Luther's Free Beer, Part 2: "Righteousness is not obtained through works" (part 2)

In closing, however, I would like to quickly address the fact that there are some texts in the Bible that have been used to support the idea that justification is obtained through both faith and works. I believe, however, that this reading of the passages is a case of misinterpretation, or rather, misapplication of the text. Let's just look at one section of the Bible, which contains some of the most famous passages of this sort, James, chapter 2. The main prooftexts for perfected justification by works are verses 14, 17, 20, 22, and 24:

14: What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

17: So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

20: Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

22: You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works

24: You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

However, I don't believe that what James is referring to here is the basis of justification, but rather the fruit of justification. He has already noted, along with Paul, that we are all sinners and have transgressed the law of God, and, therefore, should justly be under His wrath: "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it." (verse 10) Therefore, James did not believe that we humans can fulfill the righteous requirements of the law, because we have all transgressed it. Moreover, James was speaking this truth about Christians, because it was to "the twelve tribes" that he wrote this epistle. He recognized that even those who had the Spirit in them could not keep the law perfectly.

In verse 14, it seems that James is referring to a question not of works as the basis of justification, but as the evidence of true faith. "If someone says he has faith", James writes, and continues, "can that faith save him?" What kind of faith is it that this person says he has? Is it merely a knowledge of the facts of the Gospel? "I believe in God," one might say. Can this belief alone save them? No, for even the demons believe this (verse 17), and they are certainly not of God's children. What if someone says, "I believe in Jesus"? Are they saved by this kind of faith? No; for, again, Satan and his own know who Jesus is better than we do (Mark 1:24). What, then, if someone says, "I not only believe in Jesus, but I also believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He came to earth to be an atoning sacrifice for those who have faith in that sacrifice. I also believe that He was raised to life by God and now sits in heaven at His right hand." Surely, this person, with this kind of faith must be saved! Right? Still, I say no, not necessarily, because these are all facts of our world that Satan himself is fully aware of. However, saving faith is the kind of faith which allows a person to say, "I believe that all of these things are true... and that they apply to me! Not only do I believe that Jesus came to die, but that He came to die in my place!"

And it is this kind of faith, the kind of faith which can only be obtained through the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corithians 12:3), that will save a person. Furthermore, because this kind of faith comes by the power of the Spirit, it is a transforming faith, a faith that will necessarily produce the fruit of the Spirit. I believe that this is the important framework of knowledge to have while reading these passages. For surely, faith, without the fruit of the Spirit, without the ability and desire to obey the commands of God, is not a saving faith, but a dead faith. This faith is not the kind of faith which saves, it is not the kind of faith which is living, and it is not the kind of faith that produces works... because is not the kind of faith which is given to the children of God by the Holy Spirit upon the hearing of the Gospel!