Living Faith

 

 

Is there a contradiction between

The Apostles Paul and James

In Ephesians 2 and James 2

Relative to their faith claims?

 

I will point you to these passages

And let you read them for yourself,

I will give you a minute or two

To grab your Bible off the shelf.

 

Ephesians 2:8-9

 

For by grace are ye saved through faith;

and that not of yourselves:

it is the gift of God:

 

Not of works,

lest any man should boast.

 

James 2:14, 17

 

What doth it profit, my brethren,

though a man say he hath faith,

and have not works?

can faith save him?

 

Even so faith, if it hath not works,

is dead, being alone.

 

If there are contradictions

Please point them out,

There are none, as far as I can see,

And in this I have no doubt.

 

 

Neither do they refute one another

As some would argue,

What is more, I put it to you

They are of the same point of view.

 

Apostle Paul’s focus is different

From that of Apostle James

And when each is examined in context

They are both truth claims.

 

Paul highlights grace and faith

While James zeros in on faith and works,

To see that one follows on from the other

Does not require an expert.

 

Before God, we are saved by faith

And not by works

And as that faith arises in us

We instantly become converts.

 

That faith is not of ourselves

But it is the gift of God,

It is God’s saving faith

That He gives to the called.

 

James’ point is different

And so is his focus

And this should be easily picked up

With little or no fuss.

 

God needs no testimony from us

Either spoken or given,

He is eternally aware

Of them He has forgiven.

Our living testimony

Is for the sake of all men,

That’s where faith and works come in

Hence, I see no problem.

 

“If a man says,”

It is not if God says,

That the man is in question here,

Should be as clear as day.

 

One may profess to be saved

But if there is no evidence

Then that man’s faith is a dead faith

And his walk lacks consistence.

 

A vain man, according to James,

Trumpets his faith without any works,

Thus, he is void of saving faith

And is not yet a convert.

 

James 2:26

 

For as the body without the Spirit is dead,

so faith without works is dead also.

 

According to Paul,

It is a living faith that justifies

While according to James

Of such a faith, fruit testifies.

 

These Apostles, as I see it,

Are not arguing to the contrary

But their positions regarding the saved

Are explicitly complimentary.

 

Stewart Russell © December 22, 2021