Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mankato
Study of James -- Lesson #9
February 27, 2000
James 2:20-26

James 2:20-26 [NKJV]

"But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Verse 20: "But do you want to know, O empty-handed man, that such a faith without works is [variant reading: either] dead (or useless)?"

James continues his address at this point to the individual challenged in verse 18, calling him an "empty-handed man"—an individual, whose hollow faith leaves him holding nothing with which to demonstrate the presence of real and living faith. For that man such faith, without any works to prove its existence, is either "dead" or "useless."

At this point there is a variant reading among the Greek texts. The majority of texts have the work "dead," which accords with James’ statement earlier in verse 17 and later in verse 26. However, some of the most ancient papyri manuscripts have the word "useless," which many modern scholars accept because it is easier to explain why a copier would insert "dead" than "useless" at this point. If James chose the word "useless" in the Greek then he was making a play on words, for the Greek words for "works" and "useless" are very similar. The thought behind either word is certainly Scriptural.

Verses 21-22: "Was not Abraham our father justified as a result of works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar. You see that such a faith works with his works, and as a result of works such a faith accomplished its goal."

James now points to Abraham as an example of a living and working faith. He alludes to Abraham’s willingness to offer up his son, Isaac, as recorded in Genesis 22 (cf. Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham stood "justified" before God by a faith, which produced absolute confidence in God and resulted in works expressing that confidence!

The NKJV statement that "by works faith was made perfect" can be misunderstood. The thought is not that "faith" somehow lacks something and is imperfect until "works" perfect it. Rather, the thought is one of fulfilling a purpose or goal. Good works are the intended purpose or goal of faith, and so when they are performed they help faith reach its intended goal (cf. Ephesians 2:8-10 ). R.C.H. Lenski writes after commenting that the use of "was made perfect" by our translations can leave a wrong impression, "One might think that Abraham’s faith had hitherto been imperfect, had not been sufficient for God to declare him righteous. And the translation Abraham’s faith ‘was brought to completion’ would leave the impression that Abraham’s faith had been incomplete until the time of the offering of Isaac so that God could not really justify him until Abraham brought this offering…[the Greek word] means that Abraham’s faith was ‘brought to its goal’" [The Interpretation of the Epistle of James, p. 592]. Martin Franzmann adds this thought that by works Abraham’s faith was "completed, in the sense that an apple tree is completed when it produces what God intended and created it to produce, apples. One modern translator renders, ‘Found its highest expression in’ instead of was completed" [Concordia Bible with Notes, p. 463].

Regarding God’s act of justifying Abraham mentioned in verse 21, R.C.H. Lenski makes this comment: "The essential point is the fact that James is not speaking of the first verdict which God pronounced on Abraham when Abraham was first brought to faith. That occurred before Abraham had done a single work. That was a verdict…out of faith alone. The content of this faith, which makes it the source of God’s verdict, is Christ, the Christ of the promise of the Old Testament and of the fulfillment of the New Testament. Paul presents this first verdict of God’s fully and with vigor in various portions of his epistles. James presents God’s subsequent verdicts. The last subsequent verdict is the one which we all expect at the last day. We have it recorded in advance in full in Matt. 25:31-46 . As James says, it will be rendered ‘not by faith alone’ (v. 23). Certainly not. If any subsequent verdict finds us without the works of faith it will find us with a faith that is at best dead and barren. The verdict on that faith is condemnation since such a faith could embrace Christ only outwardly. Every subsequent verdict that finds us with the works of faith acquits us, declares us righteous, for the works of faith attest the genuineness of the faith which inwardly and truly clings to Christ" [The Interpretation of the Epistle of James, p. 589].

Verse 23: "And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, ‘Abraham also believed God, and God accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called God’s friend."

James here refers to the statement of Moses made in Genesis 15:6 , which defined the basis of Abraham’s relationship with God. The same statement formed the basis of Paul arguments that salvation is a matter of justification by God’s grace through faith without the deeds of the law as recorded in Romans 3-4 and Galatians 2-3. Abraham’s saving faith indeed was "accounted to him for righteousness" by God, but as James so aptly points out that saving faith was not alone, but rather produced marvelous fruits of faith within the life of Abraham.

Verse 24: "You see that as a result of works a man is justified and not by faith alone."

Faith that is alone, that is a faith which is barren and produces no good works, does not justify for it is not true and genuine faith. Rather a man who stand stands justified before God will have a faith overflowing with good works as the evidence of its existence!

R.C.H. Lenski writes, "When in Romans 3:28 Paul writes… ‘without works of the law,’ these works are entirely different from the works of faith of which James speaks. Whatever lies at their root, whether it is a dead faith or not, their very name ‘works of law’ shows that they have nothing to do with the gospel, which produces true faith and true works of faith. To rely on ‘works of the law’ in order to procure God’s favorable verdict, is to repudiate Christ and true faith in Him. This is the truth that workers of law and Judaizers compelled Paul to set forth at length. James has people to contend with who imagine they are able to retain God’s favorable verdict without the works of faith, who fail to see that they would then have only a dead faith" [The Interpretation of the Epistle of James, p. 596]. P.E. Kretzmann comments, "Good works are not necessary to earn salvation, but they are necessary for evident as to the existence of faith in the heart of a man" [Popular Commentary of the Bible, Vol. IV, p. 505].

Verse 25: "Likewise also was not Rahab the prostitute justified as a result of works, having welcomed the messengers and sending them out another way?"

James adds one more example of true and living faith, that of Rahab. One might not expect an apostle to use a former prostitute as an example of faith, but God shows no favorites. All who repent and trust in Jesus as their Savior are His children. All who possess saving faith will also be producing acts of love and service—good works in God’s eyes, which demonstrate the presence and living nature of faith. You will find the entire story of Rahab in Joshua 2.

Verse 26: "For just as the body without a spirit is dead, so also such a faith without works is dead."

In conclusion, James summarizes his concerns once again using an apt illustration. You can call a corpse a human being, but if it is no longer living it really is nothing other than lifeless matter returning to dust (cf. Ecclesiastes 12:7 ). You can call a mere knowledge of God’s existence faith, but if it is producing no good works, then it is dead and therefore meaningly!

IN SUMMARY OF THIS ENTIRE SECTION:

Martin Franzmann writes:

"At the time of the Reformation the place of James in the church’s canon (the collection of sacred books which are authoritative for the faith of the church) was again questioned, not only by Luther, but also by Roman Catholic scholars such as Erasmus and Cajetan. Luther’s objection to James is based chiefly on the section James 2:14-26, which to Luther seemed to be in irreconcilable conflict with Paul and the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith without the works of the Law. But James’ words on faith and works are not aimed at Paul; neither do they really contradict Paul’s teaching. The idea that faith is merely the certainty that God is one (2:19) has nothing to do with Paul; neither was Paul the first to see in Abraham the example of saving faith—the rabbis had done that before him, as had Jesus Himself ( Mt. 8:11; Jn. 8:56 ). The polemics of James may be directed at a watered-down and distorted version of Paul’s Gospel, such as might have been reported in Jerusalem from Antioch when Paul was preaching there ( Acts 11:25-26). But it is more likely that James is combating not a doctrine but a practical threat to faith that came to his readers from their Judaic past and surroundings. Jesus had said of the teachers of Judaism that they professed without practicing ( Mt. 23:3 )—what would be more natural than a recurrence of this Judaic fault in a Christianized form in Judaic Christianity? It should be noted, moreover, that the bold but monumentally simple argument of James would be pitifully weak, if not malicious, as a refutation of Paul’s teaching. And the James whom we know from his letter is neither weak intellectually nor malicious morally. James is not attacking Paul.

Neither does James, at bottom, contradict Paul. Both Paul and James are moved to speak by love. Paul emphasized the fact that our salvation is wholly God’s grace and entirely His doing and that faith is therefore first and foremost pure receiving. Paul will leave no desperate sinner outside God’s call of grace. James emphasizes the fact that faith is union and communion with God and commits us wholly, with all our thoughts and all our doing, to God; James will allow no brother to destroy his faith and himself by making of faith an intellectual acceptance of doctrinal propositions and emptying it of love and works. Paul speaks to the sinner’s desperation; James speaks to Christian complacency. When James is speaking to the repentant sinner, he makes no mention of works but bids such a one in his desperation draw near to God, in the assurance that God will draw near to him like the father of the returning prodigal son (James 4:8). James describes man’s redemption as a new birth God, solely by the will and Word of God (James 1:18); and he describes God’s love for man as God’s sole and sovereign choice, as God’s election (James 2:5). Paul, on the other hand, can combine his one characteristic emphasis with that of James in a single sentence: ‘By grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God--not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand, that we should walk in them’ ( Eph. 2:8-10 )’ [Concordia Bible With Notes, p. 464].

Carl Zorn writes:

"The phrase "justified by works" is a mode of expression peculiar to James. James designates the tree by the fruit peculiar to its kind. Faith he calls works. It is a way of speaking, which occurs continually in daily living. A man prepares a garden. He is asked, "What do you intend to plant?" He replies, ""Apples, pears, plums, roses, carnations, tulips." Does he plant apples, pears, plums, roses, carnations, tulips? No, he plants trees and flowering plants, according to the fruits and flowers they bear. In the same way James calls faith according to the works which it brings forth. Does justification result from works? No, from faith which brings forth works. That is what James means.

The doctrine of James, that the faith which has no works is not justifying, saving faith, but that on the contrary the faith which has works is the justifying faith, this doctrine agrees beyond all doubt with the teaching of all of Scripture, and especially also with the doctrine of Paul, upon which doubt is cast in many quarters" [An Exposition of the Epistle of James, p. 47].

-- Pastor Paul D. Nolting