Only faith with works will transform society

By Msgr. John Wynand Katende

Posted on: Thursday, 18th September 2025

The Church of Christ was meant to be one and strong.  But today it is divided and weak. One of the major causes is disagreements in doctrine arising from different, sometimes false, interpretations of the Bible. The relationship between faith is one of the controversies. In the bigger picture is the doctrine of Justification. 

Justification is a grace. God justifies someone, when He declares that person’s sins forgiven and proclaims the person righteous. We don’t need to do anything to earn your place before God except have faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10). But God also wants us to grow in righteousness over the course of the Christian life, if we cooperate with His grace.

The good works that we can do are also the result of divine grace, which produces in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). So, Christ's work in our lives inseparably includes both the spiritual and the earthly manifestation of our faith. Both a spiritual gospel without earthly action and a social gospel without faith in Christ is incomplete and degrade Christ's redemptive work in the world.

This union between the spiritual and the earthly is clearly explained in James 2:14-26. Faith and works cannot be separated as some suggest, since a faith that is not manifested in good works is not true faith. Our faith in Christ and our actions to serve others must always be inseparably united, and without contradiction. 

Unfortunately, there is a tendency to emphasize only faith or works. This is what Martin Luther did, to the extent of belittling the letter of James and relegated it to an appendix in his biblical translation. He thought faith was more important and James did not affirm it as he thought. 

James, for example, does not teach a different gospel than does Paul in his letter to the Romans 3:28: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Paul is here, referring to the works of the the Jewish laws, like circumcision and sabbatical laws. During His ministry Jesus was criticized His religious leaders for pegging salvation on faith alone. In the Sermon on the Mountain, He gave a clear teaching on how to get to heaven (Matthew 5:12). He compares Christian faith to a tree that was planted to bear fruits, otherwise it would be cut and burnt.

James 2:14 warns us about hiding in a merely theoretical faith away from any social responsibility. If believers do not help others around us with physical needs such faith is meaningless. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?” 

Faith is not only an intellectual exercise but a practical one. Faith is not merely a theological knowledge since even demons know God, but faith is manifested in our actions that reflect God's character. 

Faith is always practical. Abraham, the father of faith, acted in conjunction with his works. Evidently, his faith in God originated and motivated his actions and not the other way around. The final judgement will be based on our faith and works of mercy (Matthew 25:31-46).  

Any inconsistency between the Christianity we profess and our actions results from an incomplete gospel. God became man for our salvation. In Acts 10:38, Peter testifies that Jesus , the God-man (Emmanuel) went about doing good, curing the sick, restoring the sight of the blind, making the lame walk, raising the dead back to life, feeding the hungry, driving away demons from possessed people and forgiving people their sins, as he also preached and enacted the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus crowned up His wok of saving mankind from sin with a sacrificial death on the cross: “Father forgive them” (Luke 23:34). God acknowledged this sacrifice by raising His Son from the tomb. 

Christians are called to transform society by being the “salt of the earth and light of the world”. They must be honest, upright, who would never succumb to any temptations of corruption nor any pressure from corrupt agents. They  must never tire of doing good because they believe and worship a God who is righteous, who loves to do what is right and just, a God who is a lover of justice (Galatians 6:9). Whenever Christians offer the same sacrifice of Jesus (Mass), as commanded, they are sent out to transform society, just as He did.