Nature and Grace
Can't a good person get to heaven by being good?
Main teaching: De fide
The big question
Most people believe a good person will go to heaven. If someone is honest, kind and generous, what more could God want? And if salvation depends on God’s gift, does what we do matter at all?
What the Church teaches
Grace is necessary for every act that leads to salvation, including the very beginning of faith and the first desire to turn to God (Council of Orange, 529, canons 5–7, DH 375–377; Trent, Session VI, canons 1–3, DH 1551–1553; CCC 1996–2001).
Grace is a free gift. No one can merit the first grace by anything they do (Trent, Session VI, ch. 8; DH 1532; CCC 2010).
God wills all people to be saved, and offers sufficient grace to all (1 Timothy 2:4; CCC 1260, 2822).
How sure is this? De fide for the necessity and gratuity of grace. See CCC 1996–2005.
Where it comes from
Scripture. Jesus says, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), and “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). St Paul writes that “God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13), and asks, “What have you that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). Salvation is a gift: “by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—not because of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Yet God wants everyone saved. He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
The early Church. In the early fifth century the British monk Pelagius taught that human beings can keep God’s commandments and reach salvation by their own efforts; grace only makes it easier. What provoked him was a prayer in St Augustine’s Confessions: “Give what you command, and command what you will” (Confessions 10.29). Pelagius thought it made people lazy. Augustine thought it was simply the truth: we cannot do what God asks unless God gives us the power. The Church sided with Augustine. A century later the Council of Orange (529) also rejected a softer view, that the beginning of faith comes from us and only its growth from grace.
How theologians explain it
What grace is. Grace is a supernatural gift freely given by God to lead us to eternal life. It is “supernatural” because it raises us above what human nature can do or deserve; Lesson 4.3 introduced this idea. Theologians distinguish two kinds:
| Actual grace | Sanctifying grace | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A passing help from God for a particular act | A lasting gift, a share in God’s own life |
| What it does | Enlightens the mind and strengthens the will to do good | Makes us holy, children and friends of God |
| How long it lasts | For the moment of the act | Permanently, unless lost by mortal sin |
| Example | The prompting to forgive someone, or to go to confession | Given in Baptism; restored in Confession |
Three positions. The Church’s teaching is clearest set beside the errors it rejected:
| Pelagianism | Semi-Pelagianism | Catholic teaching | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can we be saved without grace? | Yes; grace just helps | No | No |
| Who takes the first step? | We do | We do; God responds | God does, and we freely respond |
| Rejected by | Councils of Carthage (418) and Ephesus (431) | Council of Orange (529) | — |
What nature can still do. Fallen human beings are not incapable of any good. Without grace, people can know truths about God by reason (Unit 2) and do naturally good acts, such as being honest or loving their families. What they cannot do without grace is anything that leads to eternal life, because that goal lies beyond nature altogether (Summa I-II, q. 109, aa. 2, 5).
God does not command the impossible. Trent, quoting Augustine, teaches that God does not command impossible things; when he commands, he tells us to do what we can, to pray for what we cannot, and he helps us so that we can (Session VI, ch. 11; DH 1536).
Philosophy bridge
The philosophy course explains what human nature is and what powers it has. Grace is not one more natural power. It raises nature to a level it could never reach by itself, as Lesson 4.3 explained in discussing original holiness. That is why even a perfectly good natural life would not, of itself, reach heaven.
What the Church does not claim
- Not that good deeds without grace are worthless. Natural goodness is real goodness. It is just not enough, by itself, for eternal life.
- Not that people who have never heard of Christ cannot be saved. God offers grace to all, “in ways known to himself” (CCC 847–848).
- Not that grace makes our effort unnecessary. Grace calls for and empowers our free response (Lesson 8.2).
- Not that we can earn the first grace. It is always a gift.
Check your understanding
- What is grace?
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A supernatural gift freely given by God to lead us to eternal life.
- Explain the difference between actual grace and sanctifying grace.
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Actual grace is a passing help for a particular act: it enlightens the mind and strengthens the will. Sanctifying grace is a lasting share in God’s own life, which makes us holy and children of God.
- What did Pelagius teach, and what did semi-Pelagianism teach?
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Pelagius taught that we can be saved by our own efforts, with grace only making it easier. Semi-Pelagianism taught that we take the first step toward faith ourselves, and God then responds with grace.
- Can a person who is not in a state of grace do anything good? Explain.
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Yes. Without grace people can do naturally good acts, such as being honest or caring for their family. What they cannot do without grace is anything that leads to eternal life.
- What does Ephesians 2:8–9 teach about salvation?
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That salvation is by grace through faith, as God’s gift, not our own achievement, so that no one can boast.