“The Book of James”

14 What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. James 2:14-17

As we continue in our sermon series on the book of James, we will consider one of the verses in the Bible that has caused a lot of controversy in the Church, James 2:26,

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

One of the core principles of the Protestant Reformation is “faith alone”, or sola fide for you aficionados of Latin. (You know who you are.)

Martin Luther stressed the idea that we are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ in his treatise, The Freedom of a Christian. Luther wrote this treatise in response to being warned in July 1520 by Pope Leo X of 41 doctrinal errors. Luther was given 60 days to recant or be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. In November, Luther published his treatise. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out between Luther and Pope Leo X.

The idea of being saved by faith alone comes from the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9,

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The Roman Catholic Church followed the teachings of this verse, since they believe that the Scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit. However, the church needed money to finance the building of cathedrals in Europe. When a donation was given, people were told that their relatives who were in Purgatory awaiting entrance into Heaven would benefit from the contribution and enter Heaven sooner. This practice was known as indulgences.  Because of this practice, the idea arose that good works, such as financial donations, were somehow linked to salvation. Hence Luther’s corrective, sola fide. Which brings us back to James 2:26.

Luther was not much of a fan of the Book of James. He doubted that James was actually written by James, the brother of Jesus. He also believed that James 2:29, faith without works is dead, contradicted what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9 that salvation is not a result of works. Luther even went so far as to call the Book of James an epistle of straw. However, Luther did not think that the Book of James should be removed from the Bible. He just put James at the end of his German translation of the New Testament, after the Book of Revelation.

So, who is right regarding the relationship between faith/works and salvation: James or Paul? The answer is: both are right. I’ll explain on Sunday. See you, then.

In Christ,

Pastor David