A Faith That Works – ChurchEdge

Called an “epistle of straw” by Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, the book of James often causes controversy and concern among Christians devoted to the Reformation principle, “salvation by grace alone.” The controversy arises in passages like this: “What use is it, brothers and sisters, if a person says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14). Concern comes when James looks back to father Abraham to illustrate his argument for justifying works: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone” (James 2:21-24). Is the epistle of James really arguing for salvation by works?

Commentators on James also assert that works are a necessary part of salvation. But, they also argue that good works are not done apart from faith, but done in faith; not done instead of faith, but done because of faith. Put simply, the epistle exhorts those who claim saving faith to have a faith that works.(1)

What does working faith look like for James?

“To visit orphans and widows in their distress,” (1:27)

“to keep oneself unstained by the world,” (1:27)

“to fulfill the royal law, according to Scripture, ‘you shall
love your neighbor as yourself,’” (2:8)

“to give what is necessary for a brother or sister without
clothing and daily food,” (2:15-16)

“to be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger,” (1:19)

“to consider it all joy when you encounter various trials,” (1:2)

and “to not hold our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with an
attitude of personal favoritism” (2:1).

There are many other evidences of working faith throughout the rest of the letter: faith tames the tongue (3:1-12), requires humility (4:10), and endures until the end (5:7).

From what we see in his letter, is James’s view of faith so far off that it deserved Luther’s condemnation?

Many have argued that James’s view of faith is markedly different than Paul’s view of faith.(2) But a brief sampling of Paul’s writings presents many similarities. In the letter to the Romans, Paul exhorts the faithful not to be “conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind” (Romans 12:2). That sounds like keeping oneself unstained by the world, doesn’t it? In the same chapter, Paul argues that in light of all God has done for us in Jesus Christ we should “be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; contribute to the needs of the saints practicing hospitality and to be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly; bless those who persecute us, bless and curse not; rejoice in hope, persevere in tribulation, devoted to prayer” (Romans 12:9-21, selected verses). Far from presenting a divergent view of faith, Paul and James seem to argue the same thing. They both argue that the content of faith is not simply holding good ideas, or merely intellectual assent to various propositional truths, or belonging to a certain theological camp — the content of faith is also found in what faith does with good ideas, how it acts on assumed truths and with its power to transform lives to resemble more and more the image and beauty of Christ.

Seen in this light, the epistle of James offers us a necessary corrective to the thought that saving faith requires nothing of us. Nothing could be further from the truth! Indeed, one cannot help but read James’s letter and see that right action is integrally linked to the claim that one has faith in Christ.

In his own ministry, Jesus demonstrated nothing less than this. His pronouncement that the kingdom of God was at hand was accompanied by evidences of the in-breaking of God’s kingdom: healings, deliverance, inclusion of those excluded from temple worship, and teaching with authority. Indeed, Jesus argued that the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled in him: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:17-21). If we claim to have faith in Christ, we must go and do likewise. Far from being an “epistle of straw” James reminds us that true faith works in the world and inspires the demonstration of tangible expressions of faith in the daily living of our lives. “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself…for just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (James 2:17, 26).

Margaret Manning is associate writer at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

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1. George M. Stulac, James: The IVP Commentary Series (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 107.

2. Ibid., 11.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #21525]