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Well,
then, are we justified by faith or by works?
 aint Paul says it quite clearly:
“. . . a person is not justified by works of the law
but through faith in Jesus Christ . . .” (Galatians 2:16).
And yet Saint James says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone
says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?”
(James 2:14). Confused? Well, I don’t blame you. Let’s see, then,
what all this means in plain English.
Justification
Paul is speaking about
justification (which is also called
redemption). And in plain English, it amounts
to saying that no one can get into heaven through his or her own effort.
God is offering us a great gift of everlasting life, and only through
faith in Christ can we receive that gift.
Salvation
But notice that we are still
creatures of free will. Even with faith in Christ
we can still commit sin, if we will it. Saint James,
then, speaks about the matter of our
salvation. This amounts to saying that
even though we can’t get into heaven by our own efforts, we can easily
enough, through our own actions, send ourselves
right to hell. And that’s why Saint Paul
tells us to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”
(Philippians 2:12b).
Thus it can be said in summary
that redemption is a gift from God, worked
out through the sacrifice of Christ, while
salvation is a matter of our own personal
responsibility. If we accept the gift of redemption and live a
holy lifestyle thereafter, until the
end, we will be saved from being excluded from
heaven.
The Wedding
Banquet
Think of justification,
then, as a sort of ticket to the heavenly wedding banquet. Christ is our
ticket to that wedding banquet. He freely gives Himself to everyone. At the
door to the banquet, we are admitted when we present that ticket in faith.
No other ticket will be honored, nor can we earn a ticket through our own
efforts. But, even if we have a ticket, if we have not kept His
commandments—if we have not put on the wedding garments provided by
Him—we will be thrown out of the banquet into the darkness (see Matthew
22:1-14).
The Psychology
of Desire
Now, we might wonder why anyone
would refuse to put on the wedding garment that is so freely offered with
such grace. Well, here is where psychology comes into play. Our wills are
motivated by desire, and desire is largely
unconscious. In fact, it is through the “desire
of the Other”—that is, social desire, such as in movies and TV
and music and advertising—that we become “infected” with
anti-Christian values without even being aware of
it. Moreover, there are powerful, unconscious
parts inside all of us that are so terrified
of abandonment and loss that they will refuse holiness itself in order to
seize from the world any satisfaction and pleasure they can get, pursuing
their desires at all costs, even if the ultimate cost is
hell itself.
Well, that’s a terrifying
thought. It’s even more terrifying once you wake up and realize that
this sort of struggle is really happening right now, right under your own
nose.
Spiritual Struggle
and Battle
Lest this spiritual struggle
seem hopeless, Christ offered the solution: deny yourself. Stop seeking
personal satisfaction from life and you will be immune to the unholy desires
of the world around you. As you take up the healing
of your darkest wounds by surrendering your pride
and defensive identity, your will can
become aligned with God’s will. To do this, though, it will be necessary
to take hope in psychological purgation through
your own
dark
night of soul.
That’s why Saint Paul, right
as he speaks about justification by faith, in the very same paragraph, emphasizes
this point: “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:19).
In plain English, this means that unless your life ends in crucifixion—at
least, psychological crucifixion, the death
of ego and pride—you’re putting your salvation into your own hands,
not God’s. But if you accept your crucifixion, freely and willingly,
with chaste purity of heart and with ardent desire for God’s
love, you have all the hope and all the
mercy in the whole universe available to you in
the battle against evil.
No
advertising—no sponsor—just the simple truth . . .
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