James 2 explained.

[NajYlib]

James 2:24 says: "A person is justified by works and not by faith alone."

Romans 4:5 says: "To him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

Is this a contradiction? No.

The answer is found by reading Scripture chronologically and in context. The issue is not that Paul and James secretly meant the same thing. The issue is that we must understand who James was, when he wrote, what he understood at that point, and what happened later in Acts 10, Acts 11, Acts 15, and Galatians 2.

Who wrote the epistle of James?

The James who wrote that epistle was not the Apostle James. It was James the Lord's half-brother (Galatians 1:19). He did not believe in Jesus during His earthly ministry (John 7:5). He only believed after the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:7).

He wrote his epistle around 44 AD, before the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 (49-50 AD) before he fully understood the Gospel of grace.

What changed James?

At the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), James heard Peter's testimony about Cornelius (Acts 10–Acts 11). He heard how God saved Gentiles by faith alone, no circumcision, no law-keeping, no works. And James had a change of mind, he changed his mind. He ruled against adding good works to the Gospel. He gave Paul the right hand of fellowship after hearing Paul's preaching of the Gospel, agreeing salvation is by grace alone (Galatians 2:9).

So what is the Epistle of James?

It is the early, incomplete, pre-conversion letter of a man who was not saved yet, when he wrote it but he got saved in Acts 15. He wrote to a Jew audience scattered after persecution in 44 AD. But in Acts 15, he rejected his own earlier position on justification.

The James of 49-50 AD would not point you back to what he wrote in 44 AD. He got saved. He moved on. Many people are still stuck where he began.

Read it in order and you will understand

1. Acts 10 - Acts 11 Peter learns Gentiles are saved by faith alone too

2. Time passes

3. Acts 15 James changes his mind and rules with Paul and Peter

4. Galatians 2 James gives Paul the right hand of fellowship after hearing Paul preaching Gospel

The four restrictions in Acts 15 are for fellowship between Gentiles and Jews when they come together. They are not requirements for salvation.

Why Is the epistle of James in the Bible?

To test people, and to show James's growth progress in the timeline toward the truth.

I believe the Bible is inspired. But inspiration does not require the writer to be saved, and it does not automatically mean the book belongs in the canon.

The Holy Spirit can use an unsaved man to speak the truth. Balaam prophesied (Numbers 24:17). Caiaphas prophesied (John 11:51). Judas was given apostolic power (Matthew 10:1). God used all of them, but none of them were saved. The same is true with books. Jude quotes the Book of Enoch as a genuine prophecy (Jude 14-15), yet the Holy Spirit did not include Enoch in the canon. Inspiration and canon are not the same thing.

So with James, he was not saved when he wrote the epistle. He was writing from a pre-conversion, law-bound mindset. The text records his incomplete understanding at that time. He later rejected his own position at Acts 15 when he ruled against adding works to the Gospel and gave Paul the right hand of fellowship (Galatians 2:9).

 

[David Lamb]

James 2:24 says: "A person is justified by works and not by faith alone."

Romans 4:5 says: "To him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

Is this a contradiction? No.

The answer is found by reading Scripture chronologically and in context. The issue is not that Paul and James secretly meant the same thing. The issue is that we must understand who James was, when he wrote, what he understood at that point, and what happened later in Acts 10, Acts 11, Acts 15, and Galatians 2.

Who wrote the epistle of James?

The James who wrote that epistle was not the Apostle James. It was James the Lord's half-brother (Galatians 1:19). He did not believe in Jesus during His earthly ministry (John 7:5). He only believed after the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:7).

He wrote his epistle around 44 AD, before the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 (49-50 AD) before he fully understood the Gospel of grace.

What changed James?

At the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), James heard Peter's testimony about Cornelius (Acts 10–Acts 11). He heard how God saved Gentiles by faith alone, no circumcision, no law-keeping, no works. And James had a change of mind, he changed his mind. He ruled against adding good works to the Gospel. He gave Paul the right hand of fellowship after hearing Paul's preaching of the Gospel, agreeing salvation is by grace alone (Galatians 2:9).

So what is the Epistle of James?

It is the early, incomplete, pre-conversion letter of a man who was not saved yet, when he wrote it but he got saved in Acts 15. He wrote to a Jew audience scattered after persecution in 44 AD. But in Acts 15, he rejected his own earlier position on justification.

The James of 49-50 AD would not point you back to what he wrote in 44 AD. He got saved. He moved on. Many people are still stuck where he began.

Read it in order and you will understand

1. Acts 10 - Acts 11 Peter learns Gentiles are saved by faith alone too

2. Time passes

3. Acts 15 James changes his mind and rules with Paul and Peter

4. Galatians 2 James gives Paul the right hand of fellowship after hearing Paul preaching Gospel

The four restrictions in Acts 15 are for fellowship between Gentiles and Jews when they come together. They are not requirements for salvation.

Why Is the epistle of James in the Bible?

To test people, and to show James's growth progress in the timeline toward the truth.

I believe the Bible is inspired. But inspiration does not require the writer to be saved, and it does not automatically mean the book belongs in the canon.

The Holy Spirit can use an unsaved man to speak the truth. Balaam prophesied (Numbers 24:17). Caiaphas prophesied (John 11:51). Judas was given apostolic power (Matthew 10:1). God used all of them, but none of them were saved. The same is true with books. Jude quotes the Book of Enoch as a genuine prophecy (Jude 14-15), yet the Holy Spirit did not include Enoch in the canon. Inspiration and canon are not the same thing.

So with James, he was not saved when he wrote the epistle. He was writing from a pre-conversion, law-bound mindset. The text records his incomplete understanding at that time. He later rejected his own position at Acts 15 when he ruled against adding works to the Gospel and gave Paul the right hand of fellowship (Galatians 2:9).

Interesting, but it leaves mean wondering why you posted it in "New Member Introductions."

 

[NajYlib]

Interesting, but it leaves mean wondering why you posted it in "New Member Introductions."

This is the only section I was able to post.

 

[David Lamb]

This is the only section I was able to post.

Thanks for explaining. I think when you have been here a bit longer you will be able to post elsewhere.

 

[NajYlib]

Thanks for explaining. I think when you have been here a bit longer you will be able to post elsewhere.

This is the reason.

"ATTENTION NajYlib,


You are currently browsing a forum you do not have permission to post in. This is likely because this specific forum is for those who have marked their faith as a Baptist faith.


If you have any questions regarding this or think this is a mistake, please open a thread here: Member Services"

I'm saved by faith alone, not by works. The moment a person believes the true Gospel, their spirit is born again, cleansed of all sins by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, His eternal life source enters your spirit, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and it is impossible to lose their salvation. The flesh and the born-again spirit are two completely distinct, separate natures. I am saved. I am 100% going to heaven. I simply don't want to be associated with any denomination.

 

[David Lamb]

This is the reason.

"ATTENTION NajYlib,


You are currently browsing a forum you do not have permission to post in. This is likely because this specific forum is for those who have marked their faith as a Baptist faith.


If you have any questions regarding this or think this is a mistake, please open a thread here: Member Services"

I'm saved by faith alone, not by works. The moment a person believes the true Gospel, their spirit is born again, cleansed of all sins by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, His eternal life source enters your spirit, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and it is impossible to lose their salvation. The flesh and the born-again spirit are two completely distinct, separate natures. I am saved. I am 100% going to heaven. I simply don't want to be associated with any denomination.

Again, thanks for explaining.

 

[kyredneck]

So with James, he was not saved when he wrote the epistle.

Wow. Just, wow.

Was Paul unsaved, or senile, when he pinned this apparent contradiction?

....the doers of the law shall be justified Ro 2:13

....by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified... Ro 3:20

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

James 2:24 says: "A person is justified by works and not by faith alone."

James 2:24
"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."

"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified,...." A man's works are not what causes the procuring his Justification, but a man's works as the effects of his Justification are declaring that he has been Justified;

Because, the best works that any man can do are imperfect, and cannot obtain a Righteousness that is Justifying in the Sight of God, and a man's works are unprofitable in this respect;

Since, when there are works performed in the best manner, they are none other than what it is a man's duty to perform, and therefore cannot Justify from sin he has Committed:

And besides, 'Justification' in this sense would frustrate the Grace of God, make void the death of Christ, and encourage boasting in men.

Good works do not come before Justification as causes or conditions,
but works follow Justification as the fruits and effects of a soul that has been Justified by Grace, through the Blood of Jesus, and the Pardoning of their sin, and having the Righteousness of Christ Imputed into their soul, where God no longer can see them being guilty of any sin and, therefore, He Justifies them.

Adapted from: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/james/2.htm

 

[Alan Dale Gross]

James 2:24 says: "A person is justified by works and not by faith alone."

Romans 4:5 says: "To him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

Is this a contradiction? No.

James 2:24
"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."

"...and not by faith only": or as "faith only" without works, or a mere historical faith, which we know that faith being without works is dead, of which the Apostle is speaking; and therefore faith that is without works being dead can not, and so does not, bear testimony to a man's Justification;

"Therefore we conclude that a man is Justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Romans 3:28.

Obviously then it appears, that the Apostle James does not contradict the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:28 since they do not speak of the same sort of faith;

James speaks of a mere profession of faith, a dead and lifeless faith;

Paul speaks of a true faith, which has Christ, and His Righteousness, for its Object, and works by Love, that produces Peace, Joy, and Comfort in the soul, as the result of that true faith.

Moreover, the Apostle Paul speaks of Justification before God;

and James speaks of justification as it is known by its fruits unto men;

Paul speaks of a Justification of their persons, in their soul, in the Sight of God;

James speaks of the justification and approbation of their cause, their conduct, and their faith before men, and the vindication of them from all charges and calumnies of hypocrisy, and the like, when they do good works, their faith being not dead;

Paul speaks of good works as causes, which he denies works to have any place as such in justification; "a man is Justified by faith without the deeds of the law," Romans 3:28.

James speaks of their works as effects flowing from faith, showing the truth of their faith that they have obtained, and so their works show the Justification they received by faith;

Paul had to do with legalists and self-justiciaries, who sought Righteousness not by faith, but by the works of the law, whom he opposed;

And James, on the other hand, had to do with libertines, who cried up faith and knowledge, but had no regard to a religious life and conversation;

Provided we take these things under consideration, it will tend to reconcile the two Apostles about this business, not as works causing Justification, but as works being the effect of their Justification with their works actually declaring their Justification;

Again, because the best works are imperfect, and cannot amount to a Righteousness that is Legally Justifying in the sight of God, and are unprofitable in this respect; for when they are performed in the best manner, they are no other than what it is a man's duty to perform, and therefore their works cannot Justify from sin he has committed:

And besides, as said before, Justification in this sense would frustrate the Grace of God, make void the death of Christ, and encourage boasting in men. Good works do not go before justification as causes or conditions, but follow it as fruits and effects:

Adapted from: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/james/2.htm