Christians...I need help understanding these verses together?

Question

Paul says you have been saved by grace through faith, it is a gift of God, not of works lest you should boast. James says faith without works is dead. How do these two verses fit together?

what if you have faith plus good and bad works?

I still don't know if I am saved. I have faith I know that and I have good works but there is always sin in my life like masturbating

Answer 1

Very easy.

James in particular has a passage where he says if someone claims to be a Christian, and then sees someone in need of food or clothing and they basically say, "I wish you well" then they are not showing any love, they are still selfish and self-righteous. We cannot be saved by good works, meaning good deeds do not cancel out bad deeds, but we are called to do good works. When Paul talks about salvation by faith, he is contrasting it with salvation through the Law, which is observing all the Old Testament laws. We are not saved by the Law, but we are not free to break it either because Paul writes in Romans 3:31 "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! We uphold the law" Furthermore, he writes extensively on how we should be slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:15-23) By literally using the word slaves to righteousness, Paul is indicating that, since we received God's grace through faith, we are BOUND to do good works and seek righteousness. We cannot just receive his grace then go on living sinfully, we have to become earnest workers of righteousness. Paul always referred to himself as a slave to God, and here he says that we are to be slaves to righteousness (in essence, good works). We are not saved by becoming workers of righteousness, but instead we work righteousness as a consequence of our salvation.

It goes like this....

Corrupted by sin --------> Gain atonement through Christ which is by the Grace of God --------> Be sanctified by the Holy Spirit (which means to do good works)

So there are two parts of being a Christian - being redeemed, and becoming righteous. Merely having faith does not make us righteous, and merely doing good works does not redeem us. We must both be redeemed by Christ, and be sanctified through the Holy Spirit. Paul's comment of Grace through faith just emphasizes the redemption through Christ, and James' faith without works is just emphasizing the need for sanctification.

We fall short of fulfilling God's law, so we need both redemption and sanctification. We gain redemption from Christ, and we gain sanctification through the Holy Spirit.

Answer 2

The answer is to be found in clarifying what each was referring to. Paul speaks specifically about "works of the Law" meaning works such as circumcision, food laws and the Sabbath, which were markers of Jewish identity. Paul emphasized that these laws were not the true signs of the people of God. Instead, faith (meaning faithfulness to and trust in God) was what mattered, and this included living in a certain way (see Romans 2 and Galatians 5). James, on the other hand, is talking about believing certain things are true (e.g. he says demons believe that God is one, and this is a correct belief, but it doesn't do them any good because it doesn't affect their behavior). A faith that is just accepting certain propositions doesn't save - on this Paul and James would seem to agree, just as they seem to agree that how one lives matters.

Answer 3

These two verses do not fit together.
Paul was writing to Gentiles.
James was writing to Jews.
There would be a big difference in the theology. The Jews are still under the law today (even though the law is dead) -Gentiles never were under the law.
Context makes all the difference in the world when attempting to interpret scripture. Context is king!!!! You will never understand scripture without placing it in the proper context.

Answer 4

They fit together perfectly. There are a number of passages emphasizing the need for faith in accepting the gift of salvation. There are also a number of passages emphasizing the need for works of Christian charity in accepting the gift of salvation, like the end of Matt 25. You have selected one of each. They don't contradict each other. They just emphasize different aspects of the one great truth. Salvation is a gift of God that cannot be earned or merited. But like any gift it must be accepted. Faith and good works are the two means of accepting salvation that are strongly and repeatedly emphasized in Scripture. Works do not earn salvation. Faith does not earn salvation. Yet both are essential to the reception of salvation. Both faith and good works are the result of grace. Therefore salvation is by grace alone; but not by faith alone and not by works alone. Failure to have faith or failure to do good works both represent rejection of God's grace, and therefore rejection of salvation. This is what Christ's own Church, the Holy Catholic Church, has taught consistently for 2,000 years.

Answer 5

Perfectly. Because you are saved you will have good works.

You're not saved by your works, like what paul said. If you have nothing to show for your faith, like works, you're not saved.

Re: When were saved, we don't become perfect, we get perfected. We well always have sin in us like James said.

Re: Yes, masturbation, which all Godly men have had to deal with. Is it wrong, yes, is it tempting, yes. How do you know if you are saved? If you have made Jesus Lord, meaning that God Rules in your life, yes you might mess up, but he is still the king.

Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" If you're in Christ you are saved.

Answer 6

Let go of the guilt before you kill us all. The word sin means to make a mistake. We all make mistakes, that doesn't make it wrong. I have never and I have yet to find one verse in the Bible that even addresses masturbation, much less say it's a sin. Christians misunderstand the meaning of "flesh" and mistake it to mean our bodily functions and desires, when in fact it has nothing to do with it at all. To crucify the flesh means to remember that you are a spirit having a physical experience. You are not a body having a spiritual experience. Jesus knew this. He wanted to open his disciples heads and pour this knowledge into them. They never got it. Seems to me Paul had the same problem. He didn't get it either.

Answer 7

I just studied this last week. It is quite simple. FAITH is a VERB. It requires belief and belief follows by action. When we believe in something we respond to our belief therefore doing something about it. The bible says what good is it to tell someone take care, I will pray for you and hope you get fed and clothed. God says don't just pray for them (only) but give them food, water, and drink. You will know God's children by the fruit of their lives, meaning you will see God in the way they act (verb) and in the choices they make (verb) and the places they go (verb) and by what they do in and thru their lives (verb).

For even the demons "believe" and tremble...

Answer 8

faith is the basic fro salvation .
need together faith and work
so the work by faith is very good