Faith Works

Scripture Reading: James 2:14-26

Martin Luther famously called James a “right strawy epistle.” He did so because he said it lacked an explanation of the gospel. Some have struggled with James because of the kind of things he says about works in this text. But seen in the whole and compared with the larger context of the New Testament, James isn’t saying anything different than Jesus or Paul. His emphasis might be on a different note, but he is singing the same song.

James isn’t denying salvation by grace through faith and arguing for salvation by good works. If you read this text carefully, he is arguing for faith. He wants to see the faith of others and says he wants to show his faith to others.

I think the problem we have is when James says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” Those who are familiar with the “five solas” know that we are saved by faith alone! “Sola Fide” is number two on the list! The problem is we are making the mistake of importing into James our language (which is great language) and not reading what James is saying in the context.

James uses two illustrations to make his point. Abraham’s offering up of Isaac was a work and Rahab’s hiding of the spies was a work. The point James is making is that these works were the fruit of faith. You might also want to notice that James quotes the important text that says, “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

So, taken as a whole we see that James is saying that the evidence for saving faith is life. “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” And life is animated. It does stuff. A dead body just lies there. It doesn’t move, it doesn’t hear, it doesn't speak. It is dead. Saving faith produces spiritual life. It has the fruit of works. It doesn’t just lie there.

James is arguing against the idea that someone can claim to have saving faith and it never results in or produces any works. It is not that works saves. It is that faith that saves works.