True Faith Works

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”

James 2:21-26

As we have seen with the last two WU articles on the book of James, there appears to be a contradiction between James’ view of the gospel and Paul’s. If you have been following along, I have shared how these two ideas fit together. Even more than the last two passages, these verses are hard to reconcile with what Paul says. As I said previously, Paul is talking about the grounds of our faith which is found in grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone. This is how a person comes into right standing before God and enters God’s Kingdom. I also noted that true saving faith will immediately, necessarily, and inevitably result in a life that begins to be conformed to the image of Christ. Those changes may not be dramatic at times, but there will be some level of change that occurs and continues because he was made spiritually alive, and he has been indwelt by the Person of the Holy Spirit.
 
How then do we understand what James is saying here? A clue is found in what James points to as evidence of his claim that a man is “justified by works.” He does not point to the incident recorded in Genesis 15 where God makes a covenant with Abraham (Abram at the time). God rephrases the promise that he had made to Abraham in chapter 12 that he would be the father of many nations and that it would be through his wife Sarah. The Lord said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5). It is at this point where Abraham responds, “And he [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he [The Lord] counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
 
It is at this point that Abraham enters a covenant relationship with God through faith. In Genesis 22, the passage that James cites in the passage above, it is when Abraham takes his son Isaac to the altar and begins to offer him up to God. The text doesn’t tell us how God was going to fulfill his promise to provide offspring through Isaac if Isaac was to be sacrificed to God, but Abraham believed God and obeyed. Hebrews adds, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Hebrews 11:17-19).
 
At this point Abraham steps out in faith and proves that his faith and trust in the Lord is genuine and real. It is in this sense that James says that Abraham is “justified by his works.” It is not that he earned his salvation because God accepted him the moment he believed, but when he obeyed God, he demonstrated to others that his faith was genuine. As we noted last time, if a person says he has faith but there is no changed life that faith is spurious. This is the same point James makes referring to Rahab. He concludes, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” A person who has genuine saving faith, that faith will result in a life of good works. However, if a person claims to believe but remains unchanged, it is not true saving faith.