James 2:17-25

Notes

1. A great deal of unnecessary discussion has taken place over the question whether or not James contradicts Paul on the subject of justification by faith, or faith and works. But there is no contradiction between them; they simply treat the subject from different standpoints. Paul presents a faith that produces works. James presents works that are produced by faith. The following remarks by J. P. Thompson, D. D., are to the point: "Faith and works are like the two poles of the galvanic battery: they must be brought together in order that the current of life may flow and give out sparks of love. Either is powerless without the other. They are the two foci of an ellipse, in which the Christian life moves on in its heavenly course—now nearing one, and now the other—but held by both in constant equilibrium. To remove either would be to make that life erratic, or cause it suddenly to collapse and come to a stand. James represents one pole, one focus; Paul, the other. Their teachings are not opposed, and should not be divorced. James puts faith into concrete forms. He holds, as strongly as does Paul, to the necessity of faith; everything must be sought in faith; everything must be done in faith. But it must be a living faith—a faith that shows its sincerity by the sacrifices of self which it makes, by the works of love which it performs. A merely intellectual orthodoxy may be held by demons. A mere profession of faith may be worth no more than the body of a man without the breath of life. A true faith loves, works, lives. It regulates the conscience, the speech, and the life, by the conviction of God's constant presence; it shows its appreciation of spiritual realities by separation from the world; it takes the law of God as a reality, and, bringing its grand truths and inspiring motives to bear directly upon the conduct of every day, works by love."—Bible in the Home, p. 115.

2. "It is impossible to separate works from faith, yea, as impossible as it is to separate burning and shining from fire."—Luther.

"James by no means affirms that works give life to, produce, or create, faith; for faith comes by the power of the word, entering into and received by us, and by nothing else. But faith grows complete in works. That is the same as Paul's saying, or, rather, the Lord's saying to Paul, that the strength of God may be completed in weakness. 2 Cor. 12:9. The strength of faith, indwelling from the beginning, and already received along with the first seizing of grace, becomes fully proved, verified, and its operation completed. Thus our calling and election are made sure in the diligence of living and doing. 2 Peter 1:10. Thus Abraham's first call was made sure in his last works, and the word concerning justification by (out of) faith, already before accorded to him, was lawfully and actually confirmed as a truth."—Stier.