Ask Mr. Religion
☞☞☞☞Presbyterian (PCA) 	
Gold Subscriber
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
Paul teaches us that attempts by men to overcome their limitations through works to seek approval by God are in vain--man's vanity. For Paul, man must acknowledge his unworthiness and place all their confidence in God's mercy for man's acceptance before Him.
When James speaks of faith and works, he does not use the same definitions as does Paul in Romans 4, so anyone claiming Paul and James are at odds fails to understand them both.
Works for James are acts of obedience to God's will, for example, Abraham and Isaac (James 2:21). Nothing here implies the self-glorification we read in Romans 4:4, rather works in the context James speaks of them, are but deeds done that are in accordance with the will of God.
Clearly Paul does not declare we eliminate obedience to God (see for example Romans 1:5, 16:26), rather the elimination of boasting to God (Romans 3:27). The works we read about in James in no way imply boasting as they do for Paul. Both men use the same term, works, to describe different things.
The analogy James uses in James 2:26—a body that does work—is offered in parallel with faith; similarly the spirit which exercises faith—is offered in parallel with works. The quickening spirit, the life-giving principle, is what James means by works. Until works give life to faith, one's "faith" is but an empty shell (see James 2:22). But be careful here and don't read into what I am saying.
By faith that is dead James means faith that is useless and dies—he does not mean no faith, for this is exactly what he says in James 2:20. If we doubt, then we can also look to James 2:14, where James clearly does not deny the person has "faith", but that person's "faith" will not save him. Why? James here speaks about a "faith" that is dead, useless, unprofitable (James 2:17, 20, 24, 26)—a "faith" that has no justifiable or salvific content. When we read Paul we just don't see him speaking about faith in this sense, especially in Romans 4.
Intead, the useless and unprofitable "faith" James speaks about is revealed in James 2:19, when if we combine that verse with James 2:20, we find nothing but the "faith" of the vain and foolish man, one who simply intellectually assents to basic things about God, as do the demons—a useless and unprofitable faith.
There is no contradiction between Paul and James even if we agree that Romans 4 and James 2 are not saying the same things. The goals of Paul and James are simply different. Paul is directly confronting Judaism's self-righteousness, while James confronts the "faith" of a man who would let his brother go hungry.
Given these two different goals, we should not be demanding from the texts that Paul and James use similar terms or say things identically. That said, Paul and James are not clashing with one another. After all, Paul often spoke the uselessness of deeds not done from love (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; Romans 8:4,13; Galatians 5:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:6). Moreover, Paul was no stranger in declaring that obedience was inclusive of faith in Romans 1:5; 16:26, and in these works of love in Galatians 5:6.
Likewise, James is in complete agreement with Paul in that it is by God's merciful grace and grace alone that the believer has standing before God with no room for boasting. See James 1:18 (Christians life is divine ceative act), and compare with Galatians 3:2,5. Or see James 3:17 (the continuation of life of a Christian as produced just as Paul describes in Galatians 5:22.
He refers to the start of Christian existence as a divine act of creation whereby we are “brought forth by the word” (James 1:18; i.e. by “the hearing of faith" [Galatians 3:2,5]) He refers to the continuation of the Christian life as a product of the “wisdom from above” (James 3:17) just as Paul describes it as the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). And finally, he calls for deep humility before God (James 4:10) in view of how “miserable” we are (James 4:9).
Therefore, given the above, we resolve any tension between Romans 4 and James 2 by understanding that the works of James 2:14 is exactly what Paul meant in Galatians 5:6 or Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26.
When James speaks of faith and works, he does not use the same definitions as does Paul in Romans 4, so anyone claiming Paul and James are at odds fails to understand them both.
Works for James are acts of obedience to God's will, for example, Abraham and Isaac (James 2:21). Nothing here implies the self-glorification we read in Romans 4:4, rather works in the context James speaks of them, are but deeds done that are in accordance with the will of God.
Clearly Paul does not declare we eliminate obedience to God (see for example Romans 1:5, 16:26), rather the elimination of boasting to God (Romans 3:27). The works we read about in James in no way imply boasting as they do for Paul. Both men use the same term, works, to describe different things.
The analogy James uses in James 2:26—a body that does work—is offered in parallel with faith; similarly the spirit which exercises faith—is offered in parallel with works. The quickening spirit, the life-giving principle, is what James means by works. Until works give life to faith, one's "faith" is but an empty shell (see James 2:22). But be careful here and don't read into what I am saying.
By faith that is dead James means faith that is useless and dies—he does not mean no faith, for this is exactly what he says in James 2:20. If we doubt, then we can also look to James 2:14, where James clearly does not deny the person has "faith", but that person's "faith" will not save him. Why? James here speaks about a "faith" that is dead, useless, unprofitable (James 2:17, 20, 24, 26)—a "faith" that has no justifiable or salvific content. When we read Paul we just don't see him speaking about faith in this sense, especially in Romans 4.
Intead, the useless and unprofitable "faith" James speaks about is revealed in James 2:19, when if we combine that verse with James 2:20, we find nothing but the "faith" of the vain and foolish man, one who simply intellectually assents to basic things about God, as do the demons—a useless and unprofitable faith.
There is no contradiction between Paul and James even if we agree that Romans 4 and James 2 are not saying the same things. The goals of Paul and James are simply different. Paul is directly confronting Judaism's self-righteousness, while James confronts the "faith" of a man who would let his brother go hungry.
Given these two different goals, we should not be demanding from the texts that Paul and James use similar terms or say things identically. That said, Paul and James are not clashing with one another. After all, Paul often spoke the uselessness of deeds not done from love (see 1 Corinthians 13:1-3; Romans 8:4,13; Galatians 5:21; 1 Thessalonians 4:6). Moreover, Paul was no stranger in declaring that obedience was inclusive of faith in Romans 1:5; 16:26, and in these works of love in Galatians 5:6.
Likewise, James is in complete agreement with Paul in that it is by God's merciful grace and grace alone that the believer has standing before God with no room for boasting. See James 1:18 (Christians life is divine ceative act), and compare with Galatians 3:2,5. Or see James 3:17 (the continuation of life of a Christian as produced just as Paul describes in Galatians 5:22.
He refers to the start of Christian existence as a divine act of creation whereby we are “brought forth by the word” (James 1:18; i.e. by “the hearing of faith" [Galatians 3:2,5]) He refers to the continuation of the Christian life as a product of the “wisdom from above” (James 3:17) just as Paul describes it as the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). And finally, he calls for deep humility before God (James 4:10) in view of how “miserable” we are (James 4:9).
Therefore, given the above, we resolve any tension between Romans 4 and James 2 by understanding that the works of James 2:14 is exactly what Paul meant in Galatians 5:6 or Romans 1:5 and Romans 16:26.