I preached Part 2 of the message, “Faith without Works Is Dead” this weekend.  Part 1 covered James’ explanation of the relationship between faith and works by way of looking at his two examples of a faith that doesn’t work.  Part 2 seeks to explain faith and works in light of his two examples of a faith that does work.

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The two examples James gives of a faith that does work are the OT saints Abraham and Rahab.  There’s was faith that believed God to be bigger than any problem the world can present and better than any solution it can offer.

My two concluding observations on the relationship between faith and works:

1. Faith saves all by itself, but it never stays all by itself.
2. Good works can never earn salvation, but they are the necessary evidence of salvation.

I also sought to distill my thoughts on what may seem to be a contradiction between James who says that Abraham was justified by works (James 2:21-24) and Paul who says that Abraham was justified completely without works (Rom. 4:1-5).*

My conclusions on this point were basically that Paul and James are not talking about exactly the same thing.

• Paul is addressing the question of how one is saved.
• James is addressing the question of if one is saved.
• Paul is talking Gen. 15.
• James is talking Gen. 22.
• Paul is talking initial faith apart from works.
• James is talking continued faith demonstrated by works.

What we find, though, is that both perspectives are absolutely necessary and taken together they form the basis for an orthodox understanding of salvation.

• W/o Paul we’d be left open to the heresy which says, “I’m saved by my good works.”
• W/o James we’d be left to the heresy which says, “I’m saved by faith alone…in such a manner that works are now not essential or necessary to my life as a saved individual.”
• But taken together we get this holy tension that, in my mind at least, produces the beautiful effect that is the totally free, completely life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ.

*Concerning this seeming “contradiction” b/t James and Paul I was helped tremendously by John Piper’s sermon, “Does James Contradict Paul?” (manuscript link | audio link).