, to follow Jesus means that we are ready to carry our cross and go after Him. We must be ready to suffer with Jesus and for Jesus. Consequently, discipleship requires tremendous sacrifices and discipline in walking with our Lord. St Paul urged the Philippians, “My dear friends, continue to do as I tell you, as you always have; not only as you did when I was there with you, but even more now that I am no longer there; and work for your salvation ‘in fear and trembling.'”
But does this negate the fact that we are saved by grace alone through faith in Him? St Paul clearly was the main proponent of justification by grace alone. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” (Eph 2:8-10) Indeed, we were saved not because of what we have done but simply because of His grace and mercy. “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.” (Rm 5:8f)
So how do we explain the relationship between being saved by grace and saved by good works? How can we say that we are saved by grace and on the other hand, that we need to work for our salvation? St Paul himself worked hard for his salvation by running the race. “As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day.” He understood that salvation is ours only when we are faithful to Him until the end of our life.
There are different theological explanations in the history of the development of doctrine with regard to this tension between grace and human works. We have the extreme position propounded by Pelagius in the 4th century when he taught that salvation is dependent on our efforts. In his view, Christ is more a mentor to us, a teacher to lead us to walk the way of truth and love. A Christian is one who musters all his efforts to walk the way of discipleship in Christ so that he can find eternal life. So grace, in the eyes of Pelagius, is the gift of Jesus to us in showing us the way. But salvation in the final analysis is dependent on human efforts and the performance of good works.
Then we have a compromised solution by the disciples of Pelagius, which is to speak of Christ providing us the initial grace for salvation. In other words, at our baptism, Christ comes to redeem us and sanctify us. As St Paul said, He saves us even whilst we were still sinners. Christ, in other words, died for all men and women. He has put us on the right path. So in principle we are saved already. It means if a person dies soon after his baptism, he is guaranteed of immediate entry into heaven. But for those who live long after their baptism, they would have to prove by their life that they are worthy to be saved. This position seems to have a basis in St Peter’s letter when he wrote, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.” (2 Pt 1:10f) So for the semi-Pelagian, the initial grace comes from Christ but after that, we need to use our strength to do good works in order to be saved.
Next, we come to the Protestant’s doctrine of grace as taught by Martin Luther. For him, it is clear that we are justified by faith through grace alone. His teaching is based on St Paul’s letter. “For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith.” (Rom 3:24f) Clearly, no good works can save us. Reprimanding the Galatians, he wrote, “we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” (Gal 2:16)
Then why does the Lord ask us to count the cost of discipleship and consider, just like the man who was building a tower or a king marching to war? Why does St Paul ask us to work for our salvation “in fear and trembling”? This is because after the initial reception of the grace of salvation, we must cooperate not by earning our salvation but allowing the grace of God to continue to work in and with us. In other words, encountering His gracious love and mercy must now spur us on to desire to live His life, not out of obligation but out of awe at His love and mercy. St Paul says, “It is God, for his own loving purpose, who puts both the will and the action into you.” In other words, before encountering the grace of our Lord and His forgiveness, we have no power to walk the path of discipleship, like the apostles before Pentecost. But after receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit, the apostles were filled with the Spirit, and found the courage to proclaim the gospel before political and religious authorities, simply because conscious of God’s presence in their lives, they could not but freely work and cooperate with God’s grace.
However, if we say that we have been saved by grace and show no response to the profound grace of God we have received, it means that we are not appreciative and have never truly received it as grace. We can give many things to our loved ones, but if they are not transformed in their love for us and for others, it means that they did not value what they had received. Consequently, we must say that salvation is by grace alone, not just at the beginning of our path to salvation, but also along the way as well until the end. So the grace of God works at the beginning, the process and the end of the journey. There is no moment when the grace of God is absent. Even though we have to use our freedom to cooperate with God’s grace, even that act is itself empowered by His grace.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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