Does James Contradict Paul?

Sola Fide

No Christian denies that justification is by faith. That is an obvious biblical teaching. The controversy is about whether justification is by faith alone (sola fide).

In Roman Catholic theology, justification is a process begun at baptism, after which we are obliged to cooperate with grace in hopes of receiving a favorable verdict from God at the end of our lives. “The Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone contradicts Scripture,” writes Peter Kreeft, a winsome and articulate spokesman for Catholic theology. Nevertheless, argues Kreeft, Protestant theology reminds us “that none of us can deserve heaven” and that if God were to ask us why he should let us into heaven, “our answer should not begin with the word ‘I’ but with the word ‘Christ.’ ”¹ Don’t overlook the word begin in that sentence, because works do eventually enter into the equation. Later Kreeft writes, “To the world’s most practical question, ‘What must I do to be saved?’, God has given us clear answer: Repent, believe, and live in charity.”² That’s what Kreeft means when he says that justification is not by faith alone.

By contrast, the Bible stresses that we are justified by faith apart from works of the law (Rom. 3:28). “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Rom. 3:20). “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” (Gal. 2:16). “It is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith’ ” (Gal. 3:11). In short, the righteousness by which we are acquitted comes through faith in Christ, not through the law on account of our own righteousness (Phil. 3:9).

It is important to note that faith is not itself virtuous. Faith is not the basis or the ground by which we are justified, as if the righteous act of believing outweighs all our unrighteous deeds. Faith has value because of the object to which it connects us. Think of skating on a frozen pond. Faith is the means by which we get out on the ice, but it is not the reason we do not sink. We are kept out of the dangerous water below by the object of our faith. It is the thickness of the ice that saves us.

To put it in Aristotelian terms, faith is the instrumental cause of our justification. “We compare faith to a kind of vessel,” Calvin writes, “for unless we come empty and with the mouth of our souls open to seek Christ’s grace, we are not capable of receiving Christ.”³ Faith is the outstretched empty hand ready to receive Christ and all his benefits. The act of believing, in itself, does not save. Faith “is only the instrument by which we embrace Christ our righteousness” (BC Art. 22).

Finally, we should be clear that although we are justified by faith alone, the faith that justifies is never alone. Good works do not contribute to the root of our justification, but they must be found as fruit of our justification. As Turretin observes, “it is one thing for works to be connected with faith in the person of the justified; another, however, in the matter of justification.”⁴ In other words, sinners are not justified by works, but works will always be evident in the lives of justified sinners.

The book of James seems to repudiate the Protestant doctrine of sola fide. How does Romans 3:28 (“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law”) square with James 2:24 (“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone”)? This seems like a plain contradiction. Paul thinks we are justified by faith alone; James thinks we are justified by faith and works. No wonder Luther once called James a “right strawy epistle.”

Rightly understood, however, there is no contradiction between Paul and James. Here are five reasons why.

1. James and Paul are addressing different concerns. The foolish person in James 2:20 is not the apostle Paul. James was likely written before Paul’s letters to the Romans or Galatians. They are dealing with different issues. Paul is asking the question, “How are we right with God?” James is asking, “What does genuine faith look like?” For Paul the issue is: “How do Gentiles get into the church?” For James the issue is: “Why are people not caring for their brothers and sisters in the church?”
2. James’s argument presupposes the importance of faith. The necessity of faith is presumed in verse 17 and in verse 20, and again in the example of Abraham in verses 22 and 24. James does not want faith to be supplanted by works or even supplemented by works. He wants faith to be demonstrated by works. The equation in James is not “faith plus works equals justification.” The equation is “faith minus works does not equal justification.” Think of salvation as F(aith)=J(ustification)+W(orks). Paul says, “Don’t you dare put ‘W’ on the left side of the equation.” James says, “Don’t you dare leave out ‘W’ on the right side of the equation.”
3. Paul and James use “works” in two different ways. Paul is talking about works of the law, especially Jewish rites like circumcision, holy days, and food observance. Those were the typical ways, for a Jewish audience, that one would be tempted to place their confidence in something other than Christ. James is talking about the works of faith, acts of charity operative in the body of Christ without preferential treatment.
4. Paul and James use the word justify in two different ways. Paul is dealing with people who trust in the works of the law for their standing with God. James is dealing with people who think that mere intellectual assent is real Christianity (James 2:19). Paul is talking about a forensic declaration of righteousness. James is talking about practical evidence that faith is real (2:16, 18).
5. Paul teaches the same point James teaches. Paul speaks of the obedience of faith (Rom. 1:5) and of faith working through love (Gal. 5:6). Paul understands that dead faith is no faith at all (1 Cor. 6:9–11; Gal. 5:16–26). James is talking about the kind of “belief ” that even demons have (James 2:19). Neither Paul nor James believes that such empty, untrusting belief constitutes justifying faith.

In the end, there is no conflict between Paul and James. It is right to say we are justified by faith alone apart from works of the law, provided we understand, as James reminds us, that the faith that justifies will always work itself out in love.

Notes:

1. Peter Kreeft, Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Christian Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Ignatius Press, 2001), 26.
2. Kreeft, Catholic Christianity, 130.
3. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 vols. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Edited by John T. McNeil (Westminster Press, 1960), 2.14.1.
4. Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 3 vols. Translated by George Musgrave Giger. Edited by James T. Dennison Jr. (P&R, 1997), 2.327.

This article is adapted from Daily Doctrine: A One-Year Guide to Systematic Theology by Kevin DeYoung.