"a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ"
(Galatians 2:16)
In other words, man is not justified by works... He is justified by faith...
by faith alone.
Other scriptures also teach the doctrine of justification by faith and faith alone (Romans 3:20-30, Ephesians 2:8-9, Genesis 15:6, etc)
In James 2:14-24, James writes about works and faith and says, "You see then that by works a man is justified and not only by faith." (James 2:24)
So, James says that man is justified by works and faith... while Galatians and other passages say that man is justified by faith, not works. Does this represent a contradiction? Can James 2:24 be reconciled to the other scriptures?
Reconciliation by Definitions or Perceptions
One way to reconcile the passages is to understand James and the other books to be using different definitions of justification... With James defining justification as proof of righteousness and other books defining justification as God's declaration that a sinner is righteous before God. That may very well be the perfect answer.
But, I will present another closely related possibility... one which involves different perceptions of justification rather than different definitions of justification... and clearly relies on the idea of proof which James clearly writes about to arrive at God's declaration that we are righteous before God.
The question is... How can we reconcile the two passages above?
Reconciliation by Perception
I will present a reconciliation based on PERCEPTION... God's perfect perception versus man's practical perception. God's perception is different from man's perception because God can see into the heart, while man can't. So, man must use different criteria for appraising the justification of others than God uses... because man cannot see into the heart.
There is a perfect criterion and a practical criteria in regard to justification. The perfect criterion is that man is justified by faith and by faith alone, as is presented in the passage from Galatians 2:16 above and other passages. The practical criteria is that man is justified by faith and works (James 2:24 above). Please prayerfully consider my words.
Faith is invisible. But God, who can see into a man's heart can see if faith is present or not (1 Samuel 16:7). Man can't do this. Even though we know that God's perfect criterion for justification is faith, we can only determine if another person has faith by observing the proof of their faith. Works are the proof of faith (James 2:18).
So, we must use works as a visible criterion for appraising the presence of invisible faith, faith being the criterion for justification. By perceiving the practical criterion (works) we appraise the perfect criterion (faith) and thereby appraise the presence of justification.
Since we perceive justification in others by observing their works, works become the practical criterion for appraising justification in others. James clearly is writing about observing justification in others.
James focuses on visible criterion, saying that works are the visible proof of faith (2:18) mentioning Abraham's obedience (2:21), saying "you see" (2:22), meaning that you see what Abraham did in 2:21, mentioning that righteousness was reckoned to Abraham by the criterion of faith (2:23) and saying again "you see" in 2:24 with regard to 2:21. Man's criteria for appraising justification in others is visible works.
God determines whether a person is justified by looking into the man's heart (using the perfect criterion). We determine whether another person is justified using the practical criteria for justification, faith and works.
Visible works are proof of faith. But we know that the perfect criteria for justification is faith... So, we say that the practical criteria for justification is faith AND works. If we took a shortcut and said that the criterion is works alone, because that is all we can see... we would distort the gospel and make the visible criterion the essence of the inward truth, thereby corrupting the perfect criterion of faith as the sole condition of justification.
Galatians, Romans, Ephesians and Genesis all present the perfect criterion for justification, faith and faith alone. Through God's perfect criterion, faith in the heart, we cannot determine whether our neighbor has faith or not, to know how to minister to that person, or to know whether that person is suitable for God's work in the church. We should not assign duties in the church to unbelievers, so we must determine if others are justified or not. (Believers are justified. Unbelievers are not.) James, as the first bishop of the church in Jerusalem, had to judge whether various people were justified or not... to determine their suitability to serve in the church. So, it is not surprising that God would choose James to present a practical criteria for appraising the justification of others. We also, as we walk by the Spirit, must use the practical criteria of justification, that others are justified by faith and works, so that we can carry out our duties as followers of Christ, in the Spirit... all while knowing that, the perfect criterion for justification is faith and faith alone.
We often present a practical perception of truth rather than a perfect perception of truth... because it is sometimes more practical to describe things as everyone sees them rather than as they really are. Sunrise took place at 6:20 AM this morning. But, the sun really didn't rise. In the perfect perception, from outer space, as the earth rotates the sun appears to rise... a mere perception. But in this life nearly all people navigate and communicate by the perception, because they can't navigate by the perfect reality. We use the word "sunrise" because it communicates useful truth, truth which is practical to the decisions we make.
We should be warned... that while some of man's activities require the use of the practical criteria for justification, faith AND works, we should always explain the doctrine of justification using the perfect criterion, justification by faith and faith alone. We should apply the perfect perception when the perfect perception is appropriate... and apply the practical perception when the practical perception is appropriate.
What Question is James Answering?
If you will read James 2:14-24, you will see the appropriate context for James's practical perception of justification by faith and works. You will see that the entire section is answering a question. The question is "... if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?" (2:14). He answers that question by saying that faith with zero works,
- "is dead" (2:17)
- has no evidence that it even exists (2:18)
- is the kind of faith that demons have (2:19)
- "is dead" or in some translations "is useless" (2:20)
- lacks the practical criteria for justification (2:21-25)
- "is dead" (2:26)
So, faith with zero works is DEAD, DEAD, DEAD... or DEAD, USELESS, DEAD. Would a faith that is triple dead or double dead and useless grant eternal life? Eternal life is the most important and cherished gift in the the universe. How could a dead, useless faith result in the greatest gift? It doesn't. And, since John 3:16 says that we have eternal life by faith, a dead faith would certainly not provide life that lasts forever... hence, the answer of the book of James to the question is: No, faith that has zero works does not save anyone. Jesus did not say in John 3:16, "Whoever has a dead faith should not perish, but have eternal life".
So, the answer to the question is: A faith with zero works is dead, does not meet the practical criteria for justification and is therefore unable to save.
God's word is perfect, without contradiction!
It is my prayer that God will use others to improve on what I have written, in an attempt to reconcile James to other passages regarding justification... That God's name be praised!
Amen.