free hosting   image hosting   hosting reseller   online album   e-shop   famous people

It has come to my attention that my essay on the topic of James Chapter 2 is too lengthy to successfully make the point that I believe James is making.  So, I have decided to write a shorter essay that lays the groundwork and basis for my original essay.  This way, people can get the gist of it without having to read the longer essay, but can use the longer essay as a reference of clarification if they see the need for clarification.  So, before asking me questions such as "what about this" or "what about here when it says", please consult my original essay for a very detailed, verse-by-verse explaination of James 2.

Let me begin by addressing the issue at hand:  Verse 24, which reads:

"Clearly," one might say, "This means that we must do good works in order to be saved."

However, I would argue that the person is focusing mainly on what appears to be the thrust of the verse, namely, "a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone".  However, they are forgetting that James first says "You see that".  The Greek word used here for "see" is "horao", which means (according to Strongs Numbers):

properly, to stare at, i.e. (by implication) to discern clearly (physically or mentally); by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear:--behold, perceive, see, take heed.

James is not commenting here on how a person becomes righteous before God.  Instead, he is commenting on how it is made known to others that we are justified before God.  James is saying here that a person's justification before God (ie, being credited with Christ's righteousness, by faith alone) is made visible to others by what that person does.  This "manifestation" of justification cannot be by faith alone, because men are incapable of seeing our faith alone.  1 Samuel 16:7 states that "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."  Since it is not possible for men to look directly into the hearts of other men (or women), they are able to "discern clearly" (as Strongs would put it) the condition of one's heart by what comes forth from it.  This is what Jesus means when He speaks about a tree producing fruit according to it's condition:

Matthew 7:17-20
"...Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."

In this parable, trees are symbolic of people, and the fruits that the trees produce are symbolic of the works that people produce.  Jesus says that we will be able to recognize a tree to be good (or, a person to be good), if the tree produces good fruit (or, if a person produces good works).  James actually uses similar phrases/terminology later in chapter three *. This is why James says earlier in verse 18:

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.

James is trying to get people to think about how logical it is to assume that other people will be able to see faith alone.  He argues that only if faith is accompanied by works will people be able to know that you truly have faith.  James is explaining the difference between faith in God and belief about God.  He begins explaining this difference in verse 14 when he asks, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?"  The obvious answer is that this "faith" cannot save them, because it is not faith at all.  We know this because James says that though a person claims to have faith, they have no deeds to prove it.  This faith cannot save them, because it is not faith in God, it is merely belief about God (if it is even that).  This is why James says that it is good that men believe that there is one God, but that this knowledge will not save them, because knowledge is not faith.  One can have knowledge and not have faith, but one cannot have faith and not have knowledge.  James refers to "knowledge of God" as "faith", because this is what the people he was writing to understood faith to be:  Knowledge of God.  Therefore, James concludes in verse 16 that "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."  James saying here that "faith" that does not eventually produce good works, is not true faith at all!  (Remember, James is clearly talking about different "types" of faith, or rather, different "notions" of faith, as shown in verse 14 by asking "Can such faith save him?")

Quite possibly, James was writing to clear up the inevitable misunderstanding of what Paul clearly taught: Justification before God by faith alone (Romans 1:16-17).  The Apostle Peter acknowledges that Paul's words can be easily misunderstood and hard to understand sometimes (2 Peter 3:16).  I imagine Paul used the fitting terminology "faith alone" while proclaiming the Gospel, and people began to understand this as "just believe that Jesus is Lord", and that is what Paul means by "faith". Perhaps, in order to clarify Paul's teachings, James wrote this portion of His letter.  If this were true, perhaps this gives us insight as to why James chose to use the terminology "faith alone" in verse 24:  Because people were taught that a man is justified before God by faith alone.

James supports this further by giving us an example:  Abraham.

James 2:20-24
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

First note that James says that Abraham was considered righteous for what he did.  Whereas God declares people righteous, men can only consider others to be righteous.  Our opinions of other people do not make them righteous.  Then James says that we see that Abraham was truly righteous because the faith he had in God went "full-circle", so to speak.  James calls this "completed" faith.  We determine that a person's faith is true because it produced works.  The verse after this is interesting, because James says that a scripture was fulfilled, but the scripture was not a prophesy.  In what sense then can it be said that the scripture was fulfilled?  A look at the original Greek text reveals that the word translated into "fulfilled" in this verse can actually mean "verified" or "proved".  This then would mean that the theological concept that men are credited by God with righteousness by believing in Him, was proved by Abraham's example.  Abraham did not merely claim to have faith, but he truly did have faith in God and this faith was proved to be true because it produced good works.  Others see the good works that Abraham did and were convinced that he really was credited by God with righteousness.

This culminates with James saying that we see that men are justified by what they do and not by faith alone.  Matthew 5:16 provides a good summary of this truth:  "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

In short, James is saying that our justification before God is made known to others by what we do, and that is how others will know that we are Christian. In John 15:5, Jesus says "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  A tree is good because of it's root, not because of it's fruit.  Likewise, a man is righteous because of Christ (out foundation), not because of our deeds.  However, if we have a good root (Christ), we will do many good works which testify to the "goodness" of that root.

James 3:13
"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom."

James 3:17-18
"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."