Paul and James are two of the founding fathers of the brand-new church commissioned by Christ to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). The letters they wrote to young Christians across the Roman Empire are included in the New Testament. But there is a point where these two respected leaders are sometimes accused of contradicting each other. Paul’s letters insist that our actions, our “works”, cannot reconcile us to God; only faith in Jesus can do so. However, the one letter that we have from James asks if faith can save, and says that faith without works is useless. What is going on?
Nothing nefarious is happening. Paul and James are not contradictory; rather, they are complementary. Each would agree with what the other wrote. Actually, they probably did: They were writing at about the same time, 50-60 A.D., and these letters tended to circulate among all the churches in addition to their original recipient. Paul and James could easily have been aware of one another’s writings.
In fact, the book of Acts recounts their meeting in person more than once (Acts 15:1-22, Acts 21:15-19). The meeting in Acts 15 is known as the “Council of Jerusalem” that discussed this very issue. The Council’s ruling, issued by James, was that Gentile Christians in the churches Paul was starting would not be required to follow the entire Judaic law.
So why do their letters have such disparate statements? Because they are discussing two sides of the same coin.
Paul: Salvation Is By Faith Alone
For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.
Romans 3:28, Galatians 2:16
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a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
Paul was teaching the face side of the coin: The reason that Jesus came, died, and rose again was to provide the salvation that could not be gained by any amount of good works. If you and I could put in enough effort to atone for our sin by ourselves, then Jesus and His sacrifice would not have been necessary.
Someone may ask “Why is God so picky? Why won’t He give us a chance to make things right ourselves?” If He were a lesser god, that might be possible. The gods of other religions, from Zeus to the many Egyptian and Hindu gods and on to Allah of Islam, are said to give or withhold their favor based on their subjects’ behavior. Say the right prayers, give the right offerings, make the right sacrifices and you’ll be OK. Step out of line, do/say/wear the wrong thing, and you’re in trouble.
The God Who revealed Himself in the Bible is bigger than that. Yes, of course, He is pleased by some behavior and displeased by others. However, that is secondary to the true issue: He wants an authentic relationship with us. That relationship must be based on the facts: He is God, and we are not. As God, He deserves reverence and obedience from His creations. As an infinitely loving God, He deserves love in return…a love which results in cheerful trusting compliance, not grudging do-it-or-else mock subservience.
What He receives instead is worse than simple disobedience. He gets a creation that tries to take His place! Underlying any sinful action is the conceit that my life is my own. Satan’s first temptation to Eve was “God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5, my emphasis). We all still want to “be like God”, with the power to determine our own destinies. It’s not His fault that that is just plain not true!
A second issue is that I have nothing of my own to give to God anyway. Everything I could offer is already His. He’s the Creator, remember? Any material object is something He created and owns. Any action would have to happen with the body and abilities that come from Him. Nothing I have is really mine; it’s all His.
That is why it is so incredible that He still loves me so much that He came in person to rescue me. I don’t have to stay lost and separated from Him. I can be redeemed and welcomed back into His arms. All it takes is faith: trusting that what Jesus did is sufficient, that He is able and willing to carry me, that I can be justified as if I had His righteousness. Nothing else is needed.
James: Faith Without Works Is Dead
What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
James 2:14-26
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But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
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You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
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For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
James is teaching the other side of the coin: Encountering and accepting Jesus as Savior is life-changing. A life that is unchanged demonstrates a hollow, fake excuse for faith.
If we think about it, that is true in every area of life. For instance, someone at work says “I trust you” and gives you an important responsibility to carry out…then hovers constantly, micro-managing every decision you make and countermanding every instruction you give to subordinates. How trusted do you feel? Or, in personal life, someone says “I love you”…but shows no inclination to spend time with you or do anything that pleases you. Instead, they do whatever they want with whomever they want without giving any thought to how that betrays you. Lots of love, right?
It’s the same with faith in Jesus. Saying the words while living with no more thought of Him that I had before being saved doesn’t inspire much confidence. As the saying goes: “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” That can be a sobering thought, challenging me to let my faith show more clearly in my actions.
The Greek language used to write James’ letter did not have any punctuation characters. Commas, periods, and quotations must be determined by context. But if he had had scare quotes available to him, I strongly suspect that James would have written:
If someone says he has faith but it doesn’t show in their actions, can that “faith” save him?
Both Paul and James: Justified by Faith First, Which Results In Works that Justify
Paul and James both use the word “justify”, in two separate-but-related connotations. Paul says that we are justified — made righteous — only by faith in Jesus. James says that, once that happens, we are justified — shown to be authentic — by our actions. Both are correct.
We need first faith, then works that result from that faith. What we don’t need are either faithless works, or workless faith!
Note: Other articles speaking to this topic include “Good Person? Wrong Answer!” and “Life with Jesus: More than just Activities“.