According to Trent, “none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification. When we come to God and are justified, it happens without any merit on our part. Neither our faith nor our works—nor anything else—merits justification.
Ephesians 2:10 reads:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.Mark 10:22
And you will be hated of all men for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness" Romans (6:12-13).
According to Scripture, sanctification and justification aren’t just one-time events, but are ongoing processes in the life of the believer. Both can be spoken of as past-time events, as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 6:11: "But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." Sanctification is also a present, ongoing process, as the author of Hebrews notes: "For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (Heb. 10:14).
im, you said whereas Scriptural salvation means that the gracious God alone does the saving when the justifying transaction of exchange of the sin-debt (paid by the Crucified One) -- you do realise that is Catholic theology, right? That God alone does the saving. you don't save yourself, you don't merit salvation of your own deeds
>> According to Trent, “none of those things that precede justification, whether faith or works, merit the grace of justification. When we come to God and are justified, it happens without any merit on our part. Neither our faith nor our works—nor anything else—merits justification. <<
That’s a very important shoot-down of the accusation from many Lutherans and Calvinists that Catholics believe you “earn” your salvation. Luther wasn’t wrong about salvation coming through grace; it was his insistence that the sole means of this grace was through faith that the Church criticized, insisting that Christ taught, “if you have faith, you will do my will” and that the sacraments are a sign to oneself of that faith.