We come to that part of James’s epistle over which a considerable amount of ink has been spilt. In fact, during the Reformation, there was so much of a boggle over his teaching here that Martin Luther wanted to remove James’s epistle from the scriptural canon. James asks his readers a question: Wasn’t Abraham justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar (Jas. 2:21)? He also asks, Wasn’t Rahab justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way (Jas. 2:25)?

Taken in isolation, these verses sound as though salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ is by works, and not by faith. We need, however, to look at the entire passage in which this teaching occurs to get a full understanding of it. James repeats the Old Testament teaching that Abraham believed God and that this was counted to him as righteousness (Jas. 2:23). But James emphasizes that this belief in God was shown in Abraham’s willingness to tangibly obey God (Jas. 2:22). Otherwise, how is this belief different from mere intellectual assent to the doctrines of Christianity, and nothing more (Jas. 2:19)?

He writes, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (Jas. 2:24, English Standard Version). That verse made Luther grind his teeth. It seems to run counter to almost all of the rest of the New Testament, especially the apostle Paul’s letters, where we read repeatedly of the sovereign grace of God working through and past our unbelief so that it expresses itself in our faith. “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Paul wrote (Rom. 5:8). That means, among other things, that there could be no prerequisite of works whatsoever for salvation. Then how could James say there is? He doesn’t.

The key is when James writes the following: “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works” (Jas. 2:22). This is how Abraham showed that he believed God. What is James saying? Simply that faith without works is dead. Doesn’t Paul say the same thing, although differently? Our obedience is never the ground of our salvation in Christ, but our salvation in Christ, expressed through our faith, is the ground—in fact it must be the ground—of our obedience. Otherwise we have reason to question whether we are saved and have faith at all. Where Paul is interested in showing the groundlessness of works for salvation, even though he continually calls the church to works keeping with their newfound faith, James is interested in showing the groundlessness of a professed faith that has no accompanying works to show that faith is there.

Audience Matters

Both letter writers are homed in on their readerships. For James, writing to Hebrew Christians with a legacy of worshipping the one, true God, he emphasizes the life-changing nature of true faith. They can’t continue living as they had been, with the same behaviors and attitudes. This, after all, is a major theme of James. And with this the Lord Jesus concurs, when he says that ye shall know them—that is, Christians—by their fruit (Matt. 7:20). If this is so, then it’s no wonder that James is calling for this fruit from among his Hebrew Christian readers, as Paul does from among his Christian readers—after Paul explains salvation by the sovereign grace of God expressed through faith in Jesus Christ.

Abraham was not sinless. His lying to Abimelech and his running ahead of God to try to implement God’s promise on his own terms by going in to Hagar show that. Likewise, Rahab’s job description before meeting the Hebrew spies obviously shows her not to be sinless. James earlier writes that one, single sin is enough to disqualify someone from the kingdom of God, and yet Abraham and Rahab are held up as exemplars of both faith and works. So we know salvation is not by works. If it were, Abraham and Rahab would be disqualified. And yet salvation without works isn’t a possibility either, as both Abraham and Rahab also show in their obedience to God. That’s what James is saying.

We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ alone, but the faith expressed out of such grace can never be alone. On this, the Lord Jesus, the apostle Paul, and James agree. When we compare James and Paul, we have reason to marvel at diversity in the unity of the faith, or if you prefer, unity of faith and diversity of approach. As different as their approaches are, both begin with faith and move toward works. Their approaches differ, but at bottom their teaching is the same.

Reading James in context shows that he’s not a Christian teacher of works as opposed to faith, but of works because of faith. And though James’s approach differs from the apostle Paul’s—as his audience also does— the teaching of both is the same. The works-and-faith relationship in James, especially when compared with how it’s explained by Paul in his letters, is considered by many as the nexus of James’s epistle: How faith and works work is an important subject for anyone going to the Scriptures to understand God’s workings of salvation among humankind. For James, however, his focus seems to be less on doctrinal teaching than on Christian behavior, which, we’ll see, is not separate from doctrinal teaching, but a result of it.

James and the Tongue

As we’d already seen, James is concerned with these first-century Christians’ behavior—their anger, their boasting, their rampant wickedness (as he names it), their partiality and love of money and position, and later, their selfish ambition, bitter jealousy, and worldliness. What do all of these have in common? They show themselves via speech or the tongue. The Proverbs largely co-relate moral foolishness with an unbridled tongue, teaching even that the use of our tongues leads to our lot in life (Prov. 13:3). James’s audience would have been familiar with this teaching in the Proverbs.

The Lord Jesus said that out of the fullness of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). What we say, about whom or what, and even how we say it reveals where our hearts are. This has always been the case, but it seems all the more pointed today when publicly and in an age of split-second media, we’re instantly dropped into the drama of a culture of complaint—now even of violence—exercising a rhetoric of grievance or hate, and are expected to join in. Fingers always point, blame and accusations fly, and the volley’s returned—on and on it goes, a cycle of spewed invective.

There is a place for critical inquiry and analysis that takes in the whole picture of a society and its history, instead of only pieces that seem to advance a particular political agenda. And we need to affirm always what the world seems to increasingly deny: that we are fallen creatures in a fallen world in need of rescue. That’s why Jesus came. We do not have in ourselves what it takes to right the world. And because we don’t, if we try to right it based on our own sense of self-righteousness, we’re assured not only of failure but also of causing even more damage.

There is also a place for judicial acts based on law and right judgment. This is what government is for, and if the basis for right judgment is the law of God, that will only benefit a society. To want to throw off God’s law as a restraint since it only gets in the way of people having more freedom is among the greatest of lies perpetrated today. It’s to call evil good, and good evil. Observance of God’s law leads to order, peace, and social righteousness; throwing it off doesn’t lead to freedom, but slavery, chaos, strife, and social wickedness—for which there’s ample proof.

What about Us?

Are we then to remain silent for fear of joining in the culture of complaint or adding our words to the rhetoric of grievance and hate? Regardless of the side from which invective flies, it’s the Word of God that’s the standard for righteousness and judgment, not only of the content of what’s purveyed, but how it’s purveyed as well. And yet, even with this, we must be careful with our declarations atop our high horse, which is as susceptible to stumbling and tripping, and throwing us out of the saddle, as those we so easily and popularly declaim. A rush to judgment is no better than sitting on the sidelines and remaining silent, making no judgment when we’re called upon to do so.

James teaches us much about the tongue, which I’ll consider in greater detail in future articles. Meanwhile, think of the opposite of some of the bad-mouthed habits he calls out: instead of anger, peaceableness and prayer; instead of boasting, honest commendation of others; instead of partiality, love without cultural boundaries; instead of love of money, generosity, mercy, and trust in God’s provision. Instead of jockeying for position, trusting God, and becoming last in order to be first, even like Christ.

Gerry Wisz is a writer, college instructor, and semi-retired public relations professional who, with his family, is a member of Preakness Valley URC in Wayne, NJ.