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
