Believe and obey
Believe and obey
We saw that if Paul teaches salvation by faith alone, and works (or deeds) contribute nothing to salvation, he would contradict Moses and David. Now we shall see that Paul would also contradict James.
James also speaks of "faith without works" and, like Paul, uses —the example of Abraham's justification by faith. James says that "Abraham was justified by works... Faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect" (Jas 2:21-22) .
So James sees that the faith that justifies is a working faith. He says the same thing in two other verses: "Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (Jas 2:17) . "A man is justified by works and not by faith only" (Jas 2;24) .
Observe that these comments follow on from his exhortation to "so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty" (Jas 2:12) .
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23) so we would be without justification if we had to rely solely upon our works. Since we are without works of law sufficient to justify ourselves, we must have faith in Christ and seek justification through him. Boasting of our own righteousness is excluded, but law is not (Rom 3:27).
When we interpret Paul's "justified by faith apart from works of law" , we must be careful not to make Paul contradict James's, "justified by works and not by faith alone."
You can't be saved by faith alone or by works alone. Paul and James agree on the need for obedience of faith (Rom 1:5). James says faith needs works. Paul says works need faith. No contradiction.
Both James and Paul conceive of faith and works as two things, each separate and apart from each other, each independent of the other, but they do not think that either should be “alone” —absent from the other or excluding the other.
A railway track has two rails. Each rail is of necessity “apart” from the other yet neither rail is “alone”. There is no need to get confused by subtle semantics here. The matter is simple. Manifestly, one rail is separate and apart from the other, yet it is together with the other —no contradiction. It's that simple. And so is the relationship between faith and obedience.
Paul regarded his own ministry in these terms: "Through Christ we have received grace and apostleship for the obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5). He repeats this: "My gospel... according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all nations to obedience of faith" (Rom 16:25-26).
This expression "obedience of faith" is by no means equivalent to, or in harmony with, the expression "faith alone". The words "obedience of faith" are Paul's. The words "faith only" are not.
There is no doubt in Paul's mind that the obedience is as necessary to salvation as the faith is
Notice, for example, Paul's emphasis on works in Romans chapter two.
These statements are consistent with what Paul says about justification by faith. We must be careful not to make Paul contradict himself.
Paul teaches that justification is by grace (Rom 3:24) , faith (Rom 5:1) , blood (Rom 5:9) . Then he asks, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!" (Rom 6:1-2) . Paul thanked God that the Romans had "obeyed from the heart" (Rom 6:17) .
Paul sees no conflict between grace, faith, and obedience. So he exhorts, "Present your members" (the parts of your fleshly body) "as instruments of righteousness" (Rom 6:13,19) . To what extent? "Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service" (Rom 12:1) .
When faith makes your body a living sacrifice, then faith is working with your works. A faith which does less will not justify you.
Paul Cannot Contradict