The Catholic position on faith and works is clear. There is no misrepresentation on my part. The Roman Catholic church clearly teaches salvation by faith AND WORKS. Period.
Works are an essential part of faith "infuses" works "into" faith and which results in faith "is" these works. That is the error that kept me tripped up prior to my conversion. I basically defined faith "as" works (just as you are now) so saved through faith became saved through faith AND WORKS. Believers are created in Christ Jesus unto/for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10) Just because God prepared these good works beforehand that we should walk in them does not mean we call them God's works, as if God did the works for us. We are the one's who accomplish these good works. We are not passive as these good works are being accomplished. Your argument is just smoke and mirrors and is a vain attempt to "get around" multiple passages of scripture that make it clear we are not saved by works and try to make those passages say we are saved by "these" works and just not "those" works. Sugar coated double talk.
Seeking salvation by works is not cooperating with saving grace. We are justified by faith and have access by faith into grace.. (Romans 5:1-2) Hiding a treasure in a hole and doing nothing with it represents unbelief.
In other words, you rely on His finished work (at best for the most part) yet you also trust in works that you accomplish (at least in part). You teach salvation by faith AND WORKS no matter how much you try and sugar coat it.
After a casual reading of the parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46), one might conclude that salvation is the result of good works, yet all scripture proves itself to be non-contradictory when compared with the totality of scripture - scripture must harmonize with scripture. This passage needs to be taken alongside the whole of scripture. Jesus was not advocating salvation by works, as you assume. That would be contrary to (Romans 4:4-6; Ephesians 2:8,9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5) etc...
One's works are an effect of (and therefore indication of) one's salvation status, rather than being a cause of one's salvation. This is not performance based salvation, but salvation based performance. The good deeds mentioned in Matthew 25:35-36 is the fruit that will be manifested in the lives of the redeemed. Those who are placed at Christ's right hand are not there based on the merits of their good works, but because righteousness was imputed to them on the basis of faith, not works. (Romans 4:2-6; Philippians 3:9). When works are mentioned in connection with salvation, the works are always the result of, not the condition/basis/means of, receiving salvation. The stress is on works as a manifestation of one's faith (or lack thereof), not simply on the faith from which these works follow.
So it's understandable that in this context, Matthew would stress works which are a manifestation of faith (James 2:14) by which one receives eternal life. Notice also how "practicing righteousness and love for his brother" is an indication of one's salvation status: 1 John 3:10 - In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. He who practices righteousness and loves his brother does so BECAUSE he is born of God not in order to become born of God. 1 John 3:14 - We know that we have (past tense) passed from death to life, because we love our brothers (present tense). Loving our brothers is the result of, not the condition of passing from death to life.
