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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.
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.
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).
And 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.
Now, that’s a terrifying
thought, once you wake up to realize that this sort of
struggle is really happening right under your
own nose.
Lest this spiritual battle 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, you must submit
to 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.
  
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