The Book of James is rich with practical wisdom, but there’s one verse in particular that causes so many to stumble.
Here’s the issue. In a number of places in Scripture it says clearly that salvation is by faith, and not by works
Rom 4:4-5:
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
Rom 11:6
6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
Eph 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
But when we come to James 2:24, it says this:
24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
Taken out of context this appears as a problem as it seems to say the opposite of Eph 2:8-9 where salvation is not by works.
If James 2:24 says that we are saved by Jesus but also by works, then
1) All those other Scriptures we read in Romans, Galatians and Eph are wrong
2) The Christian faith is no different than any other faith in the world which says salvation is through works
And it would mean that
3) Jesus’ death would be considered insufficient as it would mean he didn’t save completely.
And that’s a big deal.
People are quick to assume that James is contradicting Paul. But that assumption is often based without looking into the context.
Yet context is key to understanding.
I want to encourage you that IF you read all this, you will understand WHAT James was saying, WHY he said it, and the CHALLENGE he issues to you and me.
So let’s look at the story behind the letter of James.
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Throughout James we will be finding clues that point to the meaning of James 2:24, our text in question. Our first clue will come quick based just on the recipients.
The letter of James could also be called The Letter to the Church Abroad. In v. 1 it says
“To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:”
We really don’t know for sure why they were scattered, perhaps because of the great persecution in Acts 8, the famine mentioned in Acts 12, or just that they had heard the gospel while in Israel for the festivals and had returned to their homes.
Regardless we do know that they were Jewish (“twelve tribes”(v. 1), “one God” (ref to Shema-Deut 6:4)) James 2:19)
More important we know that they were followers of Jesus.
* 15x it says they are brothers
* He calls them “believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” (2:1)
* People who followed “the noble name of whom you belong” (2:7)
This is clue #1: James was written to believers, not unbelievers.
The significance is that he was not writing to people who needing salvation, but they were already followers of Jesus.
But, there was a problem. They were starting to look more like the world than the set apart people of God:
James 4:4 You adulterous people,[a] don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
They were
1) Claiming faith but they were not being doers of the word in their care for the burdened such as the widows/orphans and the needy.
2) They had little love for others, showing favoritism, complaining about others, ignoring the needy, hoarding wealth, etc…
3) They were double-minded, serving self oftentimes more than God
So James had to write to deal with these issues.
1) His subject was caring for those in need
2) He reminded them of the Royal Law that says — Jms 2:8 – If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.
3) He used Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Why? Because it was all about relationships.
Caring for those in need, loving one another, and growing in our relationships are very different topics than what Paul was addressing.
We see in Roman, Galatians and Ephesian 1-3 that Paul was clearly focusing on salvation issues. That’s why we see words such as the gospel, sin, the Law, baptism, the cross, etc….
James on the other hand was focusing on relationship issues – which is why he discusses widows, orphans, rich, poor, words, speaking kindly to one another, not hoarding wealth, etc…. His subjects was on loving one another.
But doesn’t James mention “save” 1x and “righteousness,” a couple of times? Yes, and we’re going to address that.
Just know that before, during and after James 2 it’s all about relationships. The whole letter from beginning to end is James speaking about loving action in our relationships.
And this is clue #2 – The subject of James is relationships (not salvation).
Here’s the significance.
Paul’s Focus: Salvation through faith in Christ
James’ Focus: Living the Christian Life through Loving One another.
Two Different Issues, Two Different Contexts.
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James 2:24 which says a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone which is what we are studying. And we are going to get our next clue from the immediate context of this verse where we see words such as action/do/deeds 11x.
We must ask then, What are these deeds?
We know that they are not deeds of the Law because James says in v. 10 that “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” He is not advocating the Old Testament Law.
So let’s look at the broader context leading up to these verses that is going to show us what these deeds look like. He is going to give us 3 examples:
1) Loving Widows/orphans (1:26-27)
Pure and faultless faith looks after those who can’t take care of themselves. Pure and faultless faith loves people such as this.
2) The Poor (2:1-4)
He rebuked the believers for catering to the rich person and not giving equal treatment to the poor. It says you have discriminated against them and become judges with evil thoughts.
His overall rebuke was that they were not demonstrating love.
Then in the very text we are looking at, he talks about the
3) Hungry and those without enough clothing 2:14-17)
He says they present their needs, but you do nothing.
Then we come to James 2:14-26 where it is all about deeds, actions and what you do
What are those deeds?
Deeds of love.
This fits the near context of his 3 examples of the widows, the poor man and the hungry as well as his 3 references to the law of freedom 2x and the royal law of love.
And it fits the context in the book which is about relationships.
What James is saying is that without love is dead and useless.
Clue #3 – The deeds are deeds of trusting God in the context of loving others – not laws.
Significance – Those who profess faith+works try to narrow the works to faith+love+giving money, attendance, following ordinances, practices, etc… but the Scriptures says that the deeds are simply love—caring for one another. The fruit of our salvation expresses itself in love.
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” – 1 Jn 4:8
Now let’s look at the text.
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2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
It says clearly that faith that if not accompanied by action is dead. As we saw previously, it actually says this several times that it is a dead and useless faith. Then it asks, “can such faith save them?”
Let’s look at this in two parts, starting with the dead faith vs faith with action. In James 3:17 it uses the illustration of “good fruit.”
If we came upon a tree that has living branches, leaves, fruit and something that provides nourishment for others, we have every indication to believe it is alive and well.
James says this looks like relationships marked with sincerity, purity, impartiality, honor, peace, mercy, humility, consideration
If we come across another tree that does not have leaves, fruit, living branches, nourishment to others, etc… it’s safe to say it is dead as there is evidence of life.
Dead faith looks like faith no different than demons, no care for the poor, the widow, those in need and just selfishness.
It is good only for the fire (Mt 3:10).
If you came upon these two trees, you could look and find evidence that one is alive, and likewise find evidence that one of the trees is dead.
Fruit doesn’t save the tree. If it did, we would just need to go buy a bag of fruit and hang it from the tree. But if a tree naturally has fruit that comes from its roots and branches, it is evidence that the tree is indeed alive.
Good deeds do not save us, but deeds are evidence that the tree is alive.
If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; Jn 15:5
Now to the second part, can such a faith “save” him?
First of all “save” does not always mean salvation. It can mean rescue, deliver, escape, etc…
Php 1:19 – I know this will turn out for my deliverance (soter)
1 Tim 2:15 – saved by childbirth
But let’s just say it is salvation.
The Scriptures say that those who are in Christ are made alive in him ).
Romans 6:11
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:22
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
Ephesians 2:1
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins
Ephesians 2:5
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Colossians 2:13
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
That life is evidenced by the fruit of deeds of love.
In the same way if there is no fruit of works of love in our life, as in nothing at all, can we be certain that we are alive in Christ? No. We cannot.
Of course we will fail all the time, that’s why we need grace. It’s important to understand he gift of salvation is given, but the fruit of love grows, which takes time. But If we abide and stay connected to Jesus, practicing love for one another, he grows fruit through us (Jn 15).
CLUE #4 – Their faith is the issue, that it had evidence of life. Not the quality or quantity of their deeds.
That is clue #4 but clue #5 is going to be even more indicative. James starts this next section by giving 3 examples of faith that expresses itself through action.
Demons
Abraham
Rahab
First, let’s look at what he says about demons.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Someone is bound to say, there are two types of people—those who have faith, and those who have deeds.
James says the kind of faith that does not have deeds is no different than that of demons. They too believe in one God and shudder.
Demons truly believe in God. And their faith has evidence in what they believe as they shudder at the thought of Him. So to the person who says some have faith, others have deeds, their faith is no different and even less than that of demons.
What we believe about anything is always evidenced by the things we do.
Second let’s look at Abraham.
20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”[e] and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.
A word used throughout depending on your translation is “justified” or “considered righteous.” It’s a word used throughout Scripture in several difference senses.
1) Pertaining to salvation before God – Rom 3:4,20,24,26,28 – 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace
2) Proven, or Evidenced, shown to be right – Lk 7:29, 35- (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right v. 35)
According to Gen 15 Abraham was considered righteous through his faith in the seed which was the (Messiah). You can read more about this in Galatians 3 and Romans 4. He was considered righteous prior to offering Isaac on the altar (Gen 22:12).
He already had a saving faith in the Messiah, but his faith was proven when he trusted God by obeying him, offering Isaac on the altar.
Some will say, ‘this is proof that deeds therefore are required for salvation’…which deed did Abraham do?
He offered his son Isaac.
So do we need to go around offering our children on the altar? No!
Then others will say it was his obedience that was his ‘work of righteousness’ that saved him.
But this text says clearly his deed was offering Isaac in v. 21:
“Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar”
Next we have Rahab. She was a prostitute and when the Israeli spies came, she had a choice. Turn them away and side with her towns people, or trust that the God of Israel was God and protect the spies.
What was her deed for which she was “considered righteous”? Offering to lodge and hide spies. So do we need to go around hiding spies in our home? No.
The point was that she trusted God, risking her life for Him. She had every reason not to hide the spies, but she did, because her trust in God in this moment was stronger than her fear of the people.
So when it comes to Abraham and Rahab, we see clue #5:
Clue #5 – The deeds of Abraham and Rahab were deeds of trusting God, not deeds that we would associate with salvation
Both Abraham and Rahab risked life for what they believed, proving their faith was more than just acknowledging truth but living out the truth.
Hell-bent demons, a hero of the faith (Abraham), and a harlot all demonstrated their faith by their response. What we do has always been the evidence of what we believe in every area of our life.
Then inserted here is one more illustration.
“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead”
Those who are alive have movement—the heart beats, the lungs breathe, the brains have waves, etc…. If you are alive, it’s impossible NOT to move. In the same way those have living faith have movement—deeds of love.
they care for those who cannot care for themselves (Jms 1,2), they practice mercy, sincerity, purity, impartiality, etc… (Jms 3:17), and they grow in love in their relationships towards one another
As I’m writing this it’s 110 F/ 43.3 C heat index outside and my kitty is zonked out sleeping next to me. He looks like he is dead he is so still. So I look to make sure he is alive. When I see his chest rise and fall or his lips wiggle, I know he is alive.
This is what James is doing. He sees that the scattered believers are not practicing love for those those in dire need. He is looking for signs of breath and for the Christian that means loving one another. He encourages them that if their faith is alive, they will practice love.
James wrote chapter 2 here as he was dealing with the problem that the believers were beginning to look just like the world in their relationships and in their care for others. He wrote to let them know that our faith is meant to be lived out through loving one another.
If Abraham and Hagar were able to put their faith in God to the point of potential death, then so we too must live out our faith even at great risk. All believers are to follow the royal law which is to love one another.
Now love has truth and it has boundaries according to Scripture, not like today’s definition, but we never have an excuse not to live out Biblical love. Loving others is the fruit of faith.
So let’s review our initial concerns:
1) Are all the previous Scriptures wrong and Jms 2:24 contradictory? — They are not contradictory but rather complementary. Paul was talking about salvation, and James was talking about living that salvation out.
2) Is the Christian faith no different than any other faith in the world? Absolutely not—All other faiths in the world you have to earn your salvation by your good deeds. And in none of these does anyone ever know when ‘enough’ good deeds are done. But in Christ salvation is a gift. One that cannot be earned and worked for in any way at all. And when we receive him, it makes us alive in Christ, living from His favor not for his favor. The fruit is that we grow in love for one another.
3) Was Jesus’ death was insufficient and unable to save completely? Nothing could be further from the truth. Hebrews 7:25 says that he “saves completely” those who come to God through him. It’s not about whether we of ourselves are enough or if we do enough, but rather that He is enough and did it all on the cross.