What Saves: Faith or Works? Saved by faith only? Saved by works? Are Paul and James contradicting one another in Galatians chapter5 (Paul), Romans chapters 3 and 4 (Paul), and James chapter 2? Are these questions even important? Let us begin by stating: Yes. These are questions whose answers are of eternal significance. Next, let it be said that James and Paul are not contradicting one another in their teachings. Finally, we are saved by neither faith only nor works only. How do we arrive at these conclusions? Let’s look at the Bible for God’s answers. In James 2:14 the writer asks, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds (works)? Can such a faith save him?” Proceed to verse 17, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Is James saying here that faith has no role at all in salvation? Let’s go on to verses 18-19. “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have deeds.’” James replies, “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” Consider verse 19: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe and shudder.” (See Matthew 8:28-31, Mark 1:33-34, Luke 4:41, Luke 8:30) What differentiates the faith of the demons and the faith of one who is saved? If faith alone saves, would not demons receive salvation by their faith and even, confession? (Matthew 8:29) The answer is given in James 2:18. Simply put, it is this: Saving faith is a faith of obedient and active trust. It is evidenced by acting upon what one believes; acting upon what God commands. Case in point is given by James in 1:27 and 2:15-16. Here James shows that one way that real faith is evidenced is by obligation and service to others. One also sees this in other scriptures such as Acts 4:32, 34, Matthew 25:41-46, Isaiah 58:6-10. Let us move on to James 2:20. “You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless (dead)?” James continues by offering the example of Abraham’s faith and actions working together resulting in him being credited with righteousness. Abraham’s acting upon his faith made that faith complete. “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” (James 1:24). If one stands justified before God then they are saved. Gary Holloway sums up these points by stating, “We can claim faith without works. We can look religious and even deceive ourselves into thinking we are people of faith while we neglect the needs of others. Such a faith is really no faith at all. It helps no one. It cannot save. It is the faith of demons. It is dead. Faith shown by deeds is the faith that saves, the faith of Abraham and Rahab. Like them we must trust and obey.”1 God, through his inspired writer states it thusly, “As the body without the sprit is dead, so faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26) Individuals who have faith but do not act upon it are in the same condition as a body without a spirit; they are in the same condition as believing demons…spiritually dead. Now one might ask, “Am I not then saved by my works?” Many call this the legalistic view. The answer is: No you are not saved by your works.” There are actions we must take which lead to salvation. (See: God’s Plan of Salvation) However, these are not meritorious works which we perform; they are conditions set forth by God which must be met if one is to be saved. The only meritorious works that bring about salvation were performed by the Father and the Son at Calvary. Obeying the gospel and walking the Christian walk does not earn salvation, these are conditions of salvation by grace through faith. Do not Paul’s teachings in passages such as Galatians chapter 5 and Romans 3 and 4 contradict the teachings of James? These are scriptures where Paul may seemingly teach that faith only leads to justification. If these writers are contradicting one another it calls into question the inspiration and inerrancy of scripture. One must always look at the reason scripture was written to a particular audience. This is a major tenant of Bible interpretation. In Romans chapters 3 and 4 Paul is writing to explain that faith is “the means of approaching the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice.”2 He is teaching that no system of law could ever function to justify sinners. God and His plan of redemption is the only means to accomplish the work of salvation. Those who would believe in a doctrine of salvation through “faith only” believe in a doctrine that demands a complete distinction between faith and works. You are saved by one and it has nothing to do with the other. The two, faith and works, cannot work together in salvation. This system assumes that faith and faith only is necessary in a system of grace. Therefore one is saved by grace through faith. (Romans 3:24, 28) Anything other than faith goes into the class of works and in this system the two are mutually exclusive. This leads to the conclusion that salvation is by faith only. This is errant teaching of scripture. Paul is making clear, in Romans 3 and 4, that any works of law under the Patriarchal, Mosaic or Christian dispensations cannot bring about justification in and of themselves. He illustrates through the life of Abraham that true faith will manifest itself in obedient trust in God (Romans 4:20-21, 1:8). After Abraham acted on his faith it was credited to him as righteousness. Note that righteousness was not earned. Both James and Paul state that Abraham’s righteousness was credited to him. So we see that Paul is not separating faith from human action, but that he is drawing a distinction between faith and works in regards to the means of justification (Romans 4:6-8). When considering Galatians 5:6 we must also look at the context and audience. Paul is arguing against salvation by any other conditions that what God has stipulated. To summarize his instruction, he is saying that “if one begins to add ‘extras’ to the gospel to bring salvation it causes the whole issue of faith and trust to be at risk. If we feel added works are necessary for salvation, it shows a lack of faith in the adequacy of Jesus’ sacrifice in saving the sinner. If so, his sacrifice would not be sufficient. Therefore one would need to do works to make up for the insufficiency of the sacrifice in order to ‘earn points’ to win salvation.”3 Galatians 5:6 states, “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Pay attention to the second half of this verse. “Expressing itself” in Greek, the language this text was originally written in, is the verb form of the same word James uses in his letter for “deeds” or “works”. As we conclude we see that Paul and James do not contradict one another. Paul teaches against meritorious works of salvation; yet he never teaches against an active faith evidenced by works or that there are conditions that we must act upon to receive salvation. In Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 2 Thessalonians 1:11 and Galatians 5:6 we see that his teachings on works to be the same as that of James. We see in James 2:26 and Galatians 5:6 that neither Paul nor James accept the idea of an idle faith. Neither do they teach that a man can earn salvation through meritorious works. Both men teach the essentiality of faith and acting upon that faith in receiving salvation. Paul teaches this throughout his letters (Romans 6:1-7, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27, Colossians 2:11-13). Finally, when one looks at the entirety of New Testament teaching concerning salvation it includes acting upon our belief and meeting the conditions God sets forth for receiving the gift of salvation. 1 Holloway, Gary. The College Press NIV Commentary, James and Jude, p.73, College Press, Joplin, MO, 1996. 2 Cottrell, Jack. The College Press NIV Commentary, Romans Vol.1, College Press, Joplin, MO, 1996. 3 Boles, Kenneth. The College Press NIV Commentary, Galatians and Ephesians, College Press, Joplin, MO, 1993.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 07:53:16 +0000
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