Messed up theology is circulating through Christian circles that misuses scripture in an attempt to capture headlines and generate clicks. By creating controversy where none exists, individuals seeking notoriety, fabricate problems and then offer their solutions. Regarding the epistle of James, the brother of Jesus is accused of teaching untruths and preaching a different gospel.
Was James at odds with the teachings of Paul regarding faith and grace? Did these two New Testament writers disagree about salvation? Was James wrong to say, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such a faith save him?” (James 2:14). Was he in error to say, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead,” (James 2:17).
There are those who would assume that James implies that a person is righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. And they contrast his position with Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”
By claiming that James and Paul did not agree, someone with an incorrect understanding of scripture can conclude that James was wrong, bringing the credibility of scripture into question, and confusing the foundation of Christian belief.
This logic asserts that “James taught that if you don’t have works with your faith, then your faith is no more than the faith of a demon, proving he was not teaching the gospel.”
WHAT JAMES ACTUALLY SAID WAS
What James actually said was: “But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe the is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did,” (James 2:18–22).
Recognizing that Paul’s emphasis in Ephesians 2:8–9, was to dismantle the argument that salvation can be earned, while James addressed the issue of empty claims of faith without evidence, the two perspectives are not contradictory. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul states, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
The writer of Hebrews states that Jesus is, “the source of salvation for all who obey Him,” (Hebrews 5:9). In other words, we are saved by the death of Jesus but we must be obedient to be saved. Jesus declared, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
Similarly, Jesus conveyed in Matthew 26:31–46, that the righteous served the needy and were rewarded with eternal life, while those who did not will go away to eternal punishment. Faith and works are two sides of the same coin. Genuine faith is evidenced by a life dedicated to serving the King of kings, Jesus Christ. Our deeds give our faith life that benefits others.
BIBLICAL FAITH
Biblical faith is much more than intellectual assent. (https://www.partneredwithchrist.com/a-paradigm-of-unbelief/). In order to be authentic, faith must go hand in hand with producing fruit. True faith is demonstrated through action. Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness; however, he packed wood on a donkey, journeyed three days to Moriah, built an altar, and offered his only son Isaac in faith, as God instructed him (Genesis 22: 1–18).
When Joshua led the Israelites against Jericho, they marched around the city for seven days before they shouted and the walls came down (Joshua 6:2–5). God brought the walls down, not the Israelites’ marching, but the people’s faith demonstrated through their obedience was necessary for God to show His power.
Luke 5:18–20 tells of when Jesus healed a paralytic. “Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.
“When Jesus saw their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’” True faith is visible through action.
When He healed a blind man, Jesus instructed him to wash in the Pool of Siloam and his sight was restored (John 9:7). Jesus healed him–washing in the pool was circumstantial. But by following Jesus’s instructions, the man was healed.
Luke 8:43–48 records the incident of the woman who was subject to bleeding for twelve years. “She came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped,” (Luke 8:44). Jesus told her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you,” (Luke 8:48). Her faith, demonstrated through action resulted in the power of Christ stopping her bleeding.
FAITH PRECEDES ACTION AND ACTION VERIFIES FAITH
Faith precedes action and action verifies faith. We are saved by grace–through faith. Grace means unmerited favor; therefore, salvation is by grace apart from human merit. Faith without obedience is feigned. Its like attempting to run a race but never leaving the starting blocks.
Paul doesn’t dismiss obedience in his letter to the Ephesians. He states at the beginning of the second chapter, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient,” (Ephesians 2:1–2). Paul highlights that disobedience means following the ways of Satan and cannot conform to faith in Christ.
Jesus said, “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15). Repentance means following Christ while simultaneously turning away from sin. The same Paul who wrote Ephesians, also declares in Acts:26:20, “First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.”
We engage in good works as authentication of our faith, not to earn favor with God. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you–unless, of course, you fail the test?”
When we walk by the Spirit, we will produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), and Jesus said, “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them,” (Matthew 7:20). Whoever claims to have faith but does not bear fruit is a counterfeit Christian.
James does not deny that faith saves; he does however qualify the type of faith that saves. Faith that produces good works is a saving faith. Faith that generates surrender to Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings, to serve Him, is real faith. James is clear that we can never be justified by keeping the law of Moses (James 2:10–11).
Paul is actually in perfect unison with James. In Galatians 5:6, he writes, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” James shares the same sentiments in James 2:15–17, “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Modern hyper-grace theology teaches that everyone is saved simply by saying they believe in Jesus, even if they continue to live without regard for the holiness He admonished His followers to pursue. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will obey what I command,” (John 14:15). James wasn’t wrong. Hyper-grace antinomianism theology is wrong.
We are justified by faith alone, but true faith is never alone. James teaches that authentic faith is inseparable from good deeds. If we truly trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our faith will be evident to all by the way we live. “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus walked,” (1 John 2:6).
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