How are sinners justified before a holy and righteous God? Roman Catholicism teaches that the Christian is justified by faith and works. This means that God justifies sinners as “righteous” by means of Christ’s work externally on the cross and by means of the good works they produce. Granted, Rome argues that these good works are produced by grace, but still, in the final analysis, the sinner stands on the work of Christ and their own good works for their justification before God.
But how many good works are enough? In this economy, the Christian can never know. That is why Rome teaches that you can never be completely assured of your salvation. Moreover, Rome teaches that if you commit a mortal sin, then the justification is forfeited. All of this encompasses Rome’s teaching on justification. If we write it out in formula form, this is how it looks:
Faith in Christ + Good Works = Justification
In support of this formula, Catholic apologists will inevitably quote James 2:24, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” At first glance, the wording of this verse seems to support the above formula. Doesn’t it teach rather straightforwardly that faith plus good works leads to justification? Yet this seems to directly contradict what we believe to be the biblical gospel—that we are saved by grace through faith alone. So, what are we to say to this seemingly powerful prooftext? What did James really mean?
Same terms but different meanings
First, in response to Rome, we would say that James is using the word “faith” and “justify” in different ways than Paul does. This is clearly seen in the context of the passage. When we interpret any biblical passage, the immediate context is always very important. And when we look at the context here, we see that James is clearly contrasting two types of faith: a dead faith that is a profession only and a living faith. This is the key issue.
So, James is not contrasting two different types of salvation formulas (the Protestant versus the Catholic—the former by faith only and the latter by faith and works). He is contrasting two types of faith: one that is merely a verbal profession and the other that is a living faith that bears good works. When you read James 2:14–26 in its entirety, you notice that he mentions five times a type of faith that is merely a profession. We can call this a “dead faith,” as James does (see 2:17, 26). The five mentions of this dead faith are listed below (emphasis added):
2:14 – “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?”
2:17 – “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
2:19 – “You believe that God is one.; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!”
2:20 – “Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?”
2:26 – “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
Clearly, James is speaking about a lifeless, “dead” faith that is merely intellectual.
Particularly important in these verses is the phrase in verse 14, “Can that faith save him?” The implied answer to the rhetorical question is obviously “no.” Dead, empty faith does not save. The deficient faith is described as an intellectual faith, similar to that of the demons (2:19). It is a kind of faith that professes but is not rooted in the heart. Therefore, James is not referencing good works as an addition to faith but as a proof of faith. This is clear in James’s positive statements about faith. Notice the contrast to a living faith:
2:18 – “I will show you my faith by my works.”
2:21 – “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?
2:22 - You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works.”
James is describing a “living faith” that manifests itself through good works. Notice that he says in verse 18, “I will show you my faith by my works.” That statement is the key to interpreting the verses that follow. Good works in the Christian life are the fruit that demonstrate and result from saving faith. This interpretation is verified in verse 22. Faith is “completed” by good works, because good works don’t add to the faith, but they show our faith to be genuine. They show that our faith is complete or “perfected” (NASB 1995).
Therefore, given this context, we can make this statement about the justification James mentions in verse 24: James does not speak about the justification of the sinner as the apostle Paul does (see Romans 4:1–2 and Galatians 2:15–17). He speaks about the justification of the faith. That distinction may be one of the most important distinctions to make in New Testament exegesis. It gets us to the heart of the biblical gospel. Paul and James are not using the word “justification” (Greek: dikaioo) in the same way! Paul is using it to describe God’s legal declaration that a sinner is justified through faith in Christ. James is using it to verify the fact that a sinner’s faith is justified by good works.
We can summarize James’s teaching about saving faith like this: it is not enough to merely assent to the truth claims of the gospel, but we must possess a faith that results from the new birth (John 3:3, 5), is accompanied by repentance (Matt. 4:17), and inevitably results in visible fruit (Gal. 5:22–23; Matt. 13:23). This type of supernatural faith alone justifies the sinner. And this type of faith inevitably produces good works. This is James’s point! With this in mind, we can state the biblical formula of justification by faith only:
Faith in Christ = Justification + Good Works
Abraham’s faith proven by works
Second, we would respond to Rome that a careful reader of the text will notice that James supports the Protestant understanding of the gospel with an example from Abraham’s life—namely, the willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Gen. 22:9–10). James says, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar” (2:21)? Then, James quotes Genesis 15:6 in support, saying, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” This is astounding. James, in support of his argument about Abraham being justified, cites a verse that Paul also uses to defend the doctrine of justification of faith alone (see Rom. 4:3, 9, 22; Gal. 3:6). The verse from Genesis 15 simply references Abraham’s faith, not his works! In this light, clearly the example he is citing, of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son, is showing Abraham’s faith in action.
So again, contra the interpretations that Rome apologists use to argue for salvation by faith and works, James’s illustration proves the point. James is not talking about a “justification by works.” He is talking about the justification of Abraham’s faith, which had already been credited to him as righteousness! As commentator Kurt Richardson has stated, “The difference of perspective between Paul and James rests in this: James looked to the Abraham story to show how genuine faith operates; Paul looked to the Abraham story to show how God is predisposed to forgive sinners.”
Scripture’s Teaching on Justification
Third, contra Rome’s interpretation of this
passage, we must affirm that the best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture itself, and the Scriptures testify clearly that the believer’s justification is a judicial act based on the work of Christ credited through faith apart from their own good works. To do an in-depth study, see the following passages: Romans 3:22; 4:1–5; 4:23; 5:1; 5:9; 5:18–19; 8:1; Galatians 2:16; 3:11; Ephesians 2:8–9; and Philippians 3:9. For the sake of brevity, I will simply cite Paul from Romans 4:1–5:
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
Paul’s articulation of the doctrine of justification is that the attempt to be justified by good works pollutes and destroys faith. Therefore, the sinner must come to God through faith alone in Christ. The death and perfect life (Christ’s righteousness) are then credited to him as a gift. After a simple reading of these texts, nothing could be more clear. The Catholic interpretation of James 2 clearly violates the analogy of faith—the understanding that Scripture does not contradict itself, since it is God’s Word (1 Tim. 3:16).
Scripture’s Teaching on Good Works
Fourth and finally, other Scriptures speak of true faith necessarily leading to good works/obedience. Similar to the point above, just as the Scriptures teaches that faith alone justifies, the Scriptures also teach that good works prove the faith to be genuine. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:
Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matt. 7:21)
He also stated in the parable of the soils:
As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. (Matt. 13:23)
Genuine faith, according to Jesus, always bears good fruit. Though fruit appears to varying degrees in different believers, it is always there. Paul specified what this fruit is. He said in Galatians, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (5:22–23). The apostle John understood our obedience to Christ’s commands to be proof that we are indeed genuine believers: “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4; see also 3:7).
Conclusion
When James 2:24 is seen in its immediate context, the student of Scripture understands that James is not using the terms faith and justify in the exact same way as Paul. James speaks of the justification of faith by accompanying works, whereas Paul speaks of the justification of the sinner by faith. We see this in the illustration from Abraham’s life and the quotation from Genesis 15, which speaks about Abraham being justified by faith alone. Furthermore, the rest of Scripture explicitly teaches that God’s justification of the sinner is by faith alone and that true faith inevitably produces good works. Both of these assertions are consistent with our interpretation of James 2. However, the Roman Catholic interpretation is completely antithetical to what James teaches. That’s why paying attention to the details of context is so important, even though it might seem tedious at times: it is paramount that we get this right! The future of the church depends on it.
This article was originally published in the second issue of Logic on Fire Magazine, titled Justification: The Doctrine That Stands. A ministry of Unashamed Truth, Logic on Fire is devoted to thoughtful, biblical, and theologically rich writing that seeks to unite sound doctrine with the lived experience of the Christian faith. Each issue is designed to strengthen the church, encourage believers, and deepen a love for Christ and His Word. Subscribe to Logic on Fire Magazine to receive future issues and enjoy faithful writing from pastors, theologians, and Christian leaders.
