The Apostle James in his letter says, “faith without works is dead.”
The Apostle Paul tells the Ephesians that salvation is: “Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Do we have a contradiction in the pages of the Bible? Is James disagreeing with Paul regarding salvation?
At first glance it seems Paul and James do disagree and we have a contradiction, which is often the problem with first glances without knowledge.
When you dig into what each inspired Gospel writer is saying you will find that both are in total agreement and are merely approaching the same subject from a different starting point.
Paul and James are both like advertising executives, they have each given us a slogan to help us remember the main point. However, if we never consider the details surrounding the slogan, we might have a misunderstanding about the main point. This misconception could even cause us to buy into a product or idea, which might actually cause us harm.
Let me explain further.
Human beings love one-liners, give us a catchy phrase to associate with a product and many people will remember that slogan anytime a situation triggers our memory. Perhaps you have called a friend and found yourself with a bad cell signal saying: “Can you hear me now?” I’ll almost guarantee at a minimum you found yourself wondering which brand uses that catchy phrase.
I’ll venture that nearly all of us have passed by one of the many fast food joints and found ourselves thinking about or singing their catch-phrase jingle. Next thing you know we start craving that burger and fries and find ourselves pulling into the drive-thru! After years of pulling through those fast food joints, we find we are out of shape, overweight, prediabetic and a candidate for a heart attack. Had we looked into the details of fast food we would have known the results of eating fast food.
On the other hand, perhaps, we did know what would happen if we ate 3,000-plus calories for lunch every day and simply ignored the consequences.
Searching into the details of salvation, both Paul and James use Abraham’s faith in God’s promise as an example of true faith. Each goes on to show how God has chosen freely by His grace to justify anyone, who like Abraham, would believe what God has said.
Remember, a promise is the same thing as a testament or covenant. So, Abraham’s testimony was proof to him and everyone who met him that he believed God. Had he, Abram (his name before he believed and followed God’s promise), simply said, “Oh yeah I believe God,” and then stayed in the land of Ur, always talking about heading to the Promised Land, but never actually packing up and going, then he would be a father of lies and not the father of faith.
God would have never blessed someone who always said one thing and did exactly the opposite.
James says; “Show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works.”
Then he becomes very bold as he goes on to say: So, you believe there is a God, you’re doing well: “the devils also believe, and tremble. But know this O vain man, that faith without works is dead.”
Let me close with a catchy one-liner I once heard to help remember James’ point: Faith without works makes one qualified to be a devil!