Are We Justified by Faith and Works?
By David J. Stewart
“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” -James 2:24
No! Many people misunderstand the words of James the Apostle because they don’t know their Bible well. I don’t think I’ve received even one letter of debate from a Catholic who didn’t bring up the words of James, “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18). James goes on to say in verse 24, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.“ At first glance, it sure does seem like the Bible is requiring works for salvation; BUT, as you will see, nothing could be further from the TRUTH!
Carefully notice James 2:21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?” This event took place in Genesis 22:8-10. Now notice Genesis 15:6, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.“ The event which took place in Genesis 15:6 was different from the event which took place in Genesis 22:8-10. We see in the New Testament that Paul spoke of the ROOT of Abraham’s faith; BUT, James spoke of the FRUIT of Abraham’s faith. We read in Romans 4:3, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.“ This occurred in Genesis 15:6, which is when Abraham was born again. Paul said in Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.“ Paul doesn’t mention works. Romans 4:5 declares, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.“ Yet, James declares in James 2:21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?” This event took place years later, when Isaac had grown at least old enough to speak clearly to his father (Genesis 22:7). James is simply saying that if a person is genuinely saved by faith, then there should be some FRUIT (good works) in that person’s life to show it. BUT, James was NOT teaching that works are necessary to be saved–they aren’t! Abraham was saved by faith ALONE! Titus 3:5 clearly states, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…”
Also, notice carefully James’ words, “…shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (James 2:18). With God we are justified by FAITH; BUT with men we are justified by WORKS. The reason is simply because mankind cannot see out heart; but God can. We read in 1st Samuel 16:7, “…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.“ James said, “shew me” your faith and I’ll “shew you” my faith. Every believer possessing the Holy Spirit of God should be a new creature in the Lord, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2nd Corinthians 5:17). This is what James was looking for.
So don’t let any Catholic fool you into believing that you must have good works to go to Heaven, you don’t. Looking at the Old Testament by itself, I would never have any reason to think that Lot was a Christian. Yet, we read in 2nd Peter 2:6-7, “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.“ Did you read that … “just Lot”? James was simply teaching that there should be some good works in a Christian’s life to back up his testimony. However, this doesn’t mean conclusively that a professed Christian without any good works is not saved. We certainly have a right to question their salvation; BUT, we cannot say for certain because we cannot see their hearts. King David killed an innocent man (Uriah) to hide an unwanted pregnancy from an affair with the man’s wife (Bathsheba). Would you have thought David was a Christian at that moment? Of course not! But David was a Christian, who had sinned horribly.
The Book of James should be a challenge to every believer to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). And the Book of Romans should be a challenge to every believer to be aggressive in winning lost souls to Christ, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…” Most importantly is that we DO NOT confuse the ROOT of our faith, with the FRUIT of our faith–because ADDING works to faith is a sure road to Hell.
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” -Romans 4:5
Woven. Christianity is woven throughout our entire nation, being the very fabric that makes up these islands. It keeps the judgement of God from falling on us that is why we have been preserved from the many wars that have buffeted our shores. We need never feel that the darkness that comes upon us is permanent, for the light of Christ will always prevail by dispersing it with his glory.
We need not be troubled by wicked people, for our God is surely dealing with them. I am amazed when I see Christianity in all our great institutions, I cannot begin to speak of all our workforce, builders, lawyers, nurses, miners, factory workers, who make our nation so great and confess Christ Jesus as Lord, Well, the list is never ending, where God’s people can be found, Christianity is literally everywhere. It cannot and will not ever be removed from these islands.
Do not listen to doom prophets, when you hear them say things for example, like the abortion issue, they say, “surely this will bring God’s wrath upon us all, for that wicked thing that people do to our unborn children.” Well, God’s judgement will fall on them that commit such horrific killings, but I assure you, the righteous will not be included in God’s judgement. We remember how God’s mercy is shown to us in Genesis 18:24-26, I quote,
“Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked that be far from thee: Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? And the Lord said, if I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
You can see from this scripture that God will surely spare our nation, because there are more than fifty righteous Christians living here. Now Jesus has told us that this world is inhabited by the children of the kingdom and the children of the wicked, and that He will not bring final judgement on the wicked until the end of the world, because He will not destroy the wicked while the righteous are here. At the end of the world Jesus said in St Matthew 13: 41, – 43,
“The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”And so, that is how we can be confident that God will not let us be overwhelmed by these recent troubles that we face in our nation. Praise God, for every born-again believer that God has placed in our lands.
EVANGELIST BILLY BOLITHO
http://www.evangelistbillybolitho.blogspot.com
Comment by cornishevangelist — June 27, 2008 @ 3:08 am |
Eating shellfish is an abomination. – Leviticus 11:10
Homosexuality is an abomination. – Leviticus 18:22
I think we are justified if we are moral – Matthew 25:31-46
Comment by edwinhere — June 27, 2008 @ 6:58 am |
We are only justified in Christ Jesus, there is no other name by which we must be saved. Billy.
Comment by cornishevangelist — June 27, 2008 @ 7:49 am |
Abrahamism is an ignorance. If you talking about Christ as a “successor of Abraham” you are treading on a very, very thin ice.
Comment by U.Ra — June 14, 2009 @ 11:59 am |