The relationship between James and Paul has sometimes been a source of consternation and confusion.  How can James 2:24 declare Christians are “justified by works and not by faith alone,” whereas Romans 3:28 says believers are “justified by faith apart from works?”  Is this not a clear case of intra-canonical contradiction?

Some have sought resolution by suggesting that James doesn’t belong in the scriptural canon.  For example, although he later changed his view, in his 1522 edition of Preface to the New Testament, Martin Luther called James an “epistle of straw,” wishing it had not been canonized by the early church.  Others have asserted that the two really do conflict with one another since the Scriptural witness is a human product and contains multiple streams of irreconcilable thought.

If, however, a commitment to the divine authority and consistency of the biblical canon is maintained, can James and Paul be understood as complementary?  The answer is at least two-fold.  First, we must consider how each author uses the Greek word, dikaióo (translated “justified” in English) within its semantic range of meanings.  Second, we should recognize how each one responds to the same basic problem of antinomianism.  Once these two issues are clarified, it becomes clear that James and Paul complement rather than contradict each other.

First, Paul and James use “justified” in two related but distinct ways.  Paul primarily (but not exclusively) uses the word in a forensic and legal sense to denote the notion of being juridically declared righteous before a holy God.  To be “justified” in this sense is to be pronounced legally righteous apart from any evidential basis.

Paul clearly uses the term this way in Romans 3:20-22 when he states, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his [God’s] sight, . . . and this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”  Paul is clear here that no one can be justified (seen as righteous) before God by doing good works (cf. Ephesians 2:8-9).

Why, then, does James 2:24 explicitly state “a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”?  James, it seems, is concerned with evidential and visible proof that one is truly righteous.  In this sense, to “justify” is to visibly demonstrate to others that you really are a righteous person.  In fact, this use of the word is not uncommon in other New Testament authors.  Luke 10:29 and 16:15 demonstrate this “Jamesian” use of the word, and Paul himself appears to be using it this way in Romans 2:13.  As James says in 2:18, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

James then proceeds to use Abraham as his exemplar for demonstrating his faith by doing what God asked him to do, namely sacrifice Isaac.  But also notice that James 2:23 explains that Abraham was declared righteous before God way back in Genesis 15:6 but speaks (in James 2:22) of its completion and fulfillment in chapter 22 of Genesis.  This highlights the evidential proof of that Abraham’s righteousness is both genuine and maturing, versus superficial and insincere.  As James 2:19 points out, one may claim to believe in God but, like the demons, that assertion is insufficient proof that one’s faith is truly salvific.  This is the critical difference between believing that God exists and genuinely believing and trusting in God.

In Romans 4, Paul also highlights Abraham’s justifying faith in Genesis 15:6, but his primary concern is about the declarative and forensic aspects of saving faith.  Thus, he does not address the demonstration of that faith in subsequent life events until Romans 6.  There, Paul directly deals with the next logical question: If a person is justified before God by faith alone, then why care or be concerned about living righteously?  Why not continue doing wrong so God’s grace towards sin increases?  Here Paul makes it clear that a failure to be transformed by the gospel is a failure to understand the radical change that has taken place in the believer’s life when they place their faith in Jesus.

A common short-hand way of summarizing this is to say that true believers are saved by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone.  As John Calvin put in Acts of the Council of Trent in response to Canon II of the sixth session of the Council, “It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone: just as it is the heat alone of the sun which warms the earth, and yet in the sun it is not alone, because it is constantly conjoined with light.”  Genuine faith will naturally and inevitably bear fruit in observable good works.  Paul was saying as much in Romans 6 and James was making the same point in James 2.

Thus, while both authors refer to Abraham’s faith, they highlight different manifestations and aspects of that faith.  Paul emphasizes the juridical aspect such that when Abraham trusts in God’s promise, God immediately declares him righteous (Genesis 15:6; cf. Romans 4).  James, on the other hand, emphasizes the living and visible proof of that divinely imputed righteousness which was revealed in his subsequent willingness to sacrifice Isaac, the son of the promise (Genesis 22; cf. Galatians 4:23).

In conclusion, then, when properly read and understood in their contexts, James and Paul come together like two side of the same coin.  Each one clarifies the significance of Christian faith, providing a complementary and more comprehensive understanding of what it truly means to believe in and subsequently be transformed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The implication for anyone claiming to know Christ is clear: Do I convincingly demonstrate in everyday life that Christ is my King?  Am I becoming increasingly like Him over time or do my thoughts and actions merely reflect the ways and ideologies of the world around me?  Thank God, we do not have to earn our way into His family and kingdom, but if we truly have believed, there should be a growing family resemblance and ever-increasing loyalty to and affection for Jesus Christ as Lord and King.