Harmony of Paul and James on Faith and Works
By D. T. Bourdeau
SAVING FAITH, OR THE FAITH SEEN IN WORKS. NO. 3.
Harmony of Paul and James on Faith and Works.
Some persons think that James, in teaching that Abraham and Rahab were justified by works, and that “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:21–25), conveys the idea that man can merit justification by his works, and contradicts such declarations of Paul as the following: “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified;” and, “A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Rom. 3:20, 28. Recoil, kind reader, at the thought of viewing James in so unfavorable a light. One man writing by the Spirit of God can not contradict another man writing by the same Spirit. In the Bible there are expressions which we can not harmonize with other expressions in the same blessed Book, unless we duly consider their connection and the circumstances under which they were used. And there are certain cases in which we must go to other scriptures besides the connection before we can arrive at the true meaning of what seems to clash with plain scriptural truths. By comparing scripture with scripture, and weighing all the circumstances, we will see that what appeared at first to be discordant, presents the clearest harmony. Let us verify these statements by the use of the following scriptures, arranged in couplets:— “Answer not a fool according to his folly.” Prov. 26:4. “Answer a fool according to his folly.” Prov. 26:5. “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he can not be My disciple.” Luke 14:26. “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15. “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” Gal. 6:2. “Every man shall bear his own burdens.” Gal. 6:5. A superficial reader, shut up to the technicality of terms and expressions, would say,6 (518)Here are three palpable contradictions. But one who will carefully read these texts in the light of their connection and of parallel texts will not adopt so hasty a conclusion. By doing this we see that when the wise man says, “Answer not a fool according to his folly,” he means that we should not be so easy and compromising that we shall partake of his folly instead of leading him to forsake his folly, and that when he says, “Answer a fool according to his folly,” he means that we should be frank and thorough in answering a fool, that he may see his folly, humble himself, and reform. Thus the first difficulty disappears. By comparing the first text of the second couplet with Matt. 10:37, we see that the expression “hateth not” means loveth not less; and thus the second difficulty disappears. By reading the words of the third couplet, with their connection and with other scriptures, we see that through sympathy and love Christians should labor and suffer for each other, and that the expression, “Every man shall bear his own burden,” signifies that every man shall give an account to God for himself, and shall receive from God a reward answering to his own conduct; and thus another seeming contradiction is turned into harmony. By following these reasonable principles in the case of faith and works, we will arrive at the same glorious result. Thus Paul, in Rom. 3:20, etc., is combating the idea that man can merit justification by his works, and showing man’s urgent necessity of receiving by faith Christ’s imputed righteousness—Christ’s perfect obedience to the law—that he may be as tho he had always kept the law. He assigns as a reason why no flesh shall be justified by the deeds of the law, the fact that “by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20); and a little further on he says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace [or merciful favor] through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. . . . Where is boasting then? [Men boast of what they regard in themselves as meritorious of praise or reward.] It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay; but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” Verses 23–28. Paul does not here mean that the doctrine of justification by faith depreciates and repudiates the works enjoined by the law. He seems to foresee that some would place such a construction on his words, and adds, “Do we then make void the law through faith [the very faith through which men are justified]? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Verse 31. If the law is established by the faith by which we are justified, of course the doctrine of justification by faith does not depreciate and repudiate the works enjoined by the law, and those works are still required of us by the Lord. He means that when a man exercises faith in Christ for pardon and justification, he has no works of the law—no works of supererogation—whereby he can help pay the debt of his past sins and help replace his past unrighteousness, so that God can pardon and justify him partly by His grace and partly because he has partly earned his justification. He would impress his readers with the sacredness of the law, and with its perfection as a standard of righteousness, and with their unworthiness, as persons who have transgressed the law, that they may accept the cardinal Gospel truth, that only Christ’s righteousness, which is received by faith, can replace their past unrighteousness. Paul continues to refute the idea that those who have sinned can merit justification: “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works [or if Abraham merited justification by works], he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh [who has always obeyed God] is the reward not reckoned of grace [unmerited favor], but of debt. But to him that worketh not [who has led a life of disobedience], but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Rom. 4:1–5. Such is the tenor of the portion of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans from which the expression, “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified,” and, “A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law,” are taken. This and other portions of Paul’s writings (especially his Epistle to the Galatians) were originally designed to check a tendency of some Christians in the apostolic age to renounce their faith in Christ, and to rely on their works for justification and salvation. Some Christians in the days of the apostles had come under the influence of judaizing teachers, and had backslidden to that extent that they really thought that they could earn their justification and salvation by their works, and did not see the necessity of exercising faith in Christ to secure these objects; and other Christians were in danger of falling into the same dangerous error. This called forth the remarks of Paul on justification that we have briefly noticed. These remarks were truthful and well directed, and would also be of service to all who would thereafter heed them. James, in chapter 2 of his Epistle, is speaking under entirely different circumstances, and with an entirely different object in view. There were other Christians in the days of the apostles, who had gone to another extreme. They made a high profession of faith in Christ, but had fallen into the serious error of believing that they could be saved by faith while disregarding good works. They were fearfully backslidden, and were trying to cover and excuse their defects of character—their evil works and their neglect of good works—by their perverted doctrine of faith in Christ. These were as surely on the way to ruin as were those for whose benefit Paul was speaking. It was to keep those backslidden Christians, and those Christians who should thereafter fall into the same error, that James wrote as he did on faith and works. His words are as well chosen, as truthful, and as well directed, as were those of Paul. He is as truly “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” as is Paul, and holds to the same “faith of our Lord Jesus Christ” that Paul holds to. James 1:1; 2:1, etc. But he assails and refutes the idea that man can be saved by a faith that is not manifested by works, by a mere mental assent to the truths of the Gospel. By so doing he also shows that a saving faith is manifested by works. He then continues his argument as follows: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot [inn-keeper, or giver of hospitality, French versions] justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way. For as the body without the spirit [breath, Greek] is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:21–26. Here James continues his refutation of the false and dangerous idea that men can divorce works from faith, and yet be saved by faith. He does not produce arguments to show that men can not merit justification and salvation by their works, for the simple reason that those he is aiming to help are not in danger of thinking that they can merit their justification and their salvation by their works. They act and talk as tho they believed that good works were belittled—not to say excluded—by the plan of justification and salvation. Nor does James by asking the questions “Was not Abraham our father justified by works?” “Was not Rahab the harlot justified by works?” and by saying, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only,” mean to convey the idea that Abraham and Rahab merited justification by their works, and that we can merit justification by our works. The works that he is speaking of are works that are wrought through faith. They are works which are the fruit of God’s grace, or unmerited favor. Can we boast of such works, and truthfully say that by them we can merit justification? James is here speaking of persons who have been justified by faith, and who retain their justification by a living faith, by a faith seen in good works. If God will justify a man when he through faith accepts Christ’s righteousness, to cover with it his past unrighteousness, will he not justify or approve the same man, when he, by the grace, or unmerited favor, that comes through faith, does the works that he requires of man? Both of these justifications are unmerited by the one upon whom they are bestowed, yet God in his great mercy treats the one who receives them as tho he had merited them. May the great goodness and mercy of God in this case lead us to repent of all our unrighteous deeds, and believe in Christ, that we may obtain pardon, justification, and salvation. There is therefore a sense in which a man may be said to be justified by works. A man who has been justified by faith—a man to whom God has imputed Christ’s righteousness—and who by living faith retains his justification, is justified or approved by God just so far as he shows his faith by corresponding works; just so far as he, by God’s grace, or unmerited favor, does the works of God. It is from this standpoint that James speaks of justification by works. His remarks would not be applicable to those who have not been justified by faith, and whose works are not wrought through faith. Nor would they be applicable to those who through unbelief and unfaithfulness have lost their justification, and can no more produce good works than can the sinner in the world. For God can not pronounce right and just that which is not right and just. Paul speaks from another standpoint, that7is, from the standpoint of the sinner who has not by faith obtained pardon and justification, whose works are not wrought by faith, and can not even meet the demands of the law for the present, and whose past deeds are “as filthy rags,” and can not be accepted of God as a basis of his justification. How can God say to such an one, or even to one who has so backslidden that he does not perform the works of faith, I justify or approve you because of your works?