Faith and works
James 2:14-26: What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ”Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus, also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ”You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ”Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. (NKJV)
How are we supposed to understand this text? At a first look, it seems that James´ words contradicts Pauls’ words in Romans 4:1-5:
What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ”Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. (NKJV)
Both Paul and James quotes Genesis 15:6, but seem to draw completely different conclusions. James argues that a man is justified by works and not by faith only, while Paul argues for the opposite conclusion. When we find passages in Scripture that seem to contradict each other, we can handle it in different ways. Either you receive what both passages say and try to harmonize them properly, or you just receive the one you like and try to explain away the other. Roman Catholics, who claim that we are accounted justified before God by faith plus deeds, like to defend their view by James 2, whereas they explain away Romans 4. Protestants, on the other hand, use Romans 4 to prove that we become and remain justified before God by faith only. Obedience to God play absolutely no role in our salvation, according to their view. Paradoxically, James 2:24 is the only verse containing the two words “faith” and” only” combined in the whole Bible, but it says that a man is not justified by faith only. If we are truly believing in both Romans and James as God´s inspired word, we should be eager to properly understand how we can harmonize them without explaining away either one of them.
In order to correctly understand Pauls’ and James words about faith and works, we need to find out if they are even dealing with the same issue. In Romans, the big theme is that no man can become righteous before God by keeping the Law of Moses. Paul explains that the purpose of the Law is not to make us righteous by obedience to all of its commandments. As humans, we cannot live in perfect obedience to Gods Law because of our sinful nature, which is hostile towards God (Rom 7:14-18; 8:3, 7–8). Instead, the purpose of the (mosaic) Law was to reveal our sins and convince each one of us that we are sinners, who have come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:19-20, 23). When we really understand that we cannot break the power of sin in our lives, but realize that we are slaves under it and our selfishness, we will understand our need of a Savior from our sins. Then you will utter, like Paul:” O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death (Rom 7:24, KJV). Because the Law requires perfect obedience of us if we want to become righteous before God by it, it is impossible for us deserve eternal life through the way of obeying all the commandments of the Law (Gal 3:10-12).
In Romans 4, Paul explains that Abraham was declared righteous before God because of his faith in Gods´ promise that his offspring would eventually be as numerous as the stars in heaven, even though he at that time could not get a child with his wife Sarah. Abraham was declared righteous because of his faith, 430 years before God even gave the Law on Mount Sinai (Gal 3:17). Paul had to struggle with false teachers who claimed that even the gentiles had to become circumcised and keep the Law in order to become justified. Paul strongly opposed this false teaching, because the one who want to add obedience to the Law to faith in Christ, will have to obey everything in order to be saved (Gal 3:10; 5:2–4). When Paul explained that a man is saved by faith, apart from works, he is talking about the works of the Law of Moses. In order to become born again and a child of God, you just need to believe in Jesus Christ, no circumcision or any other commandments in the Law of Moses is required of anyone.
But, is James talking about the same thing? Is he contradicting Paul by claiming that a man is justified by faith plus obedience to the Law of Moses? No, he is not dealing with that issue at all. In James 2:10, we read that the one who obeys the whole Law, but fail to obey but one commandment, is guilty of violating the whole Law! That statement is in harmony with Pauls’ words in Gal 3:10. James also writes in 3:2 that we all offend in many ways. We can thereby conclude that James statement in 2:24, that a man is justified by works and not by faith only, cannot mean that we have to obey the whole Law in order to be saved. What, then, does James mean?
What he means is that true faith in God always causes a person to live in obedience to his words (James 1:22). The one who truly loves God, will keep his words (1 John 2:5). When the faith of Abraham was tested by Gods´ command to sacrifice his son Isak, Abraham obeyed God, even though it was through that very son the Messiah would come. His faith was like that of a little child and he trusted that God could rise up Isak from the dead, if necessary, because he really believed Gods´ promises (Heb 11:17-19). True love to God causes us to believe everything from God (1 Cor 13:7). Like a child obeys its parents, Gods ‘true children trust the words of God and prove that their trust is real by their obedience.
James mentions three times that faith is dead by itself, if it does not have works (2:17, 20 and 26). What James is talking about is not works of the Law, but works of faith. True faith is proved by good deeds, such as taking care of orphans and widows (James 1:27) and giving food and clothes to hungry and naked people (2:15-16). True faith is active and powerful and causes those who have it to do deeds of love to other persons. This teaching is in perfect harmony with Paul. He writes in Gal 5:6 that faith worketh by love. In 2 Thess. 1:3, Paul praises the church in Thessalonica because their faith grows and the love, they have for each other abounds. In Romans 6:16 he is even mentioning that obedience will cause righteousness.
James words about being justified by works and not by faith only is also in harmony with the words from Jesus own mouth. In Matt 25:34–40, Jesus explains that those who will inherit eternal life in Gods´ kingdom are people who have done good deeds, for example, given food, clothes and shelter to poor people, and visited sick and imprisoned people (especially to other suffering Christians). These things are example of the good fruits of faith, which prove that a person has known Christ and remained in him (John 15:1–10).
After this investigation, I think we can see that there is in fact no contradiction between Paul and James, but they have exactly the same understanding of justification. James is dealing with the issue of a dead faith versus a living faith and explains that no one can become justified by faith only, without obedience to God and good deeds. Paul, on the other hand, is dealing with those who claimed that one has to become circumcised and obey Old Testament commandments in order to be saved. He explained that no obedience to the specific laws of Moses are necessary for salvation.
