For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Rom 3:28)I ask you ... could there be a more blatant contradiction? Isn't this absolute proof that Scripture is not inerrant or even God-breathed? The problem is exacerbated by the fact that both Paul and James use the same source to prove their position -- Abraham (Rom 4:1-3; James 2:23). The truth is, no, this isn't a contradiction. The question only arises because we're too often too lazy to read, to analyze, to pay attention. Take a look.
You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:24)
Taken as "prooftexts," they contradict. But that would be a mistake. What is the context? What is each author trying to convey? Paul is trying to convey that we are not saved by doing good works. No doubt. He talks about this all over his writings. Good works don't save. We're not even capable on our own. It is, in fact, one of the prime distinctives of Christianity, because every other religion operates on a "saved by works" basis. So ... what is James talking about? He says, "Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:17; James 2:26). He brackets his arguments with this premise. He argues that "demons believe." It's not ... simple faith. What, then? In Paul's use of Abraham, he refers to "early Abraham" (Gen 15:6). It is God's promise to Abraham, God's covenant. James looks elsewhere. "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?" (James 2:21). That's Genesis 22. That's something else entirely. Paul is saying, "Justification begins at faith" and James is saying, "Faith is proven by works." James is saying, "We are justified by faith alone, but not by faith that is alone." James is saying, "Faith without works is dead faith ... and that doesn't save anyone."
Christians are often reluctant to talk about works. Understandable. It's been abused ... starting in the New Testament. So others have done the backlash version. It's called "antinomianism" and it argues "no rules." Scripture disagrees. So Paul says, "Justification is by faith, not works" and James says, "We're talking about a specific kind of faith ... a faith that works." And, in fact, Paul said the same thing.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10)It begins as "faith apart from works" and ends with "for good works." Do your works reflect a life-changing faith? If not, you might be carrying around a dead faith.
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As a sidenote, part of the problem is "Christianese." "Justification" generally means "right with God" ... but not always. Jesus said, "Wisdom is justified by her deeds" (Matt 11:19), for instance. That's not "Wisdom is made right in the eyes of God." That is, "Wisdom is proved to be right by the outcome." In the same way, Paul talks about "justification by faith" in the sense of being right with God, but James talks about "justification" in the James 2 text in terms of "proven right." Abraham was proven to have ... living faith when he acted in faith to sacrifice Isaac.
4 comments:
As your side note indicates, we so often get lost when we associate words with specific meaning when some words have a spectrum of meaning. Or we associate to words that have a relationship and make them mean the same thing, like election and salvation. They are associated, but they don't mean the same thing, and you won't have one without the other. But when we tie them together as meaning the same thing, we end up misunderstanding when someone posits that there are no conditions for election, when we do know there are conditions for salvation.
I know those two proof texts you cited do cause trouble for many people; however, your explanation of this apparent contradiction is easy to understand and thoroughly sensible. While whole books have been written on this topic (I own a scant few of them), this post sums it up nicely. (And you were right yesterday--“a practicing Christian” could have been the subtitle for today’s post, with Paul addressing the “Christian” part and James, the “practicing.”)
If the New Testament is read through in book order, one will first read many of Paul’s epistles, which stress that trust in Christ’s imputed righteousness alone brings us personal salvation, before eventually encountering the Book of James--near the end of all one’s reading--telling us that justification is more than intellectual assent to the gospel truths. As you say, those two notions are not contradictory but complementary. I just read that the Book of James is “probably the oldest New Testament epistle,” so, it seems to me, James’ teaching was not an afterthought of sorts but an important enough point to make very early on. Paul says, “Works of the flesh--no matter how ‘good’ they are--will save no one”; while James says, “If there are no good works forthcoming upon believing on Christ, one’s faith is not likely the kind that will save.” Both Paul and James say that true saving faith brings life, and life brings growth, which produces the fruit of good works. Going to either extreme on the issue of “faith vs. works”--i.e. either antinomianism or legalism--is not striking the right balance nor considering the entire Bible’s teaching as a whole, to my mind.
Yesterday I mentioned the BE Books by Warren W. Wiersbe. Interestingly, his title for Romans is Be Right: How to Be Right with God, Yourself, and Others, and for James it is Be Mature: Growing Up in Christ. Since you quoted from those two epistles to begin your post--with verses that seem to contradict but don’t--I found it interesting to consider that our orthodoxy helps us be right in our thinking (i.e. holding correct doctrine), while our orthopraxy proves our faith to be mature in our living (i.e. displaying growth). Once again, I can see that Paul and James are not promoting contrasting teaching to New Testament readers.
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