James

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NASB	James 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
AMPLIFIED 2015	James 2:26 For just as the [human] body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works [of obedience] is also dead.

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Subject: Faith and Works: Paul vs. James

Bible Note: Faith and Works: Paul vs. James

'There is a way to reconcile what Paul and James say. The key to reconciling them is that the word "justified" has more than one meaning. Paul uses it with one meaning in Romans 4 and James uses it with a different meaning in James 2. It is not uncommon that a word has more than one meaning. In fact, it is common that any given word would have a multitude of meanings. Look in a dictionary and you can see that almost every word has more than one meaning, almost without exception. It is the context that dictates what meaning is in view.

(...)

'There is a difference between when God justifies a man and when a man justifies himself. When I say to you, "Justify yourself," what am I asking you to do? I' m asking you to justify your actions, prove to me something about the nature of your actions. You are being asked to show me something.

'When God justifies a man, He doesn't show them something. He gives them something; He gives them righteousness.

'So justification has two meanings. God justifies the ungodly. What does that mean? He gives them righteousness. He applies it to their account. He "reckons them righteous" is how Paul puts it. So one meaning of the word justify is to GIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS. The second meaning of the word justify is to PROVE TO BE RIGHTEOUS. It has to do with a demonstration, just like when I tell you to justify yourself.

'How do I know that there are two different meanings that are in view? Both Paul and James quote Abraham, but they quote different periods of his life. Paul in Romans 4 quotes Genesis 15:4 and that passage says that "Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Another way of putting it is that's when Abraham got saved. Abraham gets saved in Genesis 15.

'Later on in his life, long after this event, we see God testing Abraham in Genesis 22. Take Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice on the altar. When he obeys God and does what he is told to do, God stops him in the middle of it and says, You don't have to do this anymore, I have provided a substitute. God makes a very important statement. In verse 12 of Genesis 22 He says, "Now I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your son, your only son from Me." By the way, the word "know" in the Old Testament communicates a sense of a deep, personal experience, not just intellectual knowledge. When James quotes Abraham's justification, he doesn't quote from Genesis 15 when Abraham was reckoned righteous--He quotes from Genesis 22 when Abraham demonstrated his righteousness, proved himself to be righteous.

'Further, what' s interesting is that not only does he quote Genesis 22, but he sees Genesis 22 as an outworking or a fulfillment of his salvation in Genesis 15. In fact, James quotes the passage. He paraphrases, "Was not Abraham our father justified, proven to be righteous by his works, when he offered up Isaac his son at the altar? You see that faith was working with his works and as a result of the works, faith was perfected and the Scripture was fulfilled, which says Abraham believed God and was reckoned to him as righteousness."

'Abraham obeyed God's command.'

(Faith and Works: Paul vs. James by Gregory Koukl)
(www.str.org/free/commentaries/theology/works.htm)