Beloved reader, there is no contradiction between St. Paul and St. James as Luther thought. Luther was led to this false thinking because he was understandably scandalised by the Roman Church. Rather than consulting the Fathers he chose to invent a novel soteriology which is false. Please consider this ‘article’ and let us keep in mind that when St. Paul speaks of ‘works’ he primarily means ‘works of the law’ whereas when St. James speaks of ‘works’ he primarily means ‘works of faith’. Now:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)
Amen. We enter the New Covenant by grace through saving faith (pisteuó, a trust in and pledge of covenant faithfulness unto fidelity to Christ), not of works (of the law). Paul is saying here we do not have to become a Jew before becoming a Christian, not that we are justified by faith alone. Consider the following:
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:10-13)
Paul contrasts ‘works of the flesh’ (Gal 5:19) and ‘works of the law’ (v9) with ‘good works’ (v10), not which we are saved by (that is grace) but created for. Why have you been saved? “For good works that we should walk in them”. Now, what if one rejects the work of faith and the will of the Father? They will be cast out: “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” (Matt 7:21). This does not mean if we sin we are no longer under grace, as St John’s first epistle explicated clearly. Rather, that good works, obedience and saving faith are impossible to separate, they are inextricably intertwined. Thus we are justified by grace through faith working (Gal 5:6), not faith alone (James 2), nor by works of the law (Eph 2). The faith Paul is speaking of is a saving faith / believing (verb) / living faith / working faith… not faith alone: a dead faith, for the ‘just shall live by faith’ (Hab 2:4, Rom 1:16-17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38-39). This fact, that a pledge of covenant obedience unto love is required for salvation, does not make Biblical soteriology ‘works based’ for the base / source / origin / cause is unmerited grace.
One may object that the generic clause ‘works’ in Eph 2:9 is not referring to works of the law but rather good works, so faith can be separated from ‘good works’ thus we are saved by faith alone like the thief on the cross… On the contrary, nothing changes even if that is the correct exegesis, neither was the thief justified by ‘faith alone’ or ‘faith apart from works’. We do not enter God’s covenant by good works, but by grace through living faith unto His good works that He has prepared for us to obey. We are not saved by good works (by grace we have been saved), but saving faith works. For there is no such thing as justification by faith alone (James 2), because not only does saving faith work, saving faith is a work (both of God and man):
“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:27-29)
The work that God requires of us is the work of God, that we believe (pistoun, verb of faith) in Jesus, having saving faith, living faith, faith working (Gal 5:6) – thus is a synergy: for we are God’s ‘synergoi’ (1 Cor 3:9, lit. fellow workers). We must make ‘a vow to a faithful relationship’ (faith, noun), trusting to the point of confidence and actualisation of the covenant agreement to faithfulness (believing, verb) based on that relationship.
Thus, the thief on the cross was not saved through faith alone, but by faith. In particular, a living faith, a faith working (Gal 5:6), faith working together with his works, faith completed by his works (James 2:22), for he worked the work of God by believing (pistoun, verb of faith) in Christ unto repentance and saving faith – a pledge of covenant faithfulness unto the point of action based of the relationship. Despite not being able to actualise the remission of his sins through baptism (Mark 16:16, John 3:5, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, 1 Pet 3:21), Christ in His mercy credited his living faith, his faith that worked, his love for Christ, desire for obedience, as a baptism of desire such that Christ says to him “today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Let us not be fooled into thinking this is an example of salvation for us, it is a demonstration of the mercy of God. There is no salvation for us without ‘good works’ (Pauline) / ‘works’ (James) of faith, for to believe (pistoun, verb of faith) is faithful obedience, unto those works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them:
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36)
One might exclaim, “how could this be so? This appears too complicated? By faith, not of works. It’s just that simple”. On the contrary, the whole counsel of God and the witness of Holy Scriptures in their fullness is not something that can be reduced to a verse of scripture. Placing one’s stake in the ground on a decontextualised interpretation of *Eph 2:8-9* rather than heeding the scriptures in their fullness is a mistake, because they bear witness that ‘works’ are involved in our salvation, for saving faith is faith working. This does not mean works merit our salvation, we are saved by grace through faith, not by faith or works.
Furthermore, if it is true that one can simply read Eph 2:8-9 at face value without further faithful investigation into the context of the words, then one ought to do the same for: “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead… faith was completed by his works… you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2). Why do ‘Sola Fide’ proponents refuse to accept this at face value?
Faith works, that’s what saving faith does, it is operative. Saving faith, faithfulness, working faith, faith working, is the work that God requires of us and is simultaneously a gift from God for it is by grace alone (not of works of the law, neither merited by good works) – synergistic. Faith is a work, good works of God (such as obedience) is you believing in Christ (sounds like an odd phrase doesn’t it? We aren’t used to hearing belief as a verb as it is in Greek), again: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life…” (John 3:36). ‘Believing’ (pistoun) in Christ is operative, a work, the verb of faith / faithfulness / fidelity (pistis). [Saving faith = faithfulness, believing and obedience] for the “just shall live by their faith” (Hab 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal 3:11, Heb 10:38) … Have you ever been confused by James 2:19-26?:
“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”… You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone… For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.“
There appears to be a contradiction, his belief was credited as righteousness but he says he was justified by works. Many Protestant study bibles will suggest, James is not actually talking about justification before God but justification before others, for it says Abraham believed and was righteous therefore it could not have been his works that justified him before God… Now chances are, if there appears to be a contradiction in scripture such that one invents a nonexistent context to effectively explain the words away… you are not being faithful to the text. Protestants are in the business of eisegesis on James, Catholic and Orthodox exegete faithfully here.
If one understands that to believe (pistoun) is a verb, an operative of faith, there is no contradiction neither any need to perform violence on the text. What James says is true: we are not justified by faith alone, works are a part of our justification because saving faith works and is a work. Abraham was not justified by faith alone, ‘pistis’ in isolation, mental assent alone neither heart assent alone (the just shall live by their faith/faithfulness). Rather, he had living faith, faith the verb i.e believing, working faith, faith working, faith that worked when he offered his son, thus was justified by faith working through love, not faith alone. This does not mean salvation is by faith/works/faith and works/faith that works – it is only by grace. Furthermore, if one takes offense to the notion that works are apart of justification it is likely that they understand the concept through the reformed paradigm where justification is reduced to an event that occurs when one initially gets saved. On the contrary, justification is a process with a past, present and future reality: for we wait for the hope of righteousness / justification (dikaiosunēs) by the Holy Spirit through faithfulness (Gal. 5:5).
Should this be a surprise to us? Again “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision (works of the law) nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). Christ tells us if we love Him, keep His commands (John 14:15) and we are told anyone who does not love Christ is damned (1 Cor 16:22). Therefore, he who does not obey/heed Christ is damned. Again , “whoever believes (remember…) in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life…” (John 3:36). Again, “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” (Matt 7:21).
Let us turn consider St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans. “Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name” (Rom 1:5), ‘ὑπακοὴν πίστεως’ literally ‘obedience faith’, what on earth does this mean? There is no article or preposition, Paul has stuck obedience and faith together such that they are inextricable. There are 4 ways to understand this, as a (1) objective genitive, (2) subjective genitive, (3) attributive genitive and (4) a genitive of apposition i.e: ‘obedience [to the] faith’ / ‘the obedience faith requires’ / ‘believing obedience’ / ‘obedience, [namely] faith’. The phrase is deliberately ‘open’ such that all of these things ought to come to mind. Further qualified, “..I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient” (Rom 15:18) and again “but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for [obedience faith]” (Rom 16:26). This final benediction is reminiscent of Daniel’s vision of the ascension of Christ, to whom all “peoples, nations, and languages should serve [render divine service, 6399] Him.” (Dan 7:13-14). St. Paul continues in chapter 1:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.‘” (Rom 1:16-17)
Is this not Paul’s definition of saving faith? Does this not demonstrate that Paul and James are in perfect agreement? St. Paul quotes Hab 2:4, literally ‘live by his faith (530, emunah)’.
Strong’s Lexicon Excerpt:
Emunah: Faithfulness, fidelity…
Definition: … confirm, support and be faithful
Corresponding Greek: pistis, reflecting faith/faithfulness, be “faithful, trustworthy”
Usage: primarily conveys idea of faithfulness
Cultural Usage: … underscoring the covenant relationship between God and His people. Not merely intellection assent but involved deep trust and commitment… covenants were binding and faithfulness was highly valued.
As such it would be rightly translated, “the just shall live by his faithfulness”, from “faith to faith”, from the start to the end you must live in faithfulness to God. By grace you have been saved and grafted into a covenantal relationship with Him, through saving faith, ‘vow to faithful relationship’ working through love (Gal 5:6). In the following chapter:
“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing (gr. good work) seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” (Rom 2:6-7)
One may object, “yes but what about Rom 3:22? ‘the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe’ – see, believe!” But do you understand the Greek? ‘For all who believe (action)’? The teleology of pistoun is the actualisation of the covenant pledge unto relational fidelity to Christ. Furthermore, (διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ) literally ‘through faith/faithfulness Jesus Christ”. This could be rightly understood as either:
- ‘Through faith (πίστεως) in/from Jesus for all who believe[ing]’ (πιστεύοντας, present tense verb) i.e those living their faith, being faithful;
- ‘Through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all those believing’ i.e for those living out their faith, the faithfulness of Jesus Christ will justify them, because He is faithful and able to cleanse them because of His faithfulness to God in His humanity (notice Jesus Christ, not Christ Jesus).
When St. Paul says: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only?…” (Rom 3:28-29). The key understanding is faith apart from works of the law (Torah), there is no such thing as saving faith, faithfulness (πίστεως, emunah) that does work. We are not saved by faith and works, we are saved by grace through faith — a pledge of covenant faithfulness to the person of Christ, who is faithful to cleanse and redeem us from our daily failings by grace if we continue to abide in Him. Consider:
“Righteousness is, by definition, conformity to the covenant relationship; it consists of a faithful obedience to the Lord whose will is enshrined in the covenant. Yet the beginning of “faithfulness” is “faith”. In keeping with the Hebrew term ‘emunah’, the Greek noun translate faith, pisti is two-sided: faith and faithfulness’“
— Don Garlington, Studies in the New Perspective (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2008), 143.
“Paul did not believe that righteousness came from intellectual assent or trust alone, but from a faith that was lived out in righteous deeds that were faithful to the New Covenant that God was establishing for everyone – both Jew and Gentile.”
— Professor Trent Horn
St. Paul continues:
“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved… For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom 10:9,12-13)
What is St. Paul saying to the Roman Church, struggling with ethnic division and beloved faithful confused about the role of the Torah in the New Covenant? That: “y’all need assent unto salvation hallelujah! Let’s get this altar call going! Son, do you ‘believe’ in Jesus?” No, he is saying that through saving faith, i.e a pledge of covenant faithfulness to Christ, one enters the New Covenant, not by obedience to the Torah. By grace you need to continue in faithfulness to Christ as you are ‘being saved’:
- Entrance in the Covenant: saved – by grace through faith actioned in believing (verb), a work (John 6:27-29).
- Living in the Covenant: being saved – by grace through faithfulness, faith working, faith that works: “by which also you are saved (sōzesthe, are being saved), if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor 15:2).
- Glorified in the Covenant: future will be saved – resurrection, rendering according to works, glorification, rule over the new creation: “…our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Rom 13:11).
That is why we are to “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). Beloved reader, let me finish with the words of Christ Himself:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’ (Matt 10:34-39)
‘Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ (Matt 16:24)
‘…Then He said to another, “Follow Me”… But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”’ (Luke 9:59-60)
‘Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away… If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered.’ (John 15:1-8)
‘Laodiceans… “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.’ (Rev 3:14-16)
Justification by faith alone, while understandable reactionary given the historical context of ecclesiastical abuse in the Latin church, is not biblical even if what is meant by those who purport it is Biblical. The doctrine, or at the absolute very least the phraseology, is not Biblical. If St. James had no problem saying the exact opposite to his flock, I do not believe the phrase should even be uttered as an analogy to explain that we do not believe in works-merited salvation, lest we further confuse our flock. For the love of God, instead affirm ‘by grace alone’ which communicates that we do not believe in works-merited salvation, without the extreme risks of inadvertently conveying the false gospel of easy believism with the unbiblical concept and phraseology ‘justification by faith alone’ or ‘faith apart from good works of God’ – we are justified by grace, unmerited favour, through faith (pledge of covenant faithfulness unto obedience) lived out in faithfulness, faithfully, fidelity, faithful obedience, faith working through love:
“faith was completed by his works; … You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone… For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.“
I wonder how St. James, brother of the Lord, reacted in the great cloud of witnesses when Luther resigned his ‘epistle of straw’ to the appendix of the canon. May God have mercy on us all, preserve us from error, destroy our distorted presuppositions and rebuke us if we are not communicating truth holistically and in fullness through the Spirit.
ethankatsos@protonmail.com