Justified by works? How James actually teaches faith alone
This is adapted from a video you can watch here.
Also, you can listen to my sermon on the topic here.
This longer piece is about a debate that’s as old as the church itself — and I’m going to solve it once and for all! Y’all can stop arguing now!
But seriously, it’s an important debate because it’s about how we get saved. Specifically, what’s our part? How is the saving work of Jesus Christ applied to us? What do we need to do, if anything?
The issue is, are we justified by faith or by works? The Bible seems to say both. Seems.
One of the central doctrines of the Protestant Reformation was the Latin phrase sola fide (faith alone). We are gifted eternal life by grace alone through faith alone. We don’t have to commit any work or act to be made right with God. This fundamental doctrine can be found throughout the New Testament:
There’s the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16 — “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The word “believe” or “believes” is used 64 times in John’s gospel, most spoken by Jesus.
When Jesus was crucified, there was a criminal next to Him who got saved right there; obviously not by works, but through faith alone.
Paul told the Philippian jailer in Acts 16, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”
Romans 3:22, “the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, (is) to all and on all who believe.” From Romans chapters 3 through 5, the words “faith” or “believe” are used 22 times, culminating in Romans 5:1 — “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The first three chapters of Galatians use the word “faith” 16 times, and they’re all to make this point: “that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ” (2:16).
Ephesians 2:8-9 sums it up — “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
But in spite of all that, there are still many professing Christians today who insist it can’t be faith alone. They have their own proof-texts in Scripture that they think make their case, and their go-to passage is in James 2:
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
So there you have it, right? It plainly says, “a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.” Many Christians today find this a difficult text to explain. Skeptics and unbelievers will say James contradicts the writings of Paul, who stressed faith.
What should we make of this? We need to be equipped to answer this question if someone tells us salvation is by works using this passage. Once we see what James is saying, all of the other verses they use will be understood in that light.
Verse by verse
Let’s go through the passage to see what James is teaching here:
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
Right there is a huge clue as to how to interpret the passage. When Paul wrote to the Galatians, he was responding to people who were saying Christians must obey the law of Moses to be Christians. They preached salvation by works, so Paul emphasized faith to refute them.
What point is James making? The clue is the phrase “if someone says.” James is responding to a claim of faith from someone whose life doesn’t look like it — no holiness, no godly love, no fruit of the Spirit.
James and Paul sound so different because they’re responding to opposite claims. They’re addressing opposite extremes.
When James asks, “Can faith save him?” he means THAT kind of faith — a faith that doesn’t bear any fruit. That’s the faith he’s taking on. Some versions rightly say, “Can that faith save him?”
In the next two verses, James gives an example of what THAT faith looks like:
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
Remember that in the Sermon on the Mount, food and clothing were the basics Jesus promised that God will provide (Matthew 6:19-34). He uses us to do that; we see that in Jesus’ teaching about the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. To this person James is talking about, Jesus would say, “I was hungry and you gave Me no food … naked and you did not clothe Me.” If we take what God has provided and not share it with His people who need it, we’re making Jesus look like a liar. We’re turning Him away while imparting a blessing: “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled.” That makes us sound like we’re believers, and so it’s a reproach to the name of Christ.
James is asking, you think THAT faith will save you? Jesus answered that: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
This tells us how to interpret verse 17:
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Are Jesus and James saying such a person is condemned to hell even though he has faith? No, they’re saying a “faith” that looks like that doesn’t exist. They’re not saying his faith isn’t enough; they’re saying he doesn’t have it. It’s dead.
Dead faith is not saving faith. But then how do we know whether someone’s faith is alive or dead? James answers that next:
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
If someone says “I have faith,” James’ response is, don’t just tell me, show me; prove it.
Throughout the Scriptures, God teaches us that saving faith is meant to be shown, to be demonstrated, to be proven. Faith yearns to be zealous for good works, as Paul put it in Titus 2:14. When we’re born again, we become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, who then “works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). God works to give us the will and the ability to walk in the works He has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10).
This is what’s called sanctification. It’s a gradual process, but the progress will be evident. The will and ability He works in us will be so powerful and certain that it will show. It’s so inevitable that if nothing ever changes in how we live, we should not be assured of our salvation.
Related: Christians can look within to help us know we’re saved
The Holy Spirit bears fruit; if there’s no fruit, there’s no Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit” (John 15:5). If there’s no fruit, then it’s a dead branch, to be thrown into the fire, He said. Any faith that dead branch expressed is a dead faith; there is no life and never was.
For someone who says they have faith but lives like the devil, we have verse 19:
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble!
Demons know there is one God. They know that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for our sins, that He rose from the dead. But knowing all that isn’t going to save them. They also know what’s going to happen, and they tremble at it.
James is saying that you can spout all this correct doctrine, but if you’re just talking the talk and not walking the walk, you’re no better off than demons, and you should tremble, too.
It’s strong language, and that continues in verse 20:
20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
James is like a prosecutor in a courtroom, building his case. The guy on the stand says he has faith but doesn’t live like it. James says he’s foolish — the Greek word means empty, in vain. He’s a fake, a fraud.
James is like, how do you not know this? Do I really need to go on? That’s what he then does. James is going to introduce his next witness to make his case that genuine saving faith proves itself — Abraham:
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
Here we see the controversial phrase “justified by works.” We’ll see what that means in a little bit, but first let’s go through James’ section about Abraham, because that will show us what it means — and we’ll see that even James is teaching salvation through faith alone.
The story of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac is in Genesis 22; keep that chapter in mind. James says that work of obedience “justified” him. Where did that obedience come from? Faith:
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
Look at the question James asks: “Do you see?” What are we seeing? Faith. There was already faith there, and here we can see it. Abraham’s work showed his faith; they were working together. This is faith at work.
He says Abraham’s work made his faith perfect, meaning complete or mature. Think of it like a tree bearing fruit; that’s what they do. That’s what’s natural for them. But a tree is still a tree even before it bears fruit, and then once it does, it is mature.
When faith produces works, it has matured; it’s done what faith naturally does (or, I should say, supernaturally).
All this does not mean Abraham’s faith previously didn’t count until this act of obedience. We know this because verse 23 tells us what Abraham’s faith had already meant:
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
Again, the story of Abraham and Isaac is in Genesis 22. Here, James is quoting Genesis 15, verse 6. A long time passed between James’ two references.
Genesis 15 is when God promised Abram that Isaac would be his heir, well before Isaac was born. It’s then when Abram’s faith was accounted to him for righteousness. That’s what “justified” most often means, and how Paul uses the word in his letters. It means that God counts us as just, or righteous, before Him. That’s how we are justified before God; that’s how we’re saved.
In Romans 4, Paul uses the same quote about Abraham that James does (Genesis 15:6) to make this very point. Abraham was justified before God through faith alone. Paul writes, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” (Romans 4:2). Abraham didn’t DO anything; he simply trusted in God.
James says this faith was “fulfilled” when Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac. It didn’t become genuine by that act, but it proved to be already genuine.
So then how can James say in verse 21 that Abraham was justified by works? And, how can he say what he says in verse 24?
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
A lot of people read that and say, huh? It seems like verse 24 is a direct contradiction of verse 23, and that James is contradicting Paul.
Of course, it’s not. The solution is in the fact that words have multiple meanings, often related. This is true in English — just open a dictionary — and true in Greek.
The Greek word for “justified” is dikaioo. Thayer’s Greek lexicon lists three definitions of that word:
To make righteous
To declare righteous
To show righteous
Similar meanings, but still distinct.
When God saves us, He declares us righteous. This is what God did for Abram in Genesis 15 through faith alone, and what God does for us when we’re born again. This is what “justified” most often means in the Bible, and why there’s confusion over this.
But when James uses the word, he uses the third definition, to show righteous — to prove righteous. This is what Abraham does in Genesis 22 with Isaac. In this sense, justified means vindicated — proven true. Abraham’s obedience vindicated him; it proved that his faith was genuine. But he was already righteous in God’s sight long before that.
Same with Rahab, who James calls as his next witness in verse 25. Rahab was vindicated by hiding the Israeli spies in Joshua 2; her faith was proven genuine.
This is what most of the other verses that some people think teach salvation by works mean. In Matthew 25, the sheep are vindicated by their works; the goats are not.
‘Wisdom is justified’
To illustrate the difference in these meanings, let’s look at a passage in Luke 7, where Jesus refutes the critics of His ministry and that of John the Baptist.
33 “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 But wisdom is justified by all her children.”
“Justified” in verse 35 is the same Greek word, dikaioo. Does that mean wisdom is saved by all her children? That wisdom is made or declared righteous by all her children? That wouldn’t make any sense.
It means wisdom is vindicated by all her children. Wisdom is shown to be wise by her children — by the results she produces. Jesus’ point is that God’s wisdom is proven true by the ministries of Him and John the Baptist. People are getting saved and delivered; they’re the children of that wisdom. They’re the proof.
So when you see “justified by works” in James, it means vindicated by works, which doesn’t happen by faith only. Faith alone can’t vindicate itself; that happens only when it’s proven and demonstrated. Genuine faith will always do that; God will see to it. He’s the One who declares us righteous through faith alone, and He’s the One who gives us the will and the power to prove it.
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