Is a person saved by grace through faith alone? Or is salvation the product of faith combined with works?
James wrote, “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 as righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:21–24).
Yet, the apostle Paul said, “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’” (Romans 4:2,3).
Notice that Paul and James quoted the very same scripture to support their arguments, which, at first glance, seem to be contradictory.
James wrote only the one epistle, but Paul wrote several, and was consistent in his teaching that justification comes by way of faith alone. He insisted that “God reckons righteousness apart from works” (verse 6), and stated unequivocally, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9). He sharply rebuked certain false teachers among the Galatians for teaching that justification comes through a means other than faith.
The solution to the seeming conflict between Paul and James lies in understanding the meaning of justification, and the way both writers used this term.
When Paul spoke of being justified by faith alone, he used the term to denote one’s legal standing before God. In other words, to be “justified” is to be forgiven of sins and declared righteous before God. No quantity of good works can produce this state of justification. It is granted to sinners, not on the condition that they first produce an impressive record of righteous deeds, but on the basis of faith alone! That’s what Paul meant when he said that Abraham’s belief (faith) was counted as righteousness.
However, the term justification is not restricted to one narrow definition or nuance of meaning. Not only can the term mean “to be made righteous,” it can also mean “to show to be righteous, or just.” James had this meaning in mind when he wrote of justification.
James wrote, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” (James 2:14).
The answer is obvious: No, a faith that produces no works is not saving faith. James’s point was that if faith is genuine—if it’s the kind of faith through which a person is saved—then it will produce evidence of its existence. He didn’t mean that a person can be made right with God only after he has performed sufficient works. He meant that if a person has been made righteous before God—not on the basis of his own merits, but by grace through genuine faith—then his faith will be reflected in his behavior.
Paul spoke of the faith that God sees, while James spoke of the faith that man sees. God knows whether we have real faith—saving faith—for He looks upon the heart. But man cannot look upon the heart; therefore, the only way men can “see” faith is by the works it produces.
James continued, “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, if it does not have works, is dead” (2:15–17).
James meant simply that if faith produces no works, then it’s not faith at all—that is, it’s not the kind of faith that pleases God. Merely saying that one has faith is not evidence of real faith, for real faith manifests itself in the way a person conducts his life.
Continue: “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” (verse 18).
Notice that James was speaking of what men are able to see. Men, unlike God, can see faith only by the works it produces.
James pointed out that there is a belief that produces no works, no positive response to God, and that such belief is of little value. He wrote, “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?” (verses 19,20).
Belief in the existence of God is a good belief, but such belief is not necessarily evidence of true faith. It may be a form of faith, but if it produces no works, it is useless—it’s not the kind of faith that saves. James pointed out that even the demons “believe,” but their belief is not the kind of belief that results in good works or a change in behavior.
To make his point clear, James illustrated the nature of true faith by pointing to the action producing faith of Abraham.
“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” (verses 21–24).
For James, “faith only” meant fruitless faith, or faith that produces nothing, and “works” were inseparable from the trusting spirit (faith) that motivates them.
James was not saying that Abraham achieved righteousness by his works; he was saying that Abraham was shown to be righteous by his works. In other words, evidence of real faith was seen in Abraham’s obedience to God. Had Abraham refused to obey God’s command to offer Isaac, then we may well conclude that Abraham’s faith was not the faith that is reckoned as righteousness.
His “faith was working together with his works”—that is, his faith was producing works. The internal quality of faith was made evident by the things Abraham did.
James said that “by works faith was made perfect.” The Greek word translated “made perfect” is teleioo, which means “to bring to an end by completing or perfecting,” and is used “of accomplishing” and “of bringing to completeness” (W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 846). Christ said that His “power is made perfect [teleioo] in weakness,” which means that His power is shown most perfectly when human weakness is present (see 2 Corinthians 12:9).
Abraham’s faith was shown most perfectly, or made clearly evident, by the works it produced. His works were the end result, the accomplishment, of his faith.
James said that “the Scripture was fulfilled,” and then quoted Genesis 15:6, the very same verse Paul quoted in showing that justification is granted through faith alone. By reading Genesis 15 and subsequent chapters, you will notice that Abraham’s belief (faith) was “accounted to him for righteousness” years before he was called upon to offer Isaac! James obviously meant that the faith God had seen in Abraham’s heart many years earlier was demonstrated in Abraham’s obedience. Again, his obedience was the end-result, or accomplishment, of his faith.
James then cited another example of faith. He wrote, “Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?” (verse 25).
Rahab believed that God was with the people of Israel, that Israel’s God was the true God, and she acted according to her belief. Again, faith (belief) produced action (works). Thus, the record of Rahab’s works—her act of receiving the messengers and of sending them out another way—shows us that Rahab had a real belief in God and in the promises He had made to Israel. Rahab was “justified” in that she was shown to be right, or to have a right attitude and perspective, by the things she did. Her outward actions demonstrated her inward faith.
James went on to explain, “For just as the body without the spirit [breath, or life principle] is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” In other words, if faith does not produce works, it is not the kind of faith that pleases God—it is dead, useless.
By no means did James say that one can achieve a right standing before God by doing good works. He said that faith, if it is the kind of faith that pleases God, will produce works, thus making its presence evident to those of us who, unlike God, cannot look into a person’s heart.
That’s precisely what Paul said in Ephesians 2:8–10: “For by grace you have been saved [justified: forgiven, declared righteous] through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Good works cannot produce salvation, but they always accompany salvation.
Clearly, there is no disagreement between James’s and Paul’s teachings on faith, works, and justification. It’s simply a matter of understanding what each meant when using these terms.