Doesn't James say a man is justified by works?
James 2, Paul in Romans 4, and Abraham.
The short answer Settled
Yes, and he means faith shown by its works. James and Paul agree that Abraham was counted righteous by believing. James's point is that faith should show itself in what it does. Abraham's works did not earn his righteousness; they showed the faith he already had.
The same verse
Paul and James quote the same verse: "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness" (; ). God said it when Abraham still had no son: "I go childless," he had said (). That was years before Isaac was born, and years before Abraham offered him on the altar. So Abraham was counted righteous by believing, long before the offering. James agrees: he says the offering "fulfilled" that verse, "the Scripture was fulfilled" ().
Shown by what it does
James's whole argument is about showing: "Show me your faith," and "I will show you my faith by my works" (). So when he asks, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?" (), he means the offering showed Abraham's faith. At the altar God said, "for now I know that you fear God" (). The offering did not make Abraham a man who feared God; it showed that he was one. The word "justified" is used this way elsewhere too: "wisdom is justified by all her children" (). Wisdom is shown to be right by what it produces.
An apple tree is not made an apple tree by its apples. The apples show what kind of tree it is. A sick apple tree may bear no apples, but it is still an apple tree.
The usual objection
James says, "a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (). Paul says, "a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law" (). Either the two apostles contradict each other, or a person is declared righteous by faith and works together.
They answer different questions. Paul asks how a person is counted righteous before God: "to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" (). James asks what a person's faith is doing, and answers that it should show in what it does. He writes to "my brethren" (), and he never says their faith is not faith. What James says about faith with no works is taken up under question 7.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| הוֹלֵךְ עֲרִירִי hôlēḵ ‘ărîrî, "I go childless" (Strong's 1980, 6185) | Participle; adjective | Abraham had no son when he was counted righteous. | |
| ἐπληρώθη ἡ γραφὴ eplērōthē hē graphē, "the Scripture was fulfilled" (4137, 1124) | Aorist passive indicative | The offering fulfilled the verse; it did not earn what the verse records. | |
| δεῖξόν μοι … δείξω σοι deixon moi … deixō soi, "Show me … I will show you" (1166) | Command; future indicative | James is speaking of faith being shown. | |
| כִּי עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי kî ‘attāh yāḏa‘tî, "for now I know" (6258, 3045) | Perfect | The test showed what Abraham already was. | |
| ἐδικαιώθη ἡ σοφία edikaiōthē hē sophia, "wisdom is justified" (1344, 4678) | Aorist passive indicative | "Justified" can mean shown to be right. | |
| ἀλλ’ οὐ πρὸς τὸν θεόν all' ou pros ton theon, "but not before God" (2316) | Preposition with noun, negated | The justification Paul denies is the one before God. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.