371. JAMES: JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH AND WORKS
"The just shall live by faith"
When statements made by James and Paul about justification are plac ed side by side, there appears to be a contradiction of Scripture; namely:
€ Paul, "A man is justified by Faith without the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3:28).
€ James, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (Jas. 2:24).
Failure to understand this matter has led some to dismiss the writings of James as an "epistle of straw'. The aim of this lesson is to grasp the scriptural teaching of JUSTIFICATION and to appreciate the harmony of Paul and James upon the matter, so that our discipleship and teaching might be upon the firm foundation of understanding and reason.
James 2:14-26
WHAT IS JUSTIFICATION?
When Adam sinned he brought the sentence of death not only on him self but upon his posterity: "as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Rom. 5:12). This sin left men with a body mortal (subject to decay and death) and prone to sin. This could not be affirmed of man as God made him. The hereditary inclination to sin has led in fact to sin in all men, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. It was for this reason that Jesus was born of a virgin, by the intervention of God's power, so that he could conquer sin and triumph over the grave (Rom. 8:3).
The question arises, how can man, mortal by nature and prone to sin, be justified before God and live forever? Scriptural justification consists of a wiping away of a sinful past, a giving to men of a clear foundation whereon to build works unto life eternal. Because all men are sinners against God, they are guilty before Him (Rom. 3:9-19). The process whereby sinners are forgiven or reconciled to God is called justification. In the New Testament various words have almost the same meaning as the verb "to justify". We might look upon these as synonyms, viz "make righteous", "reconcile", "forgive", "save", etc. In fact they all do have slightly different ideas associated with them.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH AND WORKS.
Faith is confident anticipation of things hoped for (i.e. in the FUTURE), based upon the PAST from which it can be seen that God's promises and declarations have been fulfilled (Heb. 11:1; Rom. 4:21). Thus faith in God is not unreasonable but based upon the highest reason. Without faith, man cannot please God: favour with God demands as its first step belief in His existence and the understanding that men seek Him not in vain € "He is a rewarder of them, that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6).
There is nothing that sinful man can do of himself to enjoy God's favour. In his sinful state, belief or faith is the only way he can "give glory to God" (Rom. 4:20; Jn. 6:29). This faith in God opens the way for God's grace to cover man's sins, or "justify" him. In this sense salvation is of faith and not of works. Paul thus declares, "For by grace are ye sav ed THROUGH FAITH; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8-9). If man could by works commend himself to God, then essentially he could put God in his debt, demand salvation and boast of his accomplishment (Rom. 4:4). But in the matter of justification or salvation, it is man being reconciled to God, not God to man, so man must comply with the appointments of God.
But once a man is justified by God, WORKS will determine everything € a man will be judged "according to his WORKS" at the Judgment Seat, and not according to his "faith", which might be just a hollow profession (2 Cor. 5:10; Matt. 16:27). It is faith that inspires works, and works are the evidence of faith.
PAUL'S EMPHASIS ON FAITH.
Paul had to contend against the Jewish approach to God that by keep ing the Law of Moses € "the works of the Law" € they could find favour with God. He was at pains to point out that their concept was essentially wrong. He took the case of Abraham who, though he had much to glory of before man so far as works were concerned, had righteousness im puted to him (i.e. was justified) only when he believed God (Rom. 4:1-5; Gen. 15:6).
But Paul plainly taught the need for works to follow faith. Every ex hortation he gives in his epistles is proof that he taught that works must accompany faith. He told the Philippians to WORK OUT their salvation with FEAR (of God) and trembling (Phil. 2:12), but pointed out that such works amounted to "God working in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (v.13).
Writing to Titus he said that God's love and mercy had appeared to men whereby they were saved, "not by works of righteousness which we have done". He then points out that we are justified by God's grace (almost a synonym for His mercy or love), and puts the matter in balance when he says that those who BELIEVE "must be careful to maintain GOOD WORKS" (Titus 3:5-8). Hebrews 11, the great chapter on faith, shows clearly the harmony between faith and works: in the Old Testa ment examples taken we are shown that their actions were motivated by faith.
JAMES' EMPHASIS ON WORKS (Jas. 2:14-26).
James was contending with those in the ecclesia who made a profession of faith, but whose works denied that faith, and so he lays emphasis upon the need for works to accompany faith as its proof: "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?" (v.14). He then gives the example of one who sees a destitute brother and who does nothing in a practical way to alleviate his suffering, and declares his faith to be dead (vv. 15-17). In verse 18 he says in effect that faith and works are indivisible: it is as impossible to have works without faith as it is to have faith without works: they complement each other. He points out that even maniacs ("the devils") not only "believe" in God but also shudder. They were no different to them if they did not have the works to show that their faith was not counterfeit!
Then he, like Paul, comes also to the case of Abraham (vv.21-24). When Abraham, a seedless man, believed God's promise of a multitudinous seed his faith was imputed to him for righteousness: Abraham, the "sinner", was justified before God (Gen. 15:6). In effect this act of faith made Abraham a "saint" before God. It was not, however, until many years later, when Abraham prepared to slay Isaac, that his faith was made perfect: "faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect". He was prepared to offer up Isaac, the one through whom the multitudinous seed of Genesis 15:6 was to come (Gen. 22)! Abraham, the "saint", was therefore justified by works.
James also cites the case of Rahab. She had professed great faith in the God of Israel to the spies (Josh. 2:13), but it was not until she had DONE something € received and sent out the spies another way € that she was justified (Josh. 2:15; Jas. 2:25). Thus actions transcend profession of faith, being the witness of it.
GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IN CHRIST.
No man is able to save himself, but all are dependent upon God's grace and love. This love is manifest in the giving of His only begotten Son for the life of the world. Whosoever believes in Christ might be saved (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:9-10).
In Christ's death God's righteousness was declared, because he repudiated his own will and did God's will even to the point of submitting to the death of the cross (Rom. 3:25-26; Phil. 2:8; Lk. 22:42). God was seen to be "just" in requiring the death of flesh, with its tendencies to sin. Sin was conquered by Christ's perfect obedience, and God was honoured (Jn. 12:28,31). God is then pleased to impute righteousness to sinful man upon the same principle as he imputed it to Abraham: belief in what is humanly impossible. We can be justified through faith in the name of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:26).
At this point the words of Bro. R. Roberts should be noted, "God's method for the return of sinful man to favour required and appointed the putting to death of man's condemned and evil nature in a representative man of spotless character whom He should provide, to declare and uphold the righteousness of God, as the first condition of restoration, that He might be just while justifying the unjust, who should believingly approach through him in humility, confession and restoration" ("Diary of a Voyage" page 68).
Baptism is the first work of obedience and the first evidence of faith. All other works done before will NOT justify a man before God: he must believe and be baptised into Christ, for salvation is bound up with his name only (Acts 4:12).
In baptism the believer identifies himself with the principles seen in the death and resurrection of Christ. God forgives his sins and justifies him so that he has "peace" with God (Rom. 5:1). He symbolically dies with Christ when he passes under the water: the old man or old way of life is buried; and he rises from the water a new man, even as Christ was raised to a newness of life (Rom. 6:1-6).
LESSONS FOR US:
- Faith justifies the "sinner", but works justify the "saint": once in Christ we must be doers of the Word and not hearers only (Jas. 1:22), for we shall be judged by our works.
- God's righteousness is set forth in the death of Christ. By faith in him, believers are justified when they are baptised (1 Cor. 6:11).
- The example of Abraham shows the principle of justification by faith (when he believed God's promise of a multitudinous seed, Gen. 15) and justification by works (when he was willing to offer up Isaac believing God would raise him from the dead as the seed of promise, Gen. 22).
REFERENCE LIBRARY:
"Epistle to the Romans" (J. Carter) € Pages 39-55
"Elpis Israel" (J. Thomas) € Pages 258-261
"Epistle of James" (N. Smart) € Chapter 6
"James" (J. Martin) € C.S.S.S. Study Notes
"The Blood of Christ" (R. Roberts)
PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:
- How was Abraham justified before God?
- What is the purpose of baptism in God's plan of redemption?
- How did Christ's death set forth the righteousness of God?
ESSAY QUESTIONS:
1. What is the relationship between faith and works in God's scheme of justification?
- Write an essay showing how Paul's and James' teaching on justifica tion harmonize. Use the example of Abraham to illustrate your answer.
- How can man be justified by God?
Section 3 PREPARING FOR CHRIST
The end of Paul's life saw the completion of the task assigned to the apostles € to be witnesses to Christ "unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Yet in the face of triumph, there lay the threat of apostasy.
So it transpired. When the apostles died, apostasy set in, and darkness returned. But even in the midst of the long darkness of Gentile power, the light of the Truth flickered, ready to be rekindled in the nineteenth cen tury. Christ had suggested that some would be alive to welcome him when he returned as the bridegroom (Matt. 25:1-13). Consistent with this and other scriptures, there has been a latter-day revival of the Truth.
We have received a great heritage in being brought today within the Truth's environment, but God still seeks our personal response. The last section of our lessons shows how we should respond in order to be prepared for the coming King.