Saved by faith alone or faith and works
The Church teaches that one is saved by God's free gift or offer of salvation received in faith. Nothing else can ever be added to Christ's saving death. What, then, is the place of good works? Having become a Christian, the believer must live like one, and that is where good works find their place. It has been said that one is not reborn by good works but to good works, and that is very true. Because one has received the gift of new life in Christ, he must give evidence of a lively faith by a godly life, especially by attending to the needs of the poor and the oppressed (cf. Mt 25:31-46). This style of life is not an attempt to curry favor with God, but is a response of love and a powerful witness to the grace of election. For a devout Christian, there can never be any position between faith and works, for the first necessarily leads to the second. The Epistle of James has given classical expression to this insight: "What good is it to profess faith without practicing it? Such faith has no power to save one, has it? . . . faith without works is as dead as a body without breath" (2:14, 26).