Are We Saved by Faith or By Works? Paul vs. James

One of the most difficult verses in all of Scripture to interpret is James 2:24, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” We see here that James appears to be claiming that our justification in the eyes of God is determined by works, and not merely by faith alone.
 
James’ statement appears to say the opposite of Paul in Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” Here, Paul clearly teaches that our justification in the eyes of God is determined solely on faith.
 
How do we reconcile these two verses?

Well, if we leave these statements alone without considering the context of each passage, then we will miss not only what James is saying with regards to justification, but also what Paul is saying, for there is a much deeper and more meaningful application of their words when we consider the context surrounding them.
 
Now, before we dive into the written context, I think it’s important to frame the historical context of who Paul and James were at that time and place. Paul was a former leader in Judaism, he was a religious zealot who took pride in (and was praised for) his persecution of Christians. Paul’s life took a turn when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, and soon became a servant-minded, self-sacrificial leader of the Christian church. He went on to become a revolutionary writer in terms of explaining the details of the Christian faith. Due to Paul’s missionary journeys, he often interacted with a predominantly gentile audience and had to deal with particular misinterpretations and perversions of the doctrines of Christianity that he encountered therewithin.
 
James, on the other hand, was the half-brother of Jesus Christ. He was also not a Christian early on; in fact, he was a doubter of his own brother until he saw the resurrection. It was that event that convinced James of Christ’s authority and authenticity. As James grew in his faith, he eventually became so entranced by His love and devotion to Christ, that He became the leader of the Jerusalem church. It was there that he dealt with a predominantly Jewish audience and had to handle their own misinterpretations of the doctrines of Christianity.
 
We see that Paul and James often had very different environments in which they were dealing with Christians, those who claimed to be Christians, and unbelievers, and thus had to deal accordingly in their letters. Sometimes they seem to be saying contradictory statements, but in reality, it’s possible they are simply saying the same things in different ways to squash different misinterpretations and heretical beliefs.
 
Since Paul and James were contemporaries of each other (see Galatians 1:19, Galatians 2:9, and Acts 15), I find it hard to believe, just on the face of it, that these two apostles would not align on the doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone. It’s hard to imagine the founding fathers of our faith couldn’t agree on perhaps the most important teaching in Christianity; that is, how we are saved. But, to set aside our Christian bias, let’s try to look at this objectively and see if there is a logical reconciliation for their teachings.

Paul’s Writings:
 
As you read Paul’s writing in Romans 3, consider the context surrounding verse 28 (which clearly states that we are justified by faith without works). If he is speaking with a different narrow and broad context than James, than that can inform our understanding of a possible reconciliation.
 
Romans 3:21-28, “21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”
 
This passage presents a clear articulation of how we are saved in Paul’s view. Scholars often label passages that inform our understanding of salvation as soteriological. I will attempt to demonstrate that it should be without contestation that Paul in Romans 3 is speaking in a soteriological context.
 
First, Paul says that the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the Law. This would be quite revolutionary in comparison to how the Jews back then (and to this day) viewed the Law. Paul says that not only does the Gospel bring righteousness to us, but this righteousness has been witnessed and attested to by the Law and the prophets! This Gospel was foreshadowed, witnessed, and attested to by the Old Testament. He is demonstrating the cohesiveness of Scripture with regards to the Gospel of Jesus. So, what has specifically been manifested and witnessed to by the prophets and the Law? That the righteousness of God comes to us when we place our faith in Jesus Christ; and this is for all who believe.
 
Paul continues by showing that everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and we are justified (declared righteous in God’s eyes) by the gift of God’s grace through the redemption found only in Jesus. What a beautiful picture: Jesus is a gift from God to us, the holy and perfect Godman that was sacrificed on our behalf to pay the debt that we had incurred due to our sin. He did not owe us this gift, He was not forced to provide us a way of redemption, but He chose to in love. So, this gift from God is the result of His work on the Cross in the shedding of the blood of His only Son. And Paul demonstrates that the mechanism by which we receive this gift is faith.
 
As Paul writes in verse 26, “for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” And Paul really hammers down on the point of faith, as he mentions faith five times in just seven verses, and continues to summarize in verse 27, “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.”
 
Paul clearly taught in the context of this passage and others (such as Ephesians 2:8-9), that our justification (our being declared righteous in the eyes of God), is the direct result of God’s work on the Cross (not our works) and our trusting in that work (our trusting in Jesus Christ). Paul even calls this a law of faith.
 
When I think of a law, I think of something etched into stone, as I am reminded of the Ten Commandments originally etched into the stone tablets. Paul is saying this is the absolute truth! This is the law of God: that faith is the mechanism by which we receive grace. What a firm foundation! And Paul finishes the passage with this powerful statement, “28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” Clear as butter and sweet as cream. Paul clearly taught that our justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And so we find here three of the five solas of the Reformation: sola gratia, sola fide, and sola Christus.
 
Two important summary points of Paul’s writing in Romans 3:21-28 are the following: (1) he is clearly writing with a soteriological context, (2) he is demonstrating that in that context, we are justified (declared righteous in the eyes of God) purely by faith alone, and nothing else.
 
And if you think about it, if we are saved by faith in the work of a perfect and Holy God, how could we add anything to that work to somehow earn, seal, or achieve our salvation?
 
If you consider the picture Paul paints of the unbeliever who is dead in their sins (Romans 3:9-12), which precedes his discussion of our receiving grace, it is hard to imagine how we could (or would) do any work to receive grace. And even if we were capable of doing good works on our own power, how could our works compare to the eternal perfect work of God?
 
James’ Writings:
 
To best understand James’ letter, especially James 2:24, we really need to understand the context with which he is writing. To do this, we can look to the first chapter and the verses that bookend, so to speak, the actual verse that appears to contradict Paul’s teaching.
 
James 1:1 says,  “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.” We see here that James is addressing Jews who are spread out from their homeland (and from the letter, he is clearly writing to Jewish Christians).
 
When I teach a Bible lesson, and I know many in the crowd are unbelievers, I’m going to phrase things a bit differently. I might be more evangelical with my teaching; I might be more gracious. But if I am teaching those who are believers, I can be blunter, I can teach meatier topics. If I suspect some have only claimed to believe but have no fruit in their lives to reveal they have an authentic faith, I may have to address that as well. The point being, having different audiences can change how you frame your teachings.
 
For James, he is writing to those who are not only Christians, but also to some who claim to be Christians. And from the tone of his letter, you will see how he not only encourages them, but also rebukes them with great firmness. And one of the key topics he brings into his rebukes pertains to faith, as we see right from the beginning of his letter:
 
James 1:2-3, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” Immediately, we see that faith, when tested, will produce something. Specifically, it will produce endurance. We can see that James believed in a real faith that produces real fruit. And this is the first key in understanding a lot of James’ difficult language, especially later on with regards to faith and works.
 
James 1:22 says, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” Some translations render that word delude as deceive. The Greek word is paralogizomenoi, and in context, either translation is considered appropriate. But the point James is making here is that those who hear the word, and do not apply it, have deceived themselves. When we hear the Gospel, and reject it, when we hear God’s direction, and we refuse to apply it to our lives or change the way we think about things, we are deceiving ourselves. How can we claim to be in Christ when we don’t listen to anything He has to say? This verse reminds me of 1st John 1:6, “6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth”.
 
It is really quite simple. If we have genuine trust in Christ, our life will look like it. It might not be immediately. It may take years of growth, while others grow much faster. But be that as it may, we will not walk in perpetual darkness if we have genuine faith in Christ. Why? Because we have become a temple of the Light! How can we still walk in darkness?
 
C.S. Lewis put it this way in Mere Christianity, ““To trust [Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him.” [2]
 
And when we talk about having faith in Christ, we aren’t talking just about believing that He exists or that He died on the cross, or even believing that He rose again from the dead, but we are talking about trusting in Christ and in the work of God. Belief is about accepting a set of facts, but faith is more than this. Yes, faith is accepting a set of facts, but it also entails trusting and committing yourself to something or someone. This is very different than mere knowledge.
 
For example, you could believe that your wife loves you and wants what’s best for you. But to have faith in her would mean to trust her and to commit to her. That is very different than merely understanding and believing in aspects about her. And whether you simply believe she loves you or you trust that she loves you will be demonstrated by your actions towards her over time. Do you really trust her? Then trust her with your insecurities, doubts, and mistakes. Do you really trust her? Then trust her with your finances. How can you say you trust her, if you won’t let her in on every aspect about you, and everything you own? We see clearly the difference in a shallow claim of belief, and a trust and commitment that is demonstrated by our actions.
 
For more context, we see in James 2:1-13, he addresses how we should treat people who come into our assemblies. He says we shouldn’t treat a rich man any differently than a poor man. He reminds us that we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves; and if we do not do this, if we show partiality, we are sinning. We are being disobedient.
 
Immediately preceding the passage of controversy, we can already tell that he is writing in an ecclesiological context, a context pertaining to the church, how we should treat one another in the church, how we should act as believers in Christ. If we contrast this with Paul’s writing in Romans, we see Paul was writing in a clear soteriological context, a context pertaining to salvation: how we obtain righteousness by faith in Christ and in His work, not our own.
 
We saw something interesting that Paul wrote in Romans, if you remember, when he referenced the law of faith. James here references another law. In James 2:11-13, he writes, “For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.”
 
Here he references the law of liberty, and he contrasts this with the Old Testament Law. Paul referenced the law of faith. What is the law of liberty? In context, John Calvin provides a deep insight in his commentary on these verses, “…for the law of liberty is the same as the mercy of God, which delivers us from the curse of the law”.[3]
 
Through our faith in Christ, we obtain salvation, walking in our new salvific status, we now experience the law of liberty. We experience the sea of mercy found only in God’s Son. And in context, this should cause us to be merciful to our brethren. Calvin continued in his commentary, “Since none of us can stand before God, except we be delivered and freed from the strict rigor of the law, we ought so to act, that we may not through too much severity exclude the indulgence or mercy of God, of which we all have need to the last.”
 
To the last drop, all we can do is sip on the daily mercies of God. All we can do is drink from that overflowing cup of His Son’s abundant grace. We have no leg to stand on if we try to say that our good works and obedience to the law have in some way, shape, or form earned us our salvific status. It is all in the work of Christ. Thus, it is through the law of faith that we gain access to walk in the law of liberty. And these two eternal truths have been etched into stone as God’s law.
 
And so now we will attempt to understand the difficult portion of James’ writings.
 
Faith Without Works is Dead:

James 2:14-17 says, “14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
 
James is referring here to the claim of faith (i.e., if someone says he has faith), and it goes without saying that a claim doesn’t make something true.
 
For example, about 63% of Americans today claim to be Christians [4], which is over 200 million people. Almost definitionally, not all of these people are genuine in their faith. This has been demonstrated in the last three decades or so by how many have left Christianity. In 1990, 90% of Americans identified as Christian. Why has the number gone down so drastically? It’s not just that many older Christians have passed on to glory since 1990, but that many who grew up in the faith have realized that their faith wasn't genuine, and they have abandoned the claim to Christianity so they can live more in alignment with what they actually believe. Their initial claim to faith wasn’t backed up by the reality of what was in their heart.
 
In other areas we see people making claims that aren’t backed up by reality. Many claim to be the opposite sex than what their DNA and anatomy demonstrates. This is obviously impossible. Their claim to a new sex doesn’t comply with reality. Likewise, with regards to unborn children, when people claim that they are not humans deserving of life, that claim has no effect on the reality of whether they are humans that deserve life or not. The eternal moral law of God says they are humans made in His image, and they fully deserve justice, life, and protection. Thus, they have eternal value. Our shallow claims and senseless words have no effect on categories and mechanisms established by God from eternity past to eternity future.
 
So, when someone claims to have faith, that claim may or may not represent the reality of their heart. Faith is not merely words thrown into the air; faith is an act of trust demonstrated in one’s life.
 
When we see James addressing this issue with believers, he says that faith that is not substantiated in works is like telling someone to be warm and full, yet not providing them with food or shelter. How silly this is! Clearly, that kind of faith is useless (James 2:14) and disingenuous. It’s useless and disingenuous because it isn’t real. And in verse 17 he makes a bold statement to summarize this point, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
 
And I have heard Christians explain this passage away by stating that this faith might be dead, but it’s still faith, and therefore, it will still save someone from Hell, even though it doesn’t produce any works. It’s just inactivated faith. But that interpretation is missing the whole point. The point James is making is that this type of faith isn’t faith at all. It’s disingenuous. Just as it’s disingenuous to tell someone to be warm and full and yet not provide them with food and shelter.
 
Beyond the narrow context of the passage, if we look at how Scripture as a whole uses the words dead and death, it doesn’t exactly paint a positive picture. The Bible uses these words to describe people before they are saved. Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”
 
Before we are saved, we are dead. After we are saved, we are alive. We are so alive, that the Bible often refers to the physical death of a Christian not even as death, but as falling asleep (as we see in 1st Corinthians 15:6 and 1st Thessalonians 4:14). And in John 3:3, Christ provides us with the contrast of the unsaved with the saved, from death to life, in this way, “Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Thus, we move from spiritual death to spiritual life through a type of second birth, a spiritual birth. And in 2nd Corinthians 5:17, we see what this transformation looks like, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
 
The Greek word here translated as creature is κτίσις (ktisis), which most literally translates to creation (the act or the product).[6] So if we are in Christ, we are made new spiritually. And as new creatures, we are as different as a dead person is different from a living person. That’s a big, discernible difference! So when James says that faith, if it has no works, is dead, I believe he is demonstrating the folly of an empty, disingenuous claim to faith. For how can we still behave exactly the same if we are made completely new? How can we think the same way? How can we have no fruit?
 
Faith Demonstrated:

James 2:18 tells us, “But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
 
Here James presents us with a challenge to reveal the utter foolishness of claiming faith if you have no works. He is essentially asking: Really? You have faith? How can anyone see such a thing if you have no works? How can you see your faith if you have no works?
 
John Calvin wrote in his commentary on this verse, “The meaning then is, “Unless thy faith brings forth fruits, I deny that thou hast any faith.”” [2]
 
And there is no reason to believe someone has faith if they have no works.
 
Devil & Useless Faith:

James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
 
Here, James references another type of disingenuous faith, demon faith. For demons do not have faith in Christ, but they do believe that Christ is real. Demons have an acceptance of facts and Christians have an acceptance of facts; but the difference is we also have a trust and commitment to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
 
And we need to ask ourselves, have we simply accepted a set of facts about Jesus: Him living, dying, rising from the dead, or have we also trusted and committed ourselves to Him? And how can we know to which side of this belief and faith dividing line we are standing?
 
It is our behavior that reveals where our allegiance lies. Demons live in rebellion to Christ; we live in submission to Him. If we are in a salvific state, we will sin and disobey, of course, but there must be some evidence of submission to Christ; otherwise, there is no reason to believe we ever submitted, trusted, or committed to Him in the first place. And if we haven’t committed to Him, we will be in rebellion as the demons are, and we will be useless, as James emphasizes in 2:20, “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”
 
We must move from a shallow claim of faith, from an acceptance of facts about Jesus, to a genuine trust and commitment to Him.
 
Justified by Works:
 
I apologize for taking nearly 5000 words to preface this verse, but here we find sandwiched amidst all of this context and backdrop, a very controversial series of verses.
 
First, we look to James 2:21, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?”
 
Here, James clearly says that Abraham was justified through an action. He says he was justified when he offered up his son Isaac.
 
We immediately recognize the dilemma as we did at the beginning of this paper: How can this be reconciled to Paul’s teaching in Romans? For starters, we need to see if James is using the word justified in the same manner and context as Paul.
 
Remember, Paul’s context was starkly soteriological, we saw the full picture of the Gospel and effective sacrifice of Christ on the cross, as well as how we receive the salvation of God through faith in His Son. But thus far in James, it is very much ecclesiological. James is addressing how we interact with other people in our assemblies, how we treat people out in public, and how our claim to faith (if genuine) will be substantiated in actions towards others. I believe, based on everything we read thus far in James 1 and 2, that there is ample reason to think James is writing with an ecclesiological context in mind. So, in a sense, we could think of James as having a horizontal emphasis, and Paul as having a vertical emphasis. Now, that doesn’t mean that horizontal teachings don’t have vertical applications and vice versa.
 
So, if James and Paul are using the word in a different way, if their context is different, then perhaps they don’t contradict each other at all. Perhaps they even supplement each other. If James is using the word justified in reference to how genuine faith is evidenced to others and to God (which I believe he is), then we don’t have a contradiction at all.
 
Here is one clue that this is the case. Paul writes in Romans 4:1-3,  “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 
 
You see, it was Abraham’s belief (his faith) that was credited to him as righteousness. Paul even says that if Abraham was justified by works, he would have something to boast about, but not before God. Why does Paul say this? To whom is Abraham justified to by his works if not before God? Well, one answer would be we are justified to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ when our actions back up our claim to faith. Our genuine faith is evidenced by our actions. But, it is not those actions that save us.
 
So, when James says justified by works, he could be speaking in reference to how we are justified among our brethren when we do good works, which sheds some light on the latter portion of 2:18, “…show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Our works demonstrate and justify our genuine salvation and faith to our brethren, but clearly works do not earn us our salvation in God’s eyes.
 
And Paul even taught that genuine faith has fruit, he just didn’t word it the same way as James. Galatians 5:6 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” So, it is not actions that save us, but true faith produces something (which James clearly taught in James 1). Thus, to Paul, faith works through love. To James, faith produces works. Put that together and you get this fundamental truth: genuine faith produces fruit in a variety of ways.
 
Faith and Works are Inseparable:

We see this illustrated in how faith and works are symbionts. James 2:22 says, “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.”
 
James is showing us that faith works with works, and when good works are done, faith is perfected.
 
In science class, we call this a positive feedback loop. For example, bananas produce ethylene gas, which tells them to ripen. When more bananas are close to each other, and they release more ethylene gas, each subsequent banana releases even more gas, and they increase their gas production to accelerate their ripening. That is what we see with faith and works. Genuine faith produces works, and good works increase and mature our faith. They cannot be disconnected from one another.
 
This reminds me of when I was working at a Summer Christian sports camp in Missouri when I was in college. I spent six weeks completely separated from my family, my girlfriend (who I was ready to propose to), and all the comforts and routines of my Alabama life, to spend 24 hours a day, six days a week, doing ministry. I deprived my flesh (no coffee and little rest!) and invested in people. I can remember driving home at the end of that Summer feeling so exhausted, and yet… I was full of abundant faith. My faith was so strong that I started writing my first book, which was a collection of follow-up teachings to my campers, when I arrived home.
 
It is true what James teaches us here, faith and works are inseparable. We are fools to think that our faith will always be strong if we simultaneously ignore the pull of the Holy Spirit stirring us to good works.
 
Justified by Works Emphasized:
​
James 2:23 says, “and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.”
 
Here we see a little gym nestled in the scriptures when it says, “…and the Scripture was fulfilled”. James is saying that a proclamation of faith is really a prophecy. It’s a promise. It’s a prediction that there will be future action. And if future action does come, then that faith, that promise, was genuine. It was faith from God, for God does not produce in us worthless, ineffective faith.
 
If you think about it, when you claim to be a believer in Christ, you are claiming to have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you as His temple. As we saw earlier, you are claiming to be a new creature. There’s an expectation of fruit that comes with claiming to be connected to the vine. If there is no fruit, then you are not connected to the vine. Opposingly, if your claim of faith is fulfilled through the actual outgrowth of fruit, then that claim of faith is justified.
 
And we finally arrive at the verse we started with, James 2:24, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
 
Again, if James is speaking in an ecclesiological context, then this verse doesn’t contradict Paul’s teaching at all; in fact, it reinforces it. Paul said that genuine faith is evidenced through love. James is saying genuine faith is evidenced through works. Therefore, we see the cohesive nature of their teachings.
 
The difficulty with this passage is the use of the word justified. We want to apply that usage in the same way that Paul does, but it seems to be there is ample evidence to interpret his words differently not only in light of Paul’s teachings, but also in light of the narrow and broad context of James 2 itself.
 
Now, if James does have a soteriological meaning in mind in this verse, which is still possible, I think John Piper provides an excellent way to understand the statement; he explained it this way, “When James says in James 2:24 that we are not justified by faith alone he means that the faith which justifies does not remain alone. These two positions are not contradictory. Faith alone unites us to Christ for righteousness, and the faith that unites us to Christ for righteousness does not remain alone. It bears the fruit of love. It must do so or it is dead, demon, useless faith and does not justify.” [5]
 
And to return to the C.S. Lewis quote, he finished that statement with the following, “But trying [to obey Christ] in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” [2]
 
Once you genuinely believe that Christ is who He says He is, and you trust and commit to Him, you will want to obey Him. You will want to take His advice. You have the Son of God living inside of you as His temple, and that will stir you to a renewed mind, action, and love. And we find once again, evidence of the overwhelming truth and cohesive teachings of Scripture to illuminate for our hearts the vital importance and effect of genuine faith.
 
Cite: Faucett, D. (2024). Are We Saved by Faith or by Works? Science Faith & Reasoning. Retrieved from: https://www.scifr.com/articles/are-we-saved-by-faith-or-by-works-paul-vs-james 

References:
1.All Scripture references in this article are sourced from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) 1995 Edition.
2.Lewis, C. S. (2001). Mere Christianity. Zondervan.
3.James 2 - Calvin’s commentary on the Bible - Bible Commentaries - StudyLight.org. (n.d.). StudyLight.org. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cal/james-2.html
4.Nadeem, R., & Nadeem, R. (2024, July 18). 1. How U.S. religious composition has changed in recent decades. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/09/13/how-u-s-religious-composition-has-changed-in-recent-decades/
5.Piper, J. (2024, October 2). Does James contradict Paul? Desiring God. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/does-james-contradict-paul
6.2 Corinthians 5:17 Lexicon: Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (n.d.). https://biblehub.com/lexicon/2_corinthians/5-17.htm

Daniel T. Faucett

M.S. Biology
​Director of Science Faith & Reasoning
Host of Science Faith & Reasoning podcast and Coffee With John Calvin ​podcast