Faith with Works

This combination of faith with works is a renowned part of the Epistle of James, a book which caused no end of torturous difficulties for theologians such as Martin Luther, R.C. Sproul, and others.

Martin Luther referred to James as the ‘book of straw’—a reference to the ‘wood, hay, or straw,’ representing Luther's hope that this book would be burned when the truth was finally tested by fire. The reason for Luther’s difficulty was ‘sola fide,’ salvation by faith alone.

“If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test what kind of work each has done.” 1Corinthians 3:12-13

Paul teaches:

“For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.” Roman 3:28.

James teaches:

“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” James 2:24.

It is/was this conflicting doctrinal position that still causes theologians great concern as they work to harmonize scripture, trying to bring these two conflicting positions into some form of congruency.

How do we do that? We don’t.

We err in missing the context of the intended audience.

The apostle Paul was confronted for instructing the Gentile believers that salvation was by faith alone. At the same time, the Judaizers followed his ministry by instructing these new believers to also adhere to the requirements of the law of Moses.

This matter was  settled at the Jerusalem Conference, recorded in Acts 15, and presents the solution by identifying two standards:

“From the apostles and elders, your brothers, to the Gentile brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, greetings! Since we have heard that some have gone out from among us with no orders from us and have confused you, upsetting your minds by what they said, we have unanimously decided to choose men to send to you along with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas who will tell you these things themselves in person. For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules: that you abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from doing these things, you will do well. Farewell.” Acts 15:23-29

We today continue to fail to see that there are two standards—one for Jewish believers and another for Gentile believers.

This is further confirmed in Acts 21:20-25:

“Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all ardent observers of the law. They have been informed about you—that you teach all the Jews now living among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs… So do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with the law. But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter, having decided that they should avoid meat that has been sacrificed to idols and blood and what has been strangled and sexual immorality.”

Here, two positions are affirmed. First, Paul, a Jewish believer, affirms his adherence to Jewish law and customs, and second, that the Gentile believers are obligated to only the Noahide law.

James starts his epistle, “From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings!”

James is writing to a Jewish audience—those saved by grace, yes, but also obligated by their heritage to Jewish law and customs. This, for believing Jews, is now not to attain salvation but in evidence of salvation attained.

By paying attention to the intended audience, the alleged conflict between the doctrinal positions of faith with works and the doctrine of faith alone is resolved.

 

© 2024, Steve Bydeley.

All publishing rights reserved. Permission is herewith granted to reprint this article for personal use and to link or refer to it; however, no commercial re-publishing of the material in this article is permitted without prior written consent.

Steven is the author of Fathered by God and, with his wife Dianne, co-author of Dream Dreams and Dreams the Heal and Counsel. They have been guests on the Miracle Channel, Trinity Television, and Crossroads Communication and has taught internationally on various topics.

Without Prejudice. © 2024, Steven., house of bij de Leij., of man.