@Aletheia, I agree with Chukwudi44, I think you should find out what the Church teaches about Papal infallibility, then come back and admit your gross lack of information or distortion of information about the Catholic Church.

A sane adult who doesn't know something shouldn't argue about it. He should rather ask and listen.

@Frosbel, when you started this thread, you said all we needed to be saved was to have faith in Jesus as saviour. Why then are you bothered about the bad things you say the Catholic Church has done. We believe in Jesus so we have eternal life, right. Why are you concerned about our 'works'.

And you're in no position to tell the next man who he truly believes in since it is God that sees the heart.

@ Chukwudi
[Quote]
the necessity of works 4 salvation was
underscored by Jesus in matt 25:31-46 when
on judgement day he rewarded some people 4
works of charity.I was hungry n u fed me,
Likewise some people were condenmed for not
observing works of charity
[/Quote]
See how you misunderstand the scripture! Did you notice, in this passage,  that the kingdom was prepared for those who would have eternal life , 'before the foundation of the world' ? Did you also notice that these persons are called, 'the righteous'? Read through the whole of the new testament , you will find that the basis of going to heaven is , 'belief' while that of going to hell is, 'unbelief'. The Lord Jesus did not change it in this passage. The people who did those good works were believers and it is their nature to do good works. It is not what saves them, but it shows to them they have the belief or faith, that saves.

Yet more personal abuse from poor old frosbel!

frosbel:

You must be having a bad day today 

Do you refer to the menstrual cycle here?

frosbel:

You miss the point. If you work in the professional environment, there is a saying that goes like this , ' why reinvent the wheel '. For example , If I read an article that proves accurate and factual on a specfic topic, of course I wll post it here for nairalanders to read , digest and debate.

Who has time to start a write up of 10 pages from scratch, some of us have real jobs you know   

Where have you seen a 10 page post at Nairaland?

frosbel:

You keep getting new sources on a daily basis, many of them suspect and nonacademic.

Of I use different sources- that's part of any investigation.

frosbel:

If you read history, you will understand that the catholic bible was NOT USED for the Kings James.

Wrong again.

frosbel:

I suspect you are a student, and it really concerns me that your university will allow their students use wikipedia for factual research.

Who said they did?
I wonder why you choose to ignore my repeated comment- I use wiki here because it is an excellent source for the general reader.

And how about getting back to the OP?

@5 solas

I dont beleive in predestination as obviously it has no scriptural basis neither was it taught by the church fathers.

The people mentoned in the passage I quoted were obviously 'beleiovers' as they refered to Jesus as Lord .You r merely playing 2 d gallery

@ Chukwudi
[Quote]
@5 solas
I dont beleive in predestination as obviously it
has no scriptural basis neither was it taught by
the church fathers.
The people mentoned in the passage I quoted
were obviously 'beleiovers' as they refered to Jesus as Lord .You r merely playing 2 d gallery [/Quote]
I am not playing to the gallery. You cannot use Matthew 25 to support Pelagianism. This is where all Catholics and Muslims miss it . Grace doesn't sound sweet to you ! At the end of the day, you will be judged according to your works and be found wanting !!

@ Chukwudi
So nice of you to bring up the predestination bit, do you not see how well it accords with Christ telling His disciples, 'you have not chosen me but I have chosen you' . Those who are saved where chosen before the foundation of the world, period.

@5solas

JAMES 2:14: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

JAMES 2:17: So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Do u still say works are unnecessary to justify a man?

JAMES 2:

18
Indeed someone might say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.
19
You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.
20
DO YOU WANT PROOF, YOU IGNORAMUS, THAT FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS USELESS?
21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?
22
You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works.
23
Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.”l
24
See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
25
And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?
26
For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Now do you still insist, you (whatever James called it), that works are unnecessary to justify a man, And that the Catholic Church is wrong?

@Italo
Wordtalk has expressed my opinion about Faith and Works to you on this thread, www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-756426.0.html. I could not have said it better than that.

You people amaze me sometimes. You say that Catholic teachings are unscriptural and you refer to the Bible to buttress your point. Now a Catholic is showing you Bible verses that support the Church's teaching, you have left 'scripture', you're referring me to Wordtalk.

What do you seek? The truth (Jesus) or victory in the argument.

@Italo
I wasn't particularly chanced and had wanted to join you and Wordtalk on that thread. However because of your comments, I will strive to do both. Expect my posts later.

@ Italo
Let me start by stating my position about faith and works  and it is this:
Faith and faith alone justifies (saves) and this is testified to by innumerable scriptures (Eph.2:8,9;Rom. 11:5,6,Titus 3:3-5,Gal.2:16 e.t.c) . On believing in Jesus , the sinner is justified of all their sins , the law is fulfilled and they are translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God. At this point the believer has done no good work either towards his believing or in the act of believing itself. This is why salvation is said to be by grace.
On being saved, the sinner (now believer)  is enjoined to do good works. These  good works do not add a thing to their salvation, it is pleasurable to the Lord  for it shows love for Him and it is a confirmation to the believer (and to others) that they are in faith. And the Lord of course,  is pleased by these  good works of the believer, if they do them in love for Him; but if they do them with the hope of gaining eternal life by them, these same works He abhors.
To  sum up, the saved man (the believer) has faith and does good works and it is this faith that spurs him up to good works and the good works contributing nothing to this salvation as manifest by the fact that they come AFTER, NOT BEFORE, the  salvation.

What I want is the TRUTH, not to win this argument. I hope that's your goal too because if it's not, no matter what I point out to you, you can find a way to disagree.

I will explain those verses you highlighted but before then let's talk about the passage I quoted earlier on this thread which you didn't address but referred me to wordtalk's response. Wordtalk is wordtalk and 5solas is 5solas.

James 2: 14 asks: "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith SAVE him?"

5solas answers: YES! - "Faith and faith alone justifies (SAVES)"

James 2: 17 answers: NO! - "So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

It was neither the Catholic Church nor I that asked and answered this question so clearly, it was the Holy Spirit, And I don't know how a christian can hear the Holy Spirit speak so clearly and still argue with him.

Even if you don't want to publicly admit to what this passage is saying, you can quietly ignore. But to blantantly deny what is so clear, I'm sorry to say, is a disgrace, And how can we continue with other verses when we can't even agree on this simple one?

@Italo
I will answer your post. While I am at it, please state your position as to how a man becomes saved.

I have stated my position clearly and backed it up with James 2 in posts #1, #3, #38, #39, #44, and you've been part of this thread from the start so don't pretend you don't know my position.

Everytime you see me ask you about James 2, you try to deviate from it. Here we go again:

James 2: 14 asks: "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith SAVE him?"

5solas answers: YES! - "Faith and faith alone justifies (SAVES)"

James 2: 17 answers: NO! - "So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is DEAD."

James 2: 20 asks again: "DO YOU WANT PROOF, YOU IGNORAMUS, THAT FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS USELESS?"

What's your answer this time, 5Solas?

@Italo
Alright, your position is clear. Maybe I am wary of skating on thin ice!
And now, to your favourite passage, James 2:14-20, what we have to understand in giving meaning to this passage, if not all scripture is that, SALVATION IS BY GRACE. A lot of people don't get this , so I will say it again, SALVATION IS NOT DESERVED. This is the theme of the whole Bible , not just the new testament. If we take this as a premise, the whole Bible opens up to us.
Now James was speaking to one of these persons:
a . A person who thought that salvation was by works
b. A person who thought that salvation was of grace
c. A person who thought that salvation was of grace and works
d. A person who thought that since salvation was of grace, there was no need for them to do good works , being already saved .
Now sincerely , who amongst those above, could he have been saying those words to?
It cannot be the first man, because he was not speaking on how to get saved in this passage. It cannot be the second , remember our premise, SALVATION IS BY GRACE ! SALVATION IS, NOT DESERVED !
It cannot be the third, because such a man would have been applauded by him, on the contrary, the man was chided.
This leaves the fourth man and it is clear this is the man being addressed. And the whole substance of his upbraiding of this man is that the man should see that he was saved for a purpose, saved for some responsibility. Not by these responsibilities to be saved but by these responsibilities to be confirmed he is truly in faith.
You cannot interprete this scripture in such a way that, it not only contradicts other scriptures, but goes against the whole tenor of scripture.
You cannot of course agree with the other verses I have adduced (borrowed from Wordtalk!) and those from Wordtalk which clearly teach that FAITH ALONE justifies (saves).
If the Bible teaches we are saved, 'not by works','not by the law', 'not by works of righteousness', what is left but FAITH ALONE, which yet is not 'of ourselves' , so that we cannot boast. Is it not clear that by these alone, that, that idol of the Catholic church, 'freewill' (by which not a few protestants have been hood-winked) is shown to be a myth?
Will the glory of a man's salvation be shared between him and the Lord on the last day?
You have said salvation is of faith and works, would you also say it is of GRACE and WORKS? For that is what your disputation amount to, but Romans 11:6 would have none of that, for it says:
''And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more of grace: otherwise work is no more work'' - KJV
'' And if it is by God's kindness, then it is not by their being good enough. For in that case the free gift would no longer be free - it isn't free when it is earned.''- TLB

Firstly I think your response is unnecessarily long. You spent many lines telling me 'salvation is by grace' as if that not what I sed alreadi.

Secondly, there are many other verses I can quote that show that works are necessary for salvation. I just want less deviation so I chose this one which is very clear and irrefutable. Just look how long I had to wait and how many times I had to put it up in ur face b4 I cud evn get a response from u - and an unconvincing one to say the least.

Salvation is by the grace of God, but the human response which is faith working through love is necessary. Faith and works are necessay for salvation. It is by God's grace that we come to have faith and do his will. We can do nothing without God's grace.

I don't know how else I want to say it that I'll be totally understood. If I say works are necessary, does it mean that I'm saying we are saved by works?

You have written a thousand words and you have still not addressed James 2: 20. You just don't want to believe that it means what it means because you think other parts are in contradiction to it.

Since you can't address it, I'll now address your verses and tell you why they are not in contradiction to what James and the Catholic Church is saying.

@Italo
Alright, I will be waiting. But I am sure it is sufficiently clear that Rom 11:6 throws all you will ever say into the dust bin. For the whole substance of the apostle's 'post', is that salvation cannot be both by grace and works . Read it in several versions, if you still don't get it though, I won't be surprised . For you are a good follower of the tradition of your church and one of your canons run thus, (I paraphrase):
'' If any one shall say that salvation is by grace alone, let him be anathema (accursed)'', in direct contradiction to virtually the whole Bible. Read Romans 4:1-6 for an example.
According to your canon then even the Lord stands accursed.

Starting from your last post, I dare say that that which you wrote is not an official declaration of The Catholic Church. You didn't just 'paraphrase', you intentionally and maliciously distorted it - and that wasn't necessary. The official declarations are not so long that they can't enter this thread, or are they?

Regarding Romans 11: 6, it doesn't contradict the Position of James, The Catholic Church and I. Did I not say that salvation is by grace alone?, but faith and works are necessary. So I say again, the Catholic Church does not teach that salvation is by works. I'm even tired of telling you the same thing a million times and you still not getting it. I'm not a nursery school teacher, abeg. I'm sorry to use that language but I can't keep repeating the same thing from post #1 to #50 and you still don't get it. Was is works that saved them? No! But did they do good works? YES! - they didn't bow to Baal.

Have you taken a look @d preceding verses to see that Paul was talkn about the Israelites who were unfaithful and God sayn he had reserved 7000 for himself who did not bow to baal.

And it isn't the Catholic Church that said we are justified by faith and works, it was the Holy Spirit through St. James. How long will it take you to figure that out too?

You surely can't blame me for following the Church that was instituted by Jesus Christ, the Church built on Simon Peter(the rock), the Church of the 12 apostles, the 70 disciples, the early Church Fathers that we have today through a proven and unbroken line of apostolic succession. The Church which Paul said was d foundation and Pillar of the truth. The Church that wrote the new testament and compiled the bible - deciding what books to choose and what books to discard. The Church that has always taught the word os God through writing, word of mouth and tradition. Which other Church out of the 33,000 others would you expect that I follow? Which do you follow? Or do you see youself as your own Church like people erroneously do?

@ Italo
The same 'church' (for cult is more like it) that killed thousands of protestants for their views on justification?

@Italo
, and also killed thousands of protestants for denying transubstantiation?

Eph 2: 8,9,10 goes: 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Notice how verse 8 says 'through faith - and that isn't from yourselves, it's a gift from God. And verse 9 says not by works, so no man can boast.
Verse 10 caps it up by saying 'we are created in Christ and destined by God to do good works'

To summarize we have faith in God and do Good works by the Grace of God. So we are saved by grace.

Does that mean faith is not necessary? No!
Does that mean works are not necessary? No!
Does that contradict my position? No! - infact it buttresses it.

You don't have to love The Catholic Church but pls, if we are going to have a meaningful search for truth, I demand that you at least show some respect for my spiritual family. Save the word 'cult' for some other occasion.

At a point I askd u if it was truth u were after or you jst wntd to win this argument.

I know you think of us as a cult and dats y we're having this discussion. I'm using the Bible to prove to you that our teachings are not unscriptural and so far you haven't been able to prove otherwise. But you have your mind made up so the easy way out is to launch an insult.

Yes they killed protestants and protestants killed catholics too. And that's not the only sin we've committed. Ours is a church of both saints and sinners. Jesus said if you call a man 'fool', you're in danger of hell fire. So we must have committed many sins. Just like Peter did when he discriminated against the Gentiles. But does that mean its not Christ's church? No!

To go right back to the topic, u mentioned Titus 3:5:

he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit

Firstly dat verse says 'he saved us through the washing of rebirth'

The washing of rebirth is Baptism, and dat is a work.

Remember that in Ephesians, Paul said 'through faith', now he says, 'through baptism'

Secondly, further down in verse 7, he says:
so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the HOPE of eternal life

Why is he talking of HOPE if he has been saved once and for all.

When you 'hope', it means you're not sure.

Dear brother, how is it that you look and look, and you do not see these things?

Gal 2: 16:
know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[d] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified

Don't u c dat by 'works of the law' he's talking about traditional Jewish customs? The law of Moses which the Jews held fast to. Not the works that Christ tells us to do.

Do you read some of these verses or u jst go and copy from wordtalk and paste here?

And if you think its only James 2 I have to buttresses my point and that it contradict the whole Bible, here are about a million verses that show that works are necessary for salvation.

Rev. 22:12 - these verse teachs us that we all will be judged by God according to our deeds. There is no distinction between the "saved" and the "unsaved."

1 Cor. 3:15 - if works are unnecessary for salvation as youi believe, then why is a man saved (not just rewarded) through fire by a judgment of his works?

Matt. 7:1-3 - we are not judged just by faith, but actually how we judge others, and we get what we have given. Hence, we are judged according to how we responded to God's grace during our lives.

Matt. 10:22, 24:13; Mark 13:13 - Jesus taught that we must endure to the very end to be saved. If this is true, then how can u believe in the erroneous teaching of "Once saved, always saved?" If salvation occurred at a specific point in time when we accepted Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, there would be no need to endure to the end. We would already be saved.

Matt. 16:27 – Jesus says He will repay every man for what he has done (works).

Matt. 25:31-46 - Jesus' teaching on the separation of the sheep from the goats is based on the works that were done during their lives, not just on their acceptance of Christ as Savior. In fact, this teaching even suggests that those who are ultimately saved do not necessarily have to know Christ. Also, we don’t accept Christ; He accepts us. God first makes the decision to accept us before we could ever accept Him.

Mark 10:21 - Jesus says sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. This means that our salvation depends upon our works.

Luke 12:43-48 - these verses teach us that we must act according to the Lord's will. We are judged based upon what we know and then do, not just upon what we know.

Luke 14:13 – Jesus says we are repaid for the works we have done at the resurrection of the just. Our works lead to salvation.

Rom. 2:6-10, 13 - God will judge every man according to his works. Our salvation depends on how we cooperate with God's grace.

Gal. 6:7-9 – whatever a man sows, he will reap. Paul warns the Galatians not to grow weary in doing good works, for in due season they will reap (the rewards of eternal life).

Eph. 6:8 – whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same again from the Lord.

Col. 3:24-25 - we will receive due payment according to what we have done. Even so, we recognize that such payment is a free unmerited gift from God borne from His boundless mercy.

1 Tim. 6:18-19 – the rich are to be rich in good deeds so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed, that is, eternal life.

2 Tim. 4:14 – Alexander the coppersmith did Paul great harm, and Paul says the Lord will requite him for his deeds.

Heb. 6:10 - God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love which you showed for His sake. God rewards our works on earth and in heaven.

Heb. 12:14 – without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Holiness requires works of self-denial and charity, and does not come about simply by a profession of faith.

1 Peter 1:17 - God judges us impartially according to our deeds. We participate in applying the grace Jesus won for us at Calvary in our daily lives.

Rev. 2:5 - Jesus tells the Ephesians they have fallen from love they used to have, and orders them to do good works. He is not satisfied with their faith alone. They need to do more than accept Him as personal Lord and Savior.

Rev. 2:19 - Jesus judges the works of the Thyatirans, and despises their tolerance of Jezebel calling them to repentance.

Rev. 2:23 - Jesus tells us He will give to each of us as our works deserve. He crowns His own gifts by rewarding our good works.

Rev. 2:26 - Jesus says he who conquers and keeps my works until the end will be rewarded in heaven. Jesus thus instructs us to keep his works to the very end. This is not necessary if we are "once saved, always saved."

Rev. 3:2-5,8,15 – Jesus is judging our works from heaven, and these works bear upon our eternal salvation. If we conquer sin through faith and works, He will not blot our names out of the book of life. This means that works bear upon our salvation. Our “works” do not just deal with level of reward we will receive, but whether we will in fact be saved.

Rev. 14:12,13 - we are judged by the Lord by our works – “for their deeds follow them!” Our faith during our life is completed and judged by our works.

Rev. 20:12 – “the dead are judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.”

Rev. 22:12 – Jesus says, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay everyone for what he has done.”

italo:

Eph 2: 8,9,10 goes: 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Notice how verse 8 says 'through faith - and that isn't from yourselves, it's a gift from God. And verse 9 says not by works, so no man can boast.
Verse 10 caps it up by saying 'we are created in Christ and destined by God to do good works'

To summarize we have faith in God and do Good works by the Grace of God. So we are saved by grace.

Does that mean faith is not necessary? No!
Does that mean works are not necessary? No!
Does that contradict my position? No! - infact it buttresses it.

Seriously, your handling of the above verses is rather pathetic. Firstly, you repeat almost verbatim what verse 8 and 9 says (with no explanations) and secondly, you pounce on the exultation given to the saved to do good works and claim victory.
Verse 8 of this verse buttresses what I have been saying, that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone-this is a positive declaration. It goes on to declare it in the negative for clarity sake-NOT OF YOURSELVES. Verse 9 pursues the matter further by declaring in the same negative-NOT BY WORKS.
To jump to verse 10 saying it ”caps it up” is really laughable.
In truth, verse 10 is not much different from 8 and 9 for it starts by re-affirming that salvation is by grace, through faith, not of our selves , not of works; BECAUSE (as your version puts it) ‘’we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’’.
From this verse, please explain how it is possible that a person so created will not do good works.
But to the subject, the good works here come after salvation. Look at the letters of Paul, you will find this to be true, he first tells his listeners the way to eternal life is by faith in Christ and not by works, thereafter he tells them as believers they should do good works, bring forth fruits, which indicate they are saved. THE GOOD WORKS COME AFTER THEY ARE SAVED.THEY ARE THEREFORE ‘EFFECTS’ AND NOT ‘CAUSES’ OF SALVATION.
Please don’t tell us that Paul each time, after labouring to establish salvation by grace (without works) always end up destroying this sweet teaching.

The rest of your reply amounts to mere cavillation.

'Cavillation' is a smart way to run away from the truth. The Jews said 'blasphemy', the relativists today say 'bigotry'. Nice one.

The Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25)

    31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
   34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

   37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

   40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

   41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

   44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

   45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

   46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

I know that your mind is blocked so you do not perceive but all these WORDS and JESUS and the HOLY SPIRIT will be the ones to judge you as you continue to spread false teaching and hate, saying, the Catholic Church's teachings are unscriptural despite all the scriptural evidence to the contrary. Dominus vobiscum.

italo:

I know that your mind is blocked so you do not perceive but all these WORDS and JESUS and the HOLY SPIRIT will be the ones to judge you as you continue to spread false teaching and hate, saying, the Catholic Church's teachings are unscriptural despite all the scriptural evidence to the contrary. Dominus vobiscum.

Thank you.
What is Dominus vobiscum?I hope it is not one of the anathemas? I hear they are at least thirty on the doctrine of justification alone.

italo:

Starting from your last post, I dare say that that which you wrote is not an official declaration of The Catholic Church. You didn't just 'paraphrase', you intentionally and maliciously distorted it - and that wasn't necessary. The official declarations are not so long that they can't enter this thread, or are they?

5solas:

@Italo
Alright, I will be waiting. But I am sure it is sufficiently clear that Rom 11:6 throws all you will ever say into the dust bin. For the whole substance of the apostle's 'post', is that salvation cannot be both by grace and works . Read it in several versions, if you still don't get it though, I won't be surprised . For you are a good follower of the tradition of your church and one of your canons run thus, (I paraphrase):
'' If any one shall say that salvation is by grace alone, let him be anathema (accursed)'', in direct contradiction to virtually the whole Bible. Read Romans 4:1-6 for an example.
According to your canon then even the Lord stands accursed.

CANON IX.-If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema.
http://www.cfpeople.org/Apologetics/page51a038.html
There,you have your canon and the link. Hmm, I didn’t even know that the ‘grace’ you grant needs man’s co-operation. It is not even grace!- Read Romans 11:6 again and we are yet to add the ‘works’ you advocate.