Catholics do not believe in salvation by grace through faith, and neither do Protestants. No one believes this, actually. Protestants believe in salvation by grace through faith for works.
Faith without works is dead. And so, you have to understand how works fit into salvation. Just be sure not to plug the works into the "by" or "through" category.
This "by," "through," and "for" structure is coming from Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8, 9, and 10. Most people read verses 8 and 9 and skip 10, and so they get confused about works. Specifically, salvation is by grace through faith for works.
We know that "for works" is included in this because it literally says, "not a result of works" or "not of works. " And works are even defined here: it is something of your own doing. So, you're saved by grace through faith, and this is not a result of your own doing; it is a free gift from God, not a result of works.
If you call it a result of works—meaning salvation by works or salvation through works—you’re committing not one, not two, but three heresies right in this sentence. First, you're saying that it is something that you're doing that counts toward your salvation. Next, you're saying, therefore, it is not a free gift of God.
And, of course, therefore, you are boasting that you did it yourself and therefore you're owed salvation. This is the unforgivable sin mentioned right here in the salvific message. Claiming that salvation is not a free gift from God means you earned it, which is boasting before God.
This is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit represents the garments that cover you. It would be like Jacob saying he doesn't need the clothing of Esau to approach Isaac; he's good enough as he is. He would be boasting before Isaac by virtue of blaspheming the garments, which represent the Holy Spirit.
Or it would be like Leah saying, "I don't need to steal the wedding dress of my sister Rachel to trick Jacob into marrying me; I can just approach him as Leah and he'll still marry me. " No, he won't. It would be like Tamar saying, "I don't need the harlot's clothing to trick Judah into thinking I'm a prostitute; he'll sleep with me just as I am and give me the family seed.
" It would be like the Canaanites saying, "We don't need torn clothing; Joshua will give us citizenship into Israel even if he knows we're Canaanites. " You get the idea. Every story in the Bible has these garments.
Ruth is covered in the edge of Boaz's garments. King David cuts off the edge of King Saul's garment. The woman with the discharge touches the edge of Jesus's garment.
Noah is naked in a cave, and they cover him in garments. Adam and Eve, obviously, are covered in false fig leaf garments first, and it's insufficient to cover their nakedness. That's saved by works.
That's why Jesus curses the fig tree in the New Testament. Read that story again. The Catholics will tell you it's because it's unfruitful, but that story talks about the leaves of the fig tree.
Then, in the end of the matter, Jesus says, "Have faith in God. " It's about faith, not works. Samson gives garments to the Philistines at a wedding feast.
In Genesis 49, these are the ones who have washed their robes in the blood of grapes, wine. But then, in Revelation, these are the ones who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. From Genesis to Revelation, it's these garments being soaked in the blood of Christ.
Joseph and the coat of many colors being soaked in the blood of the animal; the wedding feast parable where they didn't have time to go back and get their clothing. They had to show up to the wedding in the garments they were wearing because they were caught off guard by the invitation. But then, despite this, some of them get kicked out in the end because they weren't wearing the right clothing.
Zechariah 3: see, I've taken away your sin. I've given you new clothing. Lazarus, come out of the tomb and take off your grave clothes and put on new clothes.
You can't put new wine in old wineskins and new spirit in old flesh. Don't mix two garments. Don't sew a new piece of fabric into an old garment; they won't expand and contract at the same rate, and it will separate.
It's all talking about the same thing. And then get this: you've got the crucifixion. And there's a lot going on here.
First off, Jesus is naked on the cross while the Gentiles now are plundering him for his clothing. They're casting lots for his garments. Right after we have the Passover with the blood on the door, the next thing they do in the Exodus story is plunder the Egyptians for clothing.
Right after the crucifixion, we have the same thing; they're plundering his garments. This shows that now the Gentiles are receiving salvation. Again, back to the wedding feast: the Jews didn't want it, so they called the least of these to the wedding.
Now, they couldn't tear his garments because they were sewn top to bottom in one seamless weave. While this is happening, the temple veil is torn from top to bottom. It's all the same story.
This is why I know Catholics aren't truth seekers. When I tell them this, they get totally turned off and disinterested. And that's because when they see that there's substance to what I'm saying, their eyes glass over because they don't want to know.
All they know is this is not what the Catholic Church teaches, and it's starting to make a little too much sense. And so, rather than gravitate toward truth, they become willing NPCs—non-playable characters. And they cognitively shut down, and they start saying ridiculous things like, "Well, I'm in an established church.
I'm in an established religion. " Yeah. Yeah.
I see. I see what you're saying. There's something there.
I get it. Okay. I'll go ask my priest.
This is why evangelizing Catholics is so hard, because they do not want to know. If this came out of the mouth of the priest, it would be the best thing they've ever heard. But it's not going to come out of the mouth of a priest, because this leads towards salvation by grace through faith, not works.
Whereas the Catholic Church teaches the exact opposite: that we're saved by God's grace through faith in love, which is works. Now, how does the theme of garments lead specifically to salvation by grace through faith, not works? Very simply put, you are Jacob.
You put on the clothing of Jesus, which is the Holy Spirit, and you boldly approach the Father, and when He looks at you, He sees Jesus. That's why baptism is not about the cleaning of the filth of the flesh. It's about having a good conscience towards God in Christ.
The reason you feel like an imposter is because you are an imposter. You're literally wearing Christ and sneaking into heaven on His coattails. That's why she touched His coattails.
You're trying to alleviate the feeling of impostor syndrome by working your way into heaven. But you are an impostor. That's the entire point of salvation.
You need to embrace the identity crisis of Christianity and choose to identify yourself as who the Father says you are—who He sees when He looks at you, not who you say you are, not who you see when you look in the mirror. The one that knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. You are Leah plundering the garments of Rachel.
It's you in every story stealing the clothing. You have to, because you have to be disguised so that when God looks at you, He sees Jesus. Because that good and faithful servant that gets into heaven is not you; it’s you being mistaken as Jesus.
He's the only one that's good. He's the only one that's faithful. Unless you are dead and hidden in Christ like a Trojan horse, you are not getting into heaven, because He's the only one that can make it past the gate.
And that is the salvation message of Jesus Christ. That is what the Bible's talking about. And when Catholics hear these garment stories start to make a little too much sense, they get the hint that that's where it's going.
But they don't care that that's what the Bible's saying. They just care that that's not what the Catholic Church is saying, which is why they're Catholics and not Christians. They've chosen their master, and it is not Jesus Christ.
It's their community. So, there's a lot packed in right here. You could even say there's a "do not cross" line right here.
We are saved by grace through faith, not of works, lest any man boast for works. And so, you can't take works, and you can't cross that red line. And if you take works out of this category and cross the red line, you're boasting before God and calling salvation no longer a free gift.
Paul straight-up just says this word for word in Romans 4. If Abraham was justified by works rather than glorified for works, then he has something to boast about because to the one who works, his wages are counted not as a gift but as his due. So we see gift, boast, and justified by works.
It's the same exact thing we see in Ephesians 2: gift, boast, and works. These are talking about the same exact thing. And specifically, Romans 4 is addressing James chapter 2.
Romans 4 was written 16 years after James to clarify the meaning. Look, it's right here in James chapter 2, the faith without works is dead verse. James says, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works?
" And he quotes the Old Testament where it says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. " Now, James is using this verse to show that Abraham was justified by works. Romans 4 addresses this exactly.
If Abraham was justified by works, he would have something to boast about, and no one can boast before God. Paul even quotes the same exact verse from the Old Testament that James 2 is quoting, but puts it in context. It says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
" You cannot deny Romans 4 and James 2 are talking about each other. The only question is which one was written first? James 2 was written first.
Romans 4 was written 16 years later to clarify the meaning of James 2. I don't think Paul is correcting James's theology, but he's clarifying not to take this to the extent of saying that you're saved by works. Because if you do, you are boasting before God, and you are making salvation no longer a free gift, which is exactly the language of Ephesians 2.
No one can boast before God, and it is a free gift of God, not of works. Now the reason for by grace through faith for works is, of course, Egypt, desert, promised land, death, burial, resurrection, justification, sanctification, glorification, body, soul, spirit. You get the idea.
And so, if you start moving works into the by or through category, you're blurring together justification and sanctification. You're blurring together the flesh and the spirit. You're blurring together death, burial, and resurrection when each thing needs to be rightly divided from each other and decently and in order.
Change the order of this, and you get any heresy on earth. Doesn't that track with scripture? You're saved in Egypt.
By the blood on the door. That's grace through faith. Then, you have to endure through faith, which is enduring through the desert, so that you can get to the promised land to do the work.
The work in the promised land is putting to death the desires of the flesh or killing the giants. So, in your Egypt season, you flee from sin. In the desert season, you learn to resist sin.
And, of course, in the promised land, you put to death the desires of the flesh. It's a pattern. The devil has tricked you into doing the right thing in the wrong season.
You're still under the condemnation of guilt and shame, but you're trying to put to death the desires of the flesh. Now, if these patterns are consistent—Egypt, desert, promised land; body, soul, spirit; world, flesh, devil; justified, sanctified, glorified; by grace, through faith, for works; death, burial, resurrection; flee, resist, fight—can you pair these together to figure out what you're supposed to be doing in each season? Maybe.
I've been trying to do it for quite a while now, and here's as far as I've gotten. I think it's safe to say that you're justified, sanctified, and then glorified by, through, and for grace, faith, and works. You get the idea.
So, if you put this into a statement, I think this is what's going on: you're justified by grace in Egypt through the death of the flesh; you're sanctified through faith in the desert by the burial of the soul; and you're glorified for works in the promised land through the resurrection of the spirit. Here, you flee the world. Here, you resist the devil.
And here, you fight the flesh. Put to death the desires of the flesh. That's fighting the giants, which is the work that you're there to do.
Now, you might notice that I'm saying we're sanctified through faith, not justified by grace through faith. And this is really going to upset the Calvinists, but the Catholics are right about this one. We're justified by grace.
We're not justified by faith. We're sanctified through faith, which represents the desert. And then, we're glorified for every good work—by grace, through faith, for works.
Egypt, desert, promised land; justification, sanctification, glorification. But how is this not saved by works? And that's because there are these two little events here.
When you leave Egypt and go into the desert, you don't endure till the end. The garments endure till the end. And crossing the Red Sea represents baptism.
The baptism is what kills the flesh. It literally drowns it. And when you drown the flesh, the spirit separates from the flesh, which causes the soul to go from awake to asleep, which is the burial of the soul.
This is the body. This is the spirit. This is the soul.
And this is the process of them separating through the drowning of baptism. This is Jesus dying, Him being in the tomb, and Him coming out of the tomb. That's why the garments—He was wrapped in the Shroud of Turin.
The death of His flesh wrapped in garment, the water and blood coming out of His side, the blood soaking the garment. Then, His soul goes to sleep, descends down to Hades, and then He resurrects. But now, here's where it gets very controversial.
I don't think the Holy Spirit goes back into the body of Christ to bring His soul back awake. I think His spirit, which was commended unto the Father when He died on the cross, so His body could go into the tomb and His soul could go down to Hades. When the spirit reattaches to the flesh, the soul comes back awake.
That's why Jesus keeps saying they’re sleeping—soul sleep. If you go down to Sheol to make your bed, that's what you do when you sleep. So, wait—if the Spirit of God needs to go back into the body of God for the soul of God to wake up, then what spirit goes into the body of Christ to wake Him up?
Your spirit. That's why you have to drown first. That's what it's talking about when it says you have to be baptized.
It's not talking about water baptism. Praise God, go get water baptized. It's talking about being drowned so your spirit will disembody from the flesh.
That's what baptism represents—the spirit, the promised land, separating from the flesh, Egypt, the slavery of the flesh. Isn't that what it says? That you will wander in a dry place in between the physical and the spiritual worlds.
Disembodied spirits will wander in a dry place. Wandering in a dry place is what the Israelites did in the desert. The desert is the dry place—the no man's land between the spiritual world and the physical world, the Egypt and the promised land.
You need to become a disembodied spirit so your spirit can go into the ark of Christ like the animal, and His spirit comes into you. Now, you are the temple of God. You are the body of Christ, and you are dead and hidden in Him through baptism—the drowning of the flesh so that the spirit will separate from the flesh.
The rubbing of the lamp so the genie will leave the lamp. So, if faith is not part of justification, you're justified by grace alone; you're sanctified through faith. How is this not saved by works?
Because the garments endure, not the people. If you say that you have to endure till the end to be saved, that is a saved-by-works heresy. The garments have to endure till the end.
The garments are what never wear out in the desert. The people themselves do, in fact, die. Moses dies in the desert.
You telling me he’s in hell? The garments endure till the end, not the people. And the garments which.
. . is that it seems that some people believe that works play a role in justification.
However, works are a product of faith, which is given to us by grace. We don't work to be justified; rather, we work because we are justified. The confusion arises when people conflate justification with sanctification.
Justification happens once and for all by grace, while sanctification is a continuous process that occurs as we grow in faith. It's important to remember that faith itself is a gift from God, and it is not something we can muster up on our own. This assurance of faith and the endurance it provides is rooted in God's promises and His ability to preserve us.
The beauty of the gospel lies in the fact that it is finished and complete in Christ. In conclusion, our faith, grounded in God's grace, allows us to undergo sanctification, which is a lifelong journey of spiritual growth. This journey is characterized by an understanding that we are secure in our justification, and our works are an expression of that faith, not a means to earn it.
About all these stories is that there are micro-expressions of the stories inside of the larger macro-expression of the story: a wheel inside of a wheel. And so, it gets jumbled up. It's quantum.
It's not linear because God is a quantum God, and the Bible's talking about quantum mechanics. So, yeah, Scott Hahn, congratulations. We're not justified by faith; we're justified by grace and sanctified through faith.
Slow clap, bro. Anyways, back to Scott Hahn's book. This is from Chapter 10.
He writes, "When Paul says we are justified by faith working through love," first off, justified isn't in Galatians 5. There, Galatians 5:6 says, "For in Christ," notice this right here: "in" is what I've been saying the whole time—wearing the garments of Christ. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything.
This is saying there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ because they're hidden in Christ. God can't see whether they're circumcised or uncircumcised, Jew or Gentile, sinner or non-sinner (which there's no such thing; we're all sinners). Ironically, this is one of the greatest "saved by works through faith" verses in the entire Bible because it starts with "in Christ," which is the garments.
Because you're covered, it doesn't matter whether you're circumcised or uncircumcised. Okay? So now he's saying, "For in Christ, there's neither circumcision nor uncircumcision.
It counts for anything, but only faith working through love. " Now, through love, he's going to turn into works. All right?
So he says when Paul says we're justified by faith working through love in Galatians 5:6, he's not adding works to faith as a separate requirement. Watch. He's going to turn faith into works and works into faith.
Bro is about to not only cross the red line; he's going to try to convince you that faith and works are the same thing. Now, every time I teach this, there's always some Catholics that are willing to throw Scott Hahn under the bus as not knowing what he's talking about. And if you're willing to concede that Scott Hahn is a Catholic heretic, I will take that concession.
The problem is, your own Catholic catechism supports what he's saying. You can go read it for yourself. All right?
He's saying love is the working of faith. Faith, if it is alive, must act, and its action is love. That's why James 2 says faith without works is dead.
We already addressed that with Romans 4. The Catholic Church isn't teaching faith and works; it's teaching faith as works—faith alive, faith incarnate, faith that can't help but love. This is from Chapter 10 of *Rome Sweet Home* by Scott Hahn.
Let me just hit it again: the Catholic Church isn't teaching faith and works; it's teaching faith as works. So he's not taking works out of the "for" category and adding it to the "through" category. He's taking works out of the "for" category, and because of a verse in an entirely another book, Galatians 5:6, he says, "The new salvation message is therefore saved by grace through faith, working in love.
" He's saying works are faith, and faith are works because faith without works is dead. That's not what this says. That is a Frankenstein version of this verse.
He's taking works and using it to replace faith. Sam Shimone's doing the same thing: faith and obedience, right? If you follow this wicked theology of taking works out of the "for" category and putting it into the "through" category, you're changing the whole order of the structure of the gospel.
And if you change the order, it turns into a musical chairs heresy. Remember the three kings of grace, faith, and works sitting on the thrones of by, through, and for. Imagine playing musical chairs and letting the king sit down on a random throne.
Just scramble it up like a Rubik's cube, and you'll pump out a different heresy for every day of the week. One round of musical chairs: Islam. Another round of musical chairs: Hinduism.
And yes, another round of musical chairs, and you get Orthodoxy and Catholicism because they are not Christianity. They are a saved-by-works cult, and they will take you to hell.
