What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?  (James 2:14)

Many of a Calvinist persuasion object strongly to Jesus’ half-brothers linkage of faith and works, some even advocate the epistle be removed from the canon of the Bible, quoting Luther’s assertion:

I consider that it is not the writing of any apostle. My reasons are as follows –

(First): Flatly against St. Paul and all the rest of Scripture, it ascribes righteousness to works…

In a word, St. John’s Gospel and his first epistle, St. Paul’s epistles, especially Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, and St. Peter’s first epistle are the books that show you Christ and teach you all that it is necessary and salvatory for you to know, even if you were never to see or hear any other book or doctrine. St. James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to the others, for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.  (Martin Luther – Works and Sacrament 1)

Luther’s argument is two-fold; the major objection to the Epistle of James is that while he affirms Jesus as Lord and Messiah, he does not even mention the Gospel,, let alone exposit the cross and resurrection.  This omission is further compounded by ascribing ‘righteousness to works’, which is his second objection.

I imagine few Christians today regret the Reformation that overthrew the non-Biblical religious practices of the Roman Church, in particular, its wealth generation funded by selling indulgences; this was where professional ‘pardoners’ were given unrestricted license to peddle God’s forgiveness, in effect.

As a result of the ability to read the Bible for the first time (because of vernacular translation or, in Luther’s case, the original Greek) and not rely on the Vulgate Latin being expounded, came the insight that no action undertaken by men or women, whether by work or payment, can secure salvation.  Remission of temporal of eternal punishment rests entirely with God.  Guilt cannot be expunged, only propitiated.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God –  not by works, so that no one can boast.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

The only salvatory work that counts is God’s, specifically Jesus’ on the cross.  But has the zeal of the Reformation pushed this understanding too far?  What if someone says, they know they are saved because they believe in Jesus and the resurrection, yet disobey Jesus’ commandments, leading a dissolute life while banking on God’s saving grace?

To the Ephesian church, Paul continues:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (ibid 2:10)

Paul clearly links faith and work.  And this is consistent with Jesus.  Having delivered the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, in Matthew’s record, concludes with this parable:

‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’  (Matthew 7:24-27)

Beginning with ‘therefore’, which means all Jesus’ preceding teachings come down to this, that the parable affirms that hearing his words is not enough, heeding and enacting are requisite; that one’s eternal future is dependent on obedience to him – for what is the analogy of the man’s house, if not his salvation?

It seems much of the current misunderstanding turns on the word ‘faith’, clearly a shallow belief that God is God or Jesus is God the Son, is not enough.  To return to James:

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder.

(James 2:19)

Demons are fallen angels that already condemned to hell, clearly believe is not enough for them.  But of course, the redemption is not on offer to them, it never was, but can any human suffer their fate by thinking a hollow profession of faith suffices?

Consider then the word ‘faith’. In English, there are two words, ‘believe’ is the verb and ‘faith’ (also belief) the noun, but both translate the same word in Greek, πίστις pistis from which is derived the verb πιστεύω pisteuo.  There is yet another word behind both, πείθω peitho, this verb means ‘to persuade’ and ‘to be persuaded’, ‘to have confidence in’.

Taken together therefore, the Greek words offer us fuller understanding of ‘faith’.  It can be properly seen that ‘faith’ is active, more akin to trust.  To cross a river spanned by a rickety bridge, you might declare you consider it to be weight-bearing, yet in walking ten miles to the nearest ford, this makes your profession incredible.  Clearly any faith in the bridge was empty, as you did not trust yourself to it.

So with Jesus; any that say they have ‘faith’, yet do not follow him accordingly, adhering to his rule, are similarly suspect, surely?  James again:

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?  Was not our father 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 considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? (James 2:20-25)

The author of Hebrews cites Abraham and Rehab among the heroes of faith:

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,  even though God had said to him, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.’ Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death…

 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. (Hebrews 11:17-19 & 31)

Thus faith is shown through trial.  It has to be evidenced in the choices taken by, in these contrasting examples, the patriarch, Abraham, and a Canaanite, Rahab.

Faith in God, as faith in Christ, is meaningless unless evinced.  Without demonstration, such faith is in fact no faith at all, because it shows a complete lack of confidence in the object of that faith.  Consider how the author of Hebrews premises the chapter:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for. (ibid 11:1-2)

And, of course, it is completely disingenuous to suggest that does Jesus does not require work from us, even that faith is work, see this exchange between himself and the crowds that pursued him to Capernaum:

Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’

 Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’  (John 6:28-29)

 Jesus greatest commandment is that all love God (Matthew 22:37-38) and yet that the evidence of the love is obedience (John 14:15) this is circular and complete.

And James is not at all at odds with Paul:

However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.  (Romans 4:5)

It was while reading the Book of Romans that Martin Luther understood justification.  It was this verse, in fact:

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’

Justification is a word gained from French via the Latin, but Luther reading in Greek Paul’s iteration from Habakkuk, he understood ‘righteous’ is derived from the adjective δίκαιος, dikaios, which is means those regarded as righteous, those to whom righteousness is credited.  Faith is then the product of Jesus’ imputed righteousness.  Jesus takes our sin and gives in return his purity and Godliness.  But note ‘the righteous will live by faith’ means ‘those whom God regards as holy will be seen to have a living faith’.  A faith that is ongoing, continual and continuous.

Any that would say who think themselves faithful, may need to reconsider.  Some say ‘I gave my life to Christ’, as if to say that this was of my doing, but God is never constrained by our works, even that of profession; nor will he be impressed by such a sacrificial statement, if nothing is offered by way of sacrifice. If a man or woman offers themselves but does not make changes, there is every reason for divine scepticism, one might reason.

Added to this, one’s work must be necessarily aligned to God’s purposes.  The professing Christian who has made a career of altruistic acts, may yet be surprised – so says Jesus:

‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?”  Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”(Matthew 7:21-23)

This is the penultimate paragraph in the Sermon on the Mount, directly before the parable illustrating the critical importance of heeding and acting on Jesus’s words.  In other words, the parable illustrates the passage.

None should be deceived that just because God can use poor human choices, which undoubtedly true, that He is obligated to forgive; in fact, God can and does use the evil that is committed for His ends, think of Nebuchadnezzar or the Pharaoh who defied Moses.  As Joseph said to the brothers, who sold him into slavery:

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good…(Genesis 50:20)

Joseph was sent to Egypt that ‘many people should be kept alive’ and survive the famine which would have destroyed the family from which came the nation of Israel.

Jesus leaves no doubt, wrong-doing that has Godly appearance or even a Godly outcome does not necessarily make the doer right in God’s sight; a donkey may prophesy (Numbers 22:28), anti-Christs will perform miracles (Matthew 24:24) and demons may make way for other demons (Luke 11:25).  Everybody is accountable for their deeds and only Jesus can judge their worth and if he holds any have behaved wickedly and he does not agree to bear the punishment, salvation is withheld and hell awaits.

Another statement often heard is that the modern Christian ‘knows’ they are saved.  In Jesus’ illustration, those knocking at his door were similarly deluded.  Doubt then is the mark of a mature Christian, doubt that is, of themselves, not the promises of Jesus, which are wholly trustworthy.  That we doubt our own salvation, is not a faithless act, rather one without presumption; here Paul exhorts the believers in Corinth, and this after two visits from him:

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. 

(2 Corinthians 13:5)

The true follower must ‘continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling’ (Philippians 2:12) by examining their faith; this is the essence of sanctification – the process of striving to be more Christ-like.  This then is the ‘work’ of reformatory changes eschewing self-righteousness.

Such complacency gives rise to another worrying assertion often heard on the lips of the modern Christian: ‘God accepts me as I am’. Obviously, at the point of justification when faith is gifted, all are necessarily ‘enemies of God’ (Romans 5:10), but that is the embarkation point not the destination; saving faith does not preclude change but behooves it.

The modern church peddles what is sometimes called ‘easy grace’ or ‘easy believerism’, and it is no less heretical than the hawking of indulgences.  If works-righteousness provides false hope, then so does a profession of faith lacking substance or commitment.

If in the medieval church, salvation was secured by penitential works, the pendulum has swung to salvation by profession of non-sacrificial and empty faith.  Both are fallacious.

Close attention to Jesus’ own words make it clear that Paul and James understood completely that there was never a place in the Gospel for either, as both proceed from self-righteousness.  Nowhere does Jesus give the impression, let alone the leniency, to assert that saving faith is not acted upon.

Speaking to some men Jesus met walking along the road:

He said to (another) man, ‘Follow me.’

 But he replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’

 Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’

 Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.’

 Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’  (Luke 9:59-62)

Jesus is challenging these men not to delay; rather, if they would entrust themselves to him, they should act immediately.  He is saying to one, do not wait for your father to die, so that once buried, you may have the fall-back of an inheritance; and to the other, do not rely on the security of a cultivated and seeded field.  Faith requires action, it requires putting God’s agenda before one’s own; saving faith requires ‘risking’ all our temporal comfort, security and ambitions for the hope in Jesus. Faith and hope are linked as are faith and works, and there are no contradictions in Scripture.  In exposing the false hope of a carnal life, James says nothing that his half-brother did not say.  Nowhere does the Bible suggest that a life spending satisfying one’s own desires gains a sin-covering by an empty profession of faith; indeed such a profession is indeed a work, that of dead flesh not the life-giving Spirit:

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.  (James 2:26)