James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
In James 2:21, notice closely that James does not say that Abraham's work of offering up Isaac on the altar resulted in God accounting Abraham as righteous. The accounting of Abraham's faith as righteousness was made in Genesis 15:6,
many years before his work of offering up Isaac recorded in Genesis 22. The work of Abraham did not have some kind of intrinsic merit to save his soul, but it
proved or manifested the genuineness of his faith. This is the sense in which Abraham was "justified by works,"
shown to be righteous.
In James 2:22, faith made perfect by works means bring to maturity, carry to the end, to complete like love in 1 John 4:18. It does not mean that Abraham was finally saved based on his works, many years after his faith was accounted to him for righteousness. When Abraham performed the good work in Genesis 22; he
fulfilled the expectations created by the pronouncement of his faith in Genesis 15:6.
In James 2:23, the scripture was fulfilled in vindicating or demonstrating that Abraham believed God and was accounted as righteous. Abraham was accounted as righteous based on his faith (Genesis 15:6) not his works (Romans 4:2-3) long before he offered up Isaac on the altar in Genesis 22.
In James 2:24, James is not using the word "justified" here to mean "accounted as righteous" but is "shown to be righteous." James is discussing the
proof of faith (
says-claims to have faith but has no works/I will show you my faith by my works - James 2:14-18),
not the initial act of being accounted as righteous with God (Romans 4:2-3). Works bear out the justification that already came by faith.
In the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the Greek word for justified "dikaioo" #1344 is:
1. to render righteous or such he ought to be
2. to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered
3. to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be
In Matthew 12:37, "For by your words you will be
justified, and by your words you will be condemned." This is because our words
reveal the state of our hearts. Words and works will appear to be
evidences for, or against a man's being in a state of grace and righteousness.
God is said to have been
justified by those who were baptized by John the Baptist (Luke 7:29). This act pronounced or declared God to be righteous. It did not make him righteous. The basis or ground for the pronouncement was the fact that God IS righteous. Notice that the NIV reads,
"acknowledged that God's way was right.." The ESV reads,
"they declared God just.." This is the sense in which God was justified,
"shown to be righteous".
Matthew 11:19 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' Yet wisdom is
justified/vindicated/shown to be right by her deeds."
Note that the issue in James 2:14-24 is how Christians are to be saved (James 2:14b), how they're to be justified before God (James 2:23-24), just as the issue in Romans 4:1-5 is how Christians are to be saved, how they're to be justified before God (cf. Romans 5:9, Romans 1:16).
False. In James 2:14, we read of one who
says/claims he has faith but has
no works. This is not genuine faith, but a
bare profession of faith. So when James asks, "Can
that faith save him?" he is saying nothing against genuine faith, but only against an
empty profession of faith. So James
does not teach that we are saved "by" works. His concern is to
show the reality of the faith professed by the individual (James 2:18) and demonstrate that the faith claimed (James 2:14) by the individual is genuine.
The harmony of Romans 4:2-3 and James 2:24 is seen in the differing ways that Paul and James use the term "justified." Paul, when he uses the term, refers to the
legal (judicial) act of God by which He accounts the sinner as righteous. James, however is using the term to
describe those who would prove the genuineness of their faith by the works that they do. Man is saved through faith and not works (Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9); yet genuine faith is vindicated, substantiated, evidenced by works (James 2:14-24).
Christ saves us through faith based on the merits of His finished work of redemption "alone" and not based on the merits of our works. It is through faith "in Christ alone" (and not by the merits of our works) that we are justified on account of Christ (Romans 3:24; 5:1; 5:9); yet the faith that justifies is never alone (solitary, unfruitful, barren) if it is genuine (James 2:14-24). *Perfect Harmony.*
That's why both James 2:23-24 and Romans 4:1-5 employ the same Old Testament verse (Genesis 15:6, Romans 4:3, James 2:23).
I already explained why.
Romans 4:1-5 refers to initial salvation/justification before God, which is based on faith apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5), while James 2:23-24 refers to ultimate salvation/justification before God, which is based on both faith and works (Romans 2:6-8, Matthew 7:21, Philippians 2:12b; 2 Corinthians 5:9, Hebrews 5:9; 2 Peter 1:10-11, Hebrews 6:10-12, Philippians 3:11-14; 1 John 2:17b), as in works of faith (1 Thessalonians 1:3, Galatians 5:6b, Titus 3:8) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law).
Initial salvation/final salvation? You are completely mixed up. We "have been" saved through faith from the penalty of sin--justification (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 5:1) "past tense with ongoing present results." We will be saved from the presence of sin--glorification (Romans 8:30). We are not merely "initially" saved through faith then ultimately saved by works. From beginning--"have been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8) to end--"receiving the end of your faith-the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:9) salvation is through faith and is not by works. Now in regards to these passages of scripture that you misinterpret to teach salvation by works:
If one reads Romans 2:6-11 in isolation from the rest of the book of Romans, one might conclude that Paul was teaching salvation by works. However, as you read and study these passages, it's critical to keep in mind that these verses do not describe how one becomes saved, but the way the saved conduct their lives. These works done are the result of, not the means or basis of receiving salvation. So patient continuance in well doing, seeking for glory, honor, and immortality; (vs. 7) is not at all set forth as the means of their procuring eternal life, but as a
description of those to whom God does render life eternal.
Notice that
ALL who receive eternal life are
described as such,
everyone who does good (vs. 10). Good deeds flow from a heart that is saved and evil deeds flow from a heart that is unsaved. Verse 8 - but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath. Notice that
ALL who do not receive eternal life are
described as such,
everyone who does evil (vs. 9). What those passages convey is that though our deeds are judged by God, it's not the good deeds themselves which are the basis or means of our salvation, but the type of deeds expose whether our heart was saved, or not. People who teach salvation by works confuse descriptive passages of scripture with prescriptive passages of scripture.
Matthew 7:21 - Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
John 6:40 - For
my Father’s will is that everyone who
looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
These many people (unbelievers) in Matthew 7:22 had the wrong foundation. They were trusting in their works to save them and NOT IN CHRIST ALONE. Sound familiar? Jesus
NEVER knew them which means they were
NEVER saved. Their hearts were not right with God, so their attempted external obedience was stained with sin. *Seeking salvation by works is not the will of the Father.
In Philippians 2:12, notice that Paul said "work out" your salvation and
not work for your salvation. Paul is not teaching salvation by works here, but is referring to active pursuit in the process of ongoing sanctification. Works salvationists often confuse justification with ongoing sanctification.
In 2 Corinthians 5:9, we read that believers make it their ambition to be pleasing to the Lord. Nothing there about salvation by works and perverting the gospel is not pleasing to the Lord.
So in Hebrews 5:9, who obeys Him? The saved or the lost?
I've heard many works salvationists use this verse to try and support salvation by works, including Roman Catholics, Mormons and Campbellites. *Only believers have
obeyed Him by choosing to believe the gospel (Romans 1:16) in order to become saved, and only believers obey Him after they have been saved through faith by keeping His commandments and practicing righteousness (1 John 2:3; 3:9,10).
In either sense, only believers obey Him.
Unbelievers have not obeyed Him by
refusing to believe the gospel (Romans 10:16) and without faith its impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), so unbelievers do not obey Him no matter how much "so called" obedience that they attempt to conjure up through the flesh in a vain effort to receive salvation by works.
So in either sense, unbelievers do not obey Him.
By cultivating the qualities listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7, Christians can be sure that God has called them and elected them. These fruits will confirm it. Make sure you have been called and elected. bébaios (an adjective, derived from bainō, "to walk where it is solid") – properly, solid (sure) enough to walk on; hence, firm, unshakable; (figuratively) absolutely dependable, giving guaranteed support (security, surety). Make sure that you are saved. To practice these qualities gives evidence of and assurance of salvation, though they are not the basis (or cause) of salvation. They are the effect. Cause of being in Christ (FAITH) effect of being in Christ (FRUIT).
For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (vs. 8). For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins (vs. 9). What is the object of the forgetting? Is this forgetting temporary because this believer had fallen into error or does this lack of fruit exist because this person’s "cleansing" was merely an external reformation that did not come from a truly changed heart? The genuineness of their profession will be demonstrated as they express these virtues. These fruits confirm their divine source. Romans 8:30 says, And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified;
those he justified, he also glorified. All of them.
In Hebrews 6:10-12, full assurance of hope is descriptive of a genuine believer. Just as we read in Hebrews 3:14, For we
have become [past tense Gk. verb, gegonamen, meaning we have become already] partakers of Christ,
if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end." Notice that this is essentially a repeat of verse 6, where we read: but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house -
whose house we are, if we
hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. The only ones in the end who will be identified as those who have become partakers of Christ, will have been those who hold fast the beginning of their confidence steadfast to the end." These faltering Hebrews who depart from God begin with loud confidence and profession of loyalty. But later? The wording of the above verse in Hebrews is not - "and you will become partakers of Christ (future indicative) if you (future indicative) hold fast." It is rather - "you
have been, and now are, partakers of Christ, if in the future you hold fast to Christ." Holding fast to Christ is a manifestation of genuine belief and having become partakers of Christ and departing from God is a manifestation of unbelief and failure to have become partakers of Christ.
In Philippians 3:11-14, Paul is neither teaching salvation by works or sinless perfection. There is also a difference between relative perfection and absolute perfection. Paul emphasizes the need for progress in Christian living. Paul is still involved in the struggles of life in a fallen world and strives to be perfect/mature. Paul denies that he has reached a spiritual impasse of non-development. Paul has made great progress, but the goal is still before him, not behind him. Salvation is a gift that we receive through faith and is not a prize that we work for and earn, yet there is fullness of blessings and rewards in the age to come. Just like in the Olympics, some will receive various medals (gold, silver, bronze) and some will receive no medals, but they were all still in the Olympics. *Don't forget to read Philippians 3:9 - and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.
In regards to the will of the Father and living forever in 1 John 2:17, we see what the will of the Father is in regards to receiving eternal life in John 6:40 - For
my Father’s will is that
everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Notice the words "work of" faith, "labor of" love and "patience of" hope in 1 Thessalonians 1:3. These are the practical outworking of the Thessalonians' conversion. The "work" the Thessalonians do is a result or consequence of their faith. So too their "labor" flows from love and their "endurance" comes from hope. Work "of" faith does not mean that faith in essence is the work accomplished or that we are saved by works that are produced "out of" faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Their work is a result or consequence "of" their faith. The work done is "of" faith or done "out of" faith. Faith was already established at conversion and then the work followed as a result or consequence "of" faith. Works-salvationists try to turn work "of" faith into this work "is" faith and end up making no distinction between faith and works that follow as a result of faith.
In regards to Galatians 5:6, true faith is living and active and works through love. Nothing there about salvation by works.
In regards to Titus 3:8, "careful to maintain good works/these things are good and profitable to men" is not saying we are saved by works. We are saved FOR (not by) good works (Ephesians 2:10).
You mentioned, "not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law" as if good works in general are excluded from the moral aspect of the law (Matthew 22:37-40). I often hear this bogus argument from works salvationists who try to teach that we are saved by "these" works and just not "those" works.
In James 2:15-16, the example of a "work" that James gives is: "If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?" To give a brother or sister these things needed for the body would certainly be a "good work" yet to neglect such a brother or sister and not give them the things needed for the body is to
break the second great commandment "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39) as found written in the law of Moses (Leviticus 19:18).
In Matthew 22:37-40, we read: Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. Please tell me, which good works could a Christian do that are completely detached from these two great commandments which are found in the law of Moses? (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18). Are there any genuine good works that Christians do which fall outside of loving God and our neighbor as ourself?
For faith is like a body, and works of faith are like the breathing (spirit) of that body (James 2:26). Faith without works of faith will die, just as a body without breathing will die (James 2:26). That's why our ultimate salvation will depend on both our faith and our continued works of faith (Romans 2:6-8, James 2:24, Matthew 7:21). If a Christian refuses to continue to perform works of faith, without repentance, he will ultimately lose his salvation (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a), just as if someone stops himself from breathing by hanging himself, he will die.
The breathing analogy (James 2:26) doesn't include the automatic aspect of breathing. For Christians must be careful to maintain good works (Titus 3:8). The analogies in the Bible don't include every aspect of the analogous thing. For example, Christians, born-again people, being like newborn babies (1 Peter 2:2) doesn't mean Christians have no ability to talk, walk, or control their bowels.
The comparison of the human spirit and faith converges around their modes of operation. The spirit (Greek pneuma) may also be translated "breath." As a breathless body emits no indication of life, so fruitless faith exhibits no indication of life. The source of the life in faith is not the works; rather, life in faith is the source of the works. Works salvationists get this backwards and put the cart before the horse.
From beginning "have been saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8) to end "receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:9) salvation is by grace through faith and is not by works. Faith is not without repentance (Acts 20:21). The Bible nowhere says "lose salvation."
If one reads Romans 2:6-10 in isolation from the rest of the book of Romans, one might conclude that Paul was teaching salvation by works. However, as you read and study these passages, it is imperative to keep in mind that these verses do not describe how one becomes saved, but the way the saved conduct their lives. These workss done are the result of, not the means or basis of receiving salvation. So patient continuance in well doing, seeking for glory, honor, and immortality; (vs. 7) is not at all set forth as the means of their procuring eternal life, but as a
description of those to whom God does render life eternal.
Notice that
ALL who receive eternal life are
described as such,
everyone who does good (vs. 10). Good deeds flow from a heart that is saved and evil deeds flow from a heart that is unsaved. Verse 8 - but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath. Notice that
ALL who do not receive eternal life are
described as such,
everyone who does evil (vs. 9). What those passages convey is that though our deeds are judged by God, it's not the good deeds themselves which are the basis or means of our salvation, but the type of deeds expose whether our heart was saved, or not.
Matthew 7:21 - Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of My Father in heaven.
John 6:40 - For my Father’s
will is that
everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
In regards to Matthew 25:26-30, the talents represent monetary value and are distibuted according to ability (vs. 15). The requirement is to invest in Christ. The first two servants
deposited their money with the bankers (Matthew 25:27) but the third servant
buried his money in the ground (vs. 25). The third servant had been given abilities and the opportunity to believe and bear fruit in accordance, but had chosen to reject it.
The fact that the latter man in this parable is called wicked and slothful and an unprofitable servant (Matthew 25:30) who is cast out into outer darkness, certainly indicates that he was not a true disciple of the master. The idea of this illustrative parable is that all true believers will produce fruit in varying degress. All believers are fruitful, but not all are equally fruitful (Matthew 13:23). Those who produce no results are not truly converted.
This man's characterization of the master maligns him as a cruel and ruthless opportunist, "reaping and gathering" what he had no right to claim as his own. This slothful so-called servant does not represent a genuine believer, for it is obvious that this man had no true knowledge of the master. Two of these servants were children of God, but not the third. Children of God are not cast out into outer darkness. The fact that this man is called a servant does not mean necessarily that he is saved. The
Jews are called the Lord’s servants, but they were not all saved (Isaiah 43:10).
In John 15:2, Jesus mentions branches that
bear no fruit and branches that
bear fruit (vs. 2) but Jesus says nothing about branches that bear fruit but then stopped bearing fruit.
When Jesus spoke these words in John 15, how many people at that time, prior to Him being glorified had received the Holy Spirit and were baptized by one Spirit into one body? "the body of Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:13). John 7:38-39 - He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit,
whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
So "in me" is part of the metaphor of the vine, (in the vine) not in the body of Christ under the New Covenant which was not yet fully established. So in John 15, we see
two kinds of connections with Christ as the vine (the merely cosmic which bears no fruit, (like Judas Iscariot) and the vital which bears fruit - like the remaining 11 disciples). Without that vital union with Christ, there can be no life and no productivity.
Those who profess to know Christ but whose relationship to Him is self-attached, He neither elected them, nor saved them, nor sustains them. Eventually, the fruitless branches are identified as not belonging to the vine and are cut off, like Judas Iscariot, who was not a genuine believer, but was an
unbelieving, unclean devil who betrayed Jesus (John 6:64-71; 13:10-11).
