49. Once we accept that this is the origin of good works, it becomes clear that faith alone can never produce or give birth to any of the works that are known as fruits, any more than a woman by herself without a man can produce any offspring. Therefore “the fruits of faith” is a made-up, meaningless expression.

Nothing in the whole universe was or is ever produced unless it comes from a marriage of two things, one of which relates to goodness and the other to truth, or else one of which relates to evil and the other to falsity. Therefore no works could even be conceived, let alone born, if these two elements did not enter into a kind of marriage. Good actions are produced by a marriage of goodness and truth; evil actions are produced by a marriage of evil and falsity.

105. 25 Roman Catholics today are not at all aware that their church once embraced concepts of the assigning of Christ’s merit to us and of our justification by faith in that. These concepts lie completely buried beneath their external rituals of worship, which are many. Therefore if Catholics give up some of their external rituals, turn directly to God the Savior Jesus Christ, and take both elements in the Holy Eucharist, they are better equipped than Protestants to become part of the New Jerusalem, that is, the Lord’s new church.