I am a protestant, and believe in being saved by faith, what should I make of James 2:24?

Question

Also Romans say man is saved by faith, and not by his works. And the man who died on the cross next to Jesus had no good works, and yet he went to heaven.

Answer 1

James 2:24 say that by works you are justified, not that by works you are saved. To save you the trouble of looking it up, read these scriptures.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (King James Version)

8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Answer 2

I believe the issue you are having stems from Martin Luther's idea of "Saved By Faith Alone".

First, remember the context of that statement. At the time, the Catholic church was using it's power to sell indulgences, which were basically a free sin pass, as well as convince people the bigger the church donation the better your afterlife would be. It was in responce to this idea of "working your way into heaven" that the comment was in response to.

Second of all, you must read it in context. The verse does not denouce faith alone, but rather denouces faith that performs no action. As stated in James 2:19 -- "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. (NIV)"

Basically, have faith, and you shall be saved, but it is easy to say to another, "I have faith". If you have true faith in The Lord, it will show in your actions towards others, and in the deeds you perform.

As stated in James 2:26 -- "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." Your body is useless without the spirit, but the spirit cannot do anything useful without a body. They are two parts of the same action.

Answer 3

A very good question! Wise of you to ask! This is a verse that some people would twist to make into a "biblical contradiction". It isn't. The biggest thing you need to do when looking at any confusing verse, is look at the CONTEXT. Read what comes before and afterward. ;-) Let's check it out (I'm going to list the verse before it):

James2:20 "You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[e] and he was called God's friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

The verse you mentioned says "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." So what ever happened to being saved by faith? Well first you need to understand something. If you were saved like I was, it was probably with someone leading your through a prayer where you repented, asked for forgiveness, and then dedicated your life to God. That's what being a Christian is, dedicated to God.
Most "claimed Christians" today seem to think that all they need to do is say a prayer of redemption and they go to heaven. Not so. This was something I had to learn by looking at the scriptures for myself.
Look at what Jesus says above that, (James 2:20) "You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" And then he gives an example from the old testament.
Jesus is making this point: You can have FAITH that he is real, and he died for your, etc. But if you don't use WORKS to LIVE OUT that faith, then it's worthless. What good is that faith if it is not ACTED upon? Faith without actions, is worthless. Jesus is pointing out here, that God doesn't want people to just "have faith", but to LIVE OUT that faith. No, works to not get you to heaven. But at the same time, if you don't live out the faith you claim to have in Jesus, then you also won't be going to heaven. You have to live for Jesus as best you can, and follow him if you really want to be saved. Don't believe me or agree? Take it up with what Jesus says then. ;-)

James2:24 "You see that a person is justified by what he does and NOT by faith ALONE."

It's faith AND works (Which is simply you LIVING OUT your faith). Get it? :-)

Answer 4

Faith is necessary but not sufficient. Do good works to show your faith rather than just say that you have faith. Your faith is proven by your works. Not everyone that says to Jesus, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Heed Jesus' words and put them into action. Otherwise, you will be like a house that was built on sand and the rains came and the wind blew and the house fell and great was its fall. Matthew 7:24-27

Answer 5

James corrected them on the matter of being doers as well as hearers by showing from Scriptural examples that a man having real faith would manifest it by works in harmony with his faith. For example, one having true faith would not say to a brother naked and lacking food, “Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,” and not give him the necessities. (Jas 2:14-26) Here James was not contradicting Paul by saying that one could earn salvation by works. Rather, he accepts faith as the basis for salvation but points out that there cannot be genuine faith that does not produce good works. This is in harmony with Paul’s description of the fruitage of the spirit, at Galatians 5:22-24, and his counsel to put on the new personality, at Ephesians 4:22-24 and Colossians 3:5-10, as well as his admonition to do good and share with others, at Hebrews 13:16.

Answer 6

Here we go.

Paul wrote by faith.
James seems to contradict.
Martin Luther wanted to remove the book of James from the Bible.

Who was James?
There were two original apostles named James. James the son of Zebedee and James the son of alphaeus. The second being Jesus step brother.
James the son of Zebedee the brother of John the apostle was killed early on acts 12:2 I believe, this leaving the Lord's step brother.
Gal 1:19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother.
Now James was of the circumcision group--you can Tell the way he opens the epistle to whom he is talking. AND
Gal 2:12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.
Where did the men come from, from James. What party were they from, the circumcision.
So being from the circumcision group,
I would not go with James but with Paul.
The circumcision group were by the law, not faith and grace. That is why James speaks about the Law so much in his epistle.
OLAY!

Answer 7

Great question.

I will summarize James' point in modern words: you can't just talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk. Don't go around saying you're a Christian, or even tell yourself in your heart that you are one, and refuse to permit your faith to bring forth fruit in your life. Remember the parable of the vine in John 15:1-8. The branch that fails to bear fruit is cut off and cast into the fire. We should all be bearing the fruits of the Spirit, as listed in Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 5:9 and 2 Peter 1:5.

I hope this helps.

Answer 8

hope this helps...but we must put faith into practice

We have already found James insisting that genuine faith must be put into practice. He began speaking of faith right away (1:3), and he was blunt in telling his readers to do what the word says (1:22). His letter thus far could be broadly outlined as follows:1:1-18 Maintaining faith in the midst of trials
1:19-27 Putting faith into practice by being doers of the word
2:1-13 An example of practicing one's faith: impartiality

Answer 9

Ok, here we go. When a man is naked, you should clothe him. When a man is hungry, you should feed him. Faith is what holds you to God. But if someone needs your help, or God commands you to do something, you do it. This passage can be compared to the 10 Commandments. If we believe in God, but do not uphold the commandments, then where are we? I personally believe that it is a combination of the two. What Luther was trying to get into people's minds when he presented his new theology to the masses, was that you also needed to have faith. What good are good works if you do not believe? Belief constitutes always questioning what you believe, or else it becomes blind faith. When faith becomes blind, you lose track of why you believe, and that is not a good thing.

God Bless

Matt

Answer 10

You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. James 2:24 NIV

Protestant, baptist, catholic, pentecostal... doesn't matter. Remember when Jesus talked about the man who says to the poor man, "Be warm and be filled"? Justification says that you give the poor man a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Faith tells us we're saved. Action shows everyone else.