James 2:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

NIV: Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

NASB: Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

CSB: Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar?

NLT: Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

KJV: Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

NKJV: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

James continues to make the case that saving faith in God results in the believer doing good works. Works do not save, but they are the natural result of a faith which does. Now James turns to two examples from the Old Testament, stories his Jewish readership would have known well.

It's important that we read this verse in the context of the verses that will follow. James's point throughout this section has been that works flow naturally from saving faith. His teaching complements that of Paul in Ephesians 2:8–10, where Paul is clear that we are saved through faith by God's grace and end up, inevitably, doing the good works that God has planned for us all along.

Some see a contradiction between Paul and James in this and the following verses. The confusion is understandable, but in the context of each passage, we can see that there is no such error. Paul writes in Romans 4:1–5 that Abraham was justified by faith, not works. Here, James states clearly, in the form of a question, that Abraham was justified by works when he obeyed God's command to sacrifice Isaac—until the moment God said "stop," in Genesis chapter 22.

Context, however, is crucial. All of James's words leading up to verse 21 have been about how works demonstrate saving faith. Paul used the term "justify" to describe the formal process by which God declared a person righteous. This is clear from the context of his other words. James, in this passage, has been describing the difference between a living faith and a dead faith. James is using the term "justify" to refer to proof, in the eyes of people. Paul and James are not contradicting each other; they are speaking of two different things.

James is pointing to Abraham's faith as the motivating power behind his works. James will also show that it was Abraham's belief that allowed him to be counted as righteous. His works were evidence of that faith, and therefore evidence of his salvation.

James 2:14–26 makes the case that how one acts—their ''works''—are a sign of the kind of ''faith'' they possess. So-called-''faith'' which doesn't lead a person to participate in good works is not a saving faith; it is a dead thing. It is pointless and meaningless to believe, or ''wish,'' a poverty-stricken person to be well, if such an opinion leads to no action. In exactly the same way, James insists that it is not enough to mentally agree about certain facts of God. If what a person believes about God does not lead them to act accordingly, then their ''faith'' is not saving faith. It is merely opinion. James never says that faith is not essential for salvation. He never claims works are required to obtain or keep salvation. He is, however, crystal clear that truly saving faith cannot be separated from the evidence of good works.

Genuine saving faith in God leads to good and loving actions: ''works.'' In chapter 1, James discussed the importance of acting on the words of God, not merely hearing them. Favoritism to the rich over the poor demonstrates a lack of faith. In fact, this is a sin. Following up on these ideas, James insists that ''faith'' which doesn't result in good works is dead. Such belief is merely intellectual agreement. It is not trust, or true, biblical saving faith. James doesn't deny that belief in God is essential to salvation, nor does he claim that works are necessary to obtain salvation. Rather, he makes the case that works are to faith what the breath is to the body: a sign of life. A ''faith'' without works is like a body without breath: dead.

In chapter 1, James taught that a saving belief in God changes how a Christian looks at trials in their lives. It affects where they turn for help, and who they credit for good. Believers hear the Word and do it. In this chapter, James insists that our faith in God should keep us from showing favoritism to the rich and powerful on earth and should provoke us to love our poor neighbors as ourselves. He also makes the case that so-called-''faith'' which does not result in works, is not saving faith, at all. Despite controversy, this does not clash with Paul's view of salvation by grace alone. James refers to good works as an expected outcome of salvation, not the source of it. In the following chapters, he will continue to show what a life of genuine faith looks like.

The book of James is about specifically understanding what saving faith looks like. How does faith in Christ reveal itself in a believer's life? What choices does real trust in God lead us to make? Those are the questions James answers. Most scholars believe the writer was Jesus' half-brother, a son born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus' birth. James may not have come to believe Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. Eventually, though, he became one of the leaders of the Christian church in Jerusalem. This is possibly the earliest-written of all the New Testament books, around AD 40–50. James addresses his letter to Jewish Christians scattered around the known world.