On Paul and James
How do we reconcile Paul and James? In Romans 3:28 Paul says, “We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law ,” and James says in James 1:24, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone .” No reconciliation between Paul and James is necessary. They are good friends and they preach the same gospel. It is not the case—as some people have supposed—that Paul teaches a doctrine of justification by faith and James teaches a doctrine of justification by works. In these two passages they were addressing two very different concerns. Paul was making the case in Romans that Gentiles don’t have to become Jews in order to be justified. When he says, “one is justified by faith apart from works of the law,” he means, apart from circumcision, apart from the kosher laws, apart the ritual cleansing laws, apart from keeping the Jewish holy days, and so on. In other words, a Gentile may come into a right standing with God through Jesus Christ by faith, ...