Q347 – What about people who do good works but lack faith, rejecting God or lacking catechism?

Transcript:

First, it depends on the conscience of these persons. We cannot look into their conscience only God can. When they have a truly pure intention to help others, God will recognize and reward their good intentions. However, they will also have to give an account for the lack of their faith, because it is stated in the Holy Scripture that it is not possible to please God without faith. Our Lord also said that "whoever does not believe in me will not see, will not reach eternal life." So, this is a fundamental condition to go to heaven: faith in Jesus Christ, true faith. And as we know, Saint James writes in another way, "Faith without works is dead." But works without faith also do not help, because God explicitly requires faith.

Saint Augustine interprets the parable in Matthew 25, where the judge will come and separate those on His right hand and those on His left. He will condemn those on the left hand because they did not perform works of mercy or charity. Saint Augustine says that they will also be condemned because they did not perform the work of charity towards themselves. When they were committing sins and doing good works, but sinning against faith or committing other sins, they were sinning against charity and against themselves, thus breaking the commandment of God to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Saint Augustine says that whoever sins, including the sin against faith, is not observing the commandment of love, even partially. Therefore, their good works will not help them. So, faith and works must always go together. But ultimately, the decision belongs to God, because He alone knows the pure intention of each person. If a person does not have faith, perhaps they are in ignorance or invincible ignorance. We don’t know this concretely; only God does. But we must warn these people, saying, "You must also account for the lack of your faith. You cannot cover your sins solely with works of charity. This is not how it works. You cannot blind God or deceive Him. This is not possible."