The Gospel War: Paul vs. James

We are justified in the eyes of God by faith alone. We are justified in the eyes of man by works alone.

That's James point in verse 24. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In other words, people can't see your faith. And if that's all you have and they can't see your works, there isn't justification in the eyes of man.

It's worthless. You want to be justified as authentic? Work. Glorify God. Serve Christ.

Allow him to change your heart. Works reveal to people that your faith exists. We're in the middle of a series from Romans three, which, as you know, was written by the apostle Paul.

But today, Stephen's going to spend some time in James as well. Ever since the Protestant Reformation, justification by faith has been a hot topic. If we're saved by faith in Christ alone, what role does good works play in salvation? Paul said that salvation is by faith alone. But James said that faith without works is dead. So who's right? Well, in this message, Stephen shows us how they both are.

Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. This message is called The Gospel War. Paul versus James. In the early fifteen hundreds, there was a massive theological collision.

It was a necessary collision. It was a much needed debate and reform over the issues of theological corruption that had become a way of religious life. The collision that occurred specifically revolved around the definition of justification by faith. More specifically, how justification related to what the church was teaching as the sacrament of penance. The sacrament was defined by the Roman church as the second pillar of justification.

The first pillar of justification they taught was infant baptism. So if a person sinned after their baptism, and they certainly would, there needed to be some kind of restorative act of penance. The church believed and still does believe that that really bad sins, quote, kill, unquote, justifying grace. So something must be done by the sinner to restore grace or the soul of the sinner is in peril. All the sacraments of the Roman church are designed and have been in one way or another to continually justify the sinner in the eyes of God.

They hold and held then as well that salvation was not a one time transaction whereby God the Father imputed to the account of the sinner the righteousness of Christ. The church maintained that justification was a process over the course of a lifetime with the hope that if you do everything that you're supposed to do that in the end your time in purgatory will be limited and your soul will eventually go to heaven. One of the good things that you could do revolves around this doctrine of penance, which by the early 1500s was already beginning to stir up an incredible amount of strife and turmoil. To make it worse or matters worse, theologically, the sacrament of penance, which has no biblical basis, included another thing that had no biblical basis and that was the issue of indulgences. And indulgence involves some good deeds, some prayer, praying some prayer, some gifts, some candles, some visit to a holy site, some act of sacrifice. By doing any or all of the above, God is with each one of those acts to a small degree satisfied and you by doing them receive another small measure of grace.

It was this issue alone that added immeasurably to the corruption of the medieval church. The church, in fact, developed an entire system of indulgences where a person could, in effect, pay for their forgivenesses with good deeds or even monetary gifts. Many of the great cathedrals in Europe that I have had the opportunity to visit were financed literally by the sale of indulgences. People were told, here's how you get forgiveness.

Here's how you satisfy God. Here's what you do to get a little more grace added to your account on your journey to heaven. And, of course, people then bought into that. For instance, in the year 1300, the pope issued a jubilee indulgence to all who visited the tombs of apostles on 15 successive days. Of course, you had to have tickets to see the tomb and that cost and that sacred trip added grace to their account. By the 1500s, indulgences were bringing so much money into the church that the church called it a, quote, holy business, end quote.

They had to engage a banking establishment in Germany to handle all of the money. St. Peter's in Rome was literally built on the back of the sale of forgiveness. Linked to the issue of indulgences, and this is where it gets even worse, was the matter of relics. The cathedrals throughout Germany had on display thousands of relics that they claimed were sacred pieces of collectibles ranging from a twig from Moses's burning bush to a tear that Jesus shed when he wept over Jerusalem that didn't dissolve. I was in Europe a few years ago and I watched people filing in to see a holy relic that was able to be observed for a dollar. So I got in line not because I felt I needed grace, but because I wanted to see what a relic was. And we got behind the curtain and there was a a gnarled bony hand of a bishop or cardinal.

I can't remember what of a thousand years with rings all over his fingers. It was wrapped in satin and it literally made me be churned for the rest of the day. By the early fifteen hundreds, there were so many people flocking to one particular city in Germany to pray the prayers and to see the sacred relics and to make the proper offerings for the sake of earning indulgences that the university in that city became completely endowed. The name of that university was the University of Wittenberg or Wittenberg. But since it was also taught that indulgences could be earned not only for yourself, but for deceased loved ones who had already died. You could imagine the fervency of people who now were not only adding merit to their own account, but adding merit to the account of those they loved who had already died. So the German city of Wittenberg was already overflowing with devoted followers of the church's belief that justification could be bought.

In the spring of 1517, it reached a boiling point. A man under the authority of the pope flying the banner of that current pope arrived in the city. His name was Johann Tetzel, and he had come to raise money for the building of St. Peter's in Rome. The words to one of his sermons are, and I quote, You should know whoever has confessed and is contrite and puts alms or money into the box will have his sins forgiven. So why are you standing about idly? Run, all of you, for the salvation of your souls. Do you not hear the voices of your dead parents and other people screaming out and saying, Have pity on me, have pity on me, we are suffering severe punishment and pain from which you could rescue us?

End quote. Pilgrims, of course, rushed forward and earned their indulgences and hoped to rescue not only their own souls, but the souls of their loved ones who had already died. And St. Peter's was completed. Johann Tetzel's sermon that spring was the last straw in the heart of a relatively unknown monk who was teaching New Testament studies in that university. He had sometime earlier converted to faith in Christ alone on his own private study out of the Greek New Testament in the book of Romans. And he was currently lecturing in that book when Tetzel arrived. The professor's name, of course, was Martin Luther.

And that brought it to a head. In October of that same year, Martin Luther tacked 95 theses or challenges to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. He wrote them, by the way, in Latin, intending to begin a theological discussion only among the faculty of the university and the religious leaders who were there.

He just wanted to start a debate within the faculty on the sale of indulgences and the issue of grace and forgiveness being purchased by good deeds and money. But in one of the great ironies of church history, which we now believe to be the providence of God, there was this new thing that had just begun to be developed called the printing press. And against Luther's own original desires, his theses were translated into German.

They were printed in mass and within two weeks they had been distributed to the entire German nation. The French attorney converted to the truth of this Sola Fide movement. Now, by his maturity considered a reformation, he eventually formalized the protesters doctrine in his institutes derived directly from the authority of scripture.

His name was John Calvin. What I find absolutely amazing, ladies and gentlemen, is that 500 years later, the issue of the doctrine of justification is just as controversial as it was then. In Romans Chapter three, Paul begins to summarize all that we have been studying in this great paragraph on the subject of Sola Fide or justification by faith alone. So I want you to turn there and look at the next two verses that we'll deal with as he summarizes everything he's been saying. And in here you discover again the clear definition of justification by faith or salvation by justification. Look at verse 28. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law. See, this is why he could say in the previous verse, look at verse 27, where then is boasting?

Who has any right to puff out their chest and say, look at me, I'm in because I'm better. I'm into heaven because God's impressed more with me than with you. In fact, the Lord gave us a great illustration of spiritual pride in Luke Chapter 18, where he talked about the two men who went into the temple to pray. Remember the story, if you've read it, the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee went in and began to pray. The text says the Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself.

I love the choice of words. He's obviously not praying to anybody else but himself. But he said in his prayer, God, I thank thee that I am not like other people.

And then he gets specific with the people he has in mind. Swindlers, unjust adulterers are even like this tax collector. Evidently, while the Pharisee was praying, he had his eyes open and he spotted a tax collector across the courtyard who was there as well to pray. And if there was anybody that was despised in the first century, it was the collector of taxes.

Some things don't really change, right? Well, in the first century, you need to understand a tax collector was a Jew, at least in this surrounding area, who had purchased from the government of Rome the right to turn around and tax his fellow brothers. He gave Rome what was there due and then he padded the tax amount so that he padded his pocket. And tax collectors were very wealthy men. You remember the story of Zacchaeus who had stolen.

He was a very wealthy man because of his theft. And so if there was anybody you were better than in the first century, it was a tax collector. The Pharisee said, I'm so thankful, oh, God, that I'm not like other people like that low life over there, that tax collector.

And then he goes on with his self congratulatory prayer. I fast twice a week and I pay tithes of all I get. Now, let me ask you something. Was the Pharisee making this up? No. Did he fast twice a week?

Yes. Did he give tithes of all he had? Yes, he did. Did he ever swindle or steal or take his neighbor's wife? No, he didn't. Was he a good man?

Absolutely. A model in that society of an upstanding moral person. Jesus went on to say in that text, but the tax collector standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. He wouldn't even look up. In this prayer of of repentance, deep confession. He says, oh, God, I have nothing to offer you. I am the sinner. Be merciful to me. The word be merciful is the word propitiation. Jesus said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified. Same word Paul used in Romans three.

This man went down to his house justified. God imputed to his bankrupt account the righteousness of Christ. Who was yet to die. And declared him forgiven. So the one who didn't boast became a true believer and the one who boasted was only playing make believe. Well, Paul says here in Romans three twenty seven, in effect, and the principle of true faith eliminates spiritual pride. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Could it be any clearer than that? Martin Luther wrote, all who are justified are justified for nothing. And this is credited to no one but to the grace of God. So where do those who oppose this definition of faith apart from works find their support in scripture?

I'm glad you finally got around to asking me that, because that's where we're going to spend the rest of our time. They find their support in a verse of scripture that seems to totally contradict what the apostle Paul has just said. A verse of scripture written by the apostle James. That has caused perhaps more confusion and debate and dissension than perhaps any other two verses when compared side by side.

So I want you to see them side by side. Paul wrote in Romans three twenty eight, for we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works. James wrote, you see that a man is justified by works and not by faith. Paul said, justified by faith. James says, justified by works. Who's right? You want me to answer that?

OK, I'll tell you. They're both right. The answer lies in an understanding. The mind of the Bible stood into the different approaches these two men were taking to the very same subject. There were two different purposes, as I'll show you in a minute, two different contexts, two different objectives and two different emphases that God intended to communicate.

Through them. James, in fact, you ought to take your Bibles and turn there. James in Chapter two is actually talking about three different kinds of faith. And I think this is important to understand what he means when he gets to that verse that I've just shown you side by side. In James Chapter two, verse 14, he writes, What use is it, my brother?

And you ought to underline that phrase because that is the key context within the mind of James. He is trying to show the the importance of faith. And if faith is without works, what use is it? He'll say this twice.

You ought to underline that one. What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but he has no works, can that faith save him? In other words, is that saving faith? Is saving faith the kind of faith that doesn't have any works associated with it? Verse 15, if a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warned and be filled. And yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body.

What use is that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself. This is the person who says, Yeah, I'm going to go to heaven. Why do you know you're going to go to heaven? Well, I signed the card. I walked the aisle. I got baptized. I joined the church. But, you know, I don't have anything to do with God.

But I know I'm going because I've got faith. Yet if you look at their lives, you discover they have nothing to do with God. They say they have faith in Christ, but Christ has no reign over their life. Christ has nothing to do with their thoughts. Christ has nothing to do with their life. Christ has nothing to do with their finances. Christ has nothing to do with their crass vocabulary or their sensual dress. Christ has nothing to do with their plans or their careers. Christ has nothing to do with their reading material or their schedules.

Christ has just given token attention on Sunday for an hour or more, and then we've had enough of Christ. James says, You're deluded. Your faith is dead. It's barren.

It's not alive. See, James has a different perspective on the subject of justification than the Apostle Paul. In fact, James and Paul end up complimenting one another instead of apparently contradicting one another. But you're going to miss it if you don't understand the differences between what Paul and James are attempting to communicate by virtue of the leadership of the Holy Spirit. So let me point out very quickly a number of differences between Paul and James that actually shows they're complimenting each other's message.

First of all, they had different objectives. See, Paul's objective is to define theologically justification, to define salvation by faith alone. He's writing theologically. James, on the other hand, is illustrating justification. And justification is illustrated not by faith plus works, but by faith that works. And he will use the illustration of Abraham and Rahab as demonstrations of authentic faith. He wants to authenticate faith with life. He wants to see it. That's why he says, What use is your faith if nobody ever sees it worked out?

It isn't really alive. Let me illustrate James' illustration. Marcia and I brought home from the hospital at some point in our marriage four babies. I mentioned to you before, when I was in seminary, we decided together that we wouldn't have any children so that we could focus on our schooling. However, in my last semester of seminary, God revealed his sense of humor by giving us two of them at the same time. Both of them were delivered at Baylor Hospital, which was about a block away by a wonderful doctor who gave Dallas Seminary students free deliveries of their babies.

Praise God for him. I remember when the first of the twins was born, he was born crying. It didn't stop for quite a while, but he was born that way.

And two minutes later, the second one was delivered. And after a little tense moment of silence and a smack, he began to cry. And we all breathed a sigh of relief because we had had those boys hooked up to monitors, of course, and he was higher up in the womb, and whenever Marcia would have a contraction, his heart rate would dramatically decrease, and there was great concern to have him delivered. So when he was delivered and then he cried out, we knew his heart was beating.

It was the only time his crying was a wonderful thing. But his cry, ladies and gentlemen, did not give him life. His cry revealed that there was life.

It didn't produce life, that crying. It proved life existed. So also James is illustrating the fact that good works do not produce life, they prove life exists. So we could say it this way, faith in Christ produces life, work for Christ proves life.

Now, you also need to notice that Paul and James have different emphases. Paul is emphasizing the foundation for our salvation, which is justification by faith alone. James is emphasizing the fruit after salvation, which is, of course, works and not faith alone. In other words, faith, James is trying to make the point, faith without fruit isn't genuine faith at all. True faith is revealed in fruit. The person who says that they have faith in Jesus Christ but have no evidence of fruit, no desire for worship, no submission to the sovereign kingship of Christ is diluted, deceived. It isn't enough to say, I have faith. James says, if that's all you have, you say, well, I have faith. He says, you're deceived because there's no fruit. Between the two of these men then there's also a different audience in mind.

And I want you to catch this point. Paul is talking about being justified in the eyes of God. Go back and read the paragraph over again in Romans 3 and then read it again. And he is declaring the truth that in the eyes of God, a man is justified by faith alone. James is talking about being justified in the eyes of man. You are not justified in the eyes of man by faith. They really could care less. And beyond that, they can't see it. You could tell me you had faith and James makes this very point.

And what does that mean? You want to be justified as authentic in the eyes of man? Work, glorify God, serve Christ, allow him to change your heart.

And that is the process of a lifetime. We call it sanctification, not justification. But we are justified in the eyes of God by faith alone. We are justified in the eyes of man by works alone.

That's James point in verse 24. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In other words, people can't see your faith. And if that's all you have and they can't see your works, there isn't justification in the eyes of man.

It's worthless. Works reveal to people that your faith exists. Furthermore, you need to see that Paul and James are actually after different results. Paul wants us to be able to defend our faith. James wants us to be able to demonstrate our faith. True saving faith is independent of good works. However, true saving faith works. James, I think, is startling his readers as much as it might startle you with the truth that a profession of faith is meaningless without the practice of faith. In fact, James, I believe, is actually saying that those who profess faith, who do not practice faith, do not possess faith. Authentic, genuine faith. John Calvin then wrote along those lines in the early 1500s, it is faith alone that justifies. But faith that justifies is never what?

Is never alone. You want to be justified before God? It is faith in Christ alone. You want to be justified before mankind? Do you want to be real? You want people to look at your life and say there's an authentic person who lives in surrender to Jesus Christ. I don't believe that stuff, but I can sure tell he does.

I can sure tell she does. Jesus said, let the world see your light. Let them see your good works. Let them see your good works. That they may glorify your Father who is in heaven. Whatever you do, ladies and gentlemen, don't pit Paul and James against each other.

They're on the same side. Put them together and you get a full, rich understanding of this subject of not only justification by faith alone, but justification by works alone. Justification before God and justification before men. The gospel war is only a war when you miss the differences between Paul and James in their objective and their audience and their emphasis and their intended result. After deciding on the title of the sermon and sending it to the Communication Department, I came across a quote that I so enjoyed and appreciated because he had the same flavor in his exposition 100 years ago.

W.H. Griffith Thomas wrote this nearly 100 years ago. Paul and James are not soldiers of different armies fighting against each other, but soldiers of the same army fighting back to back against enemies coming from opposite directions. You need to understand that Paul was fighting against the enemy called faith plus works.

James is fighting against the enemy called faith that doesn't work. Either enemy is deadly. Either enemy is fruitless.

Either enemy will lead you into a useless life. Either enemy, I believe, ladies and gentlemen, is another gospel. The truth is those who are justified by faith without works are those who then with great gratitude turn and work. They find their greatest fulfillment in serving and glorifying and honoring and obeying their great God and Savior, the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. For the one who has true saving faith would echo the words of Paul who said, It is my high ambition in life to be pleasing to God. If you're truly saved, it's because of faith and not because of works.

But if you're truly saved, your faith will live itself out in obedience. What a great reminder today. This is Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Today's message is called The Gospel War, Paul versus James. This is an important topic and it would likely help you to be able to listen to it again. It's posted right now to our website, which is wisdomonline.org. When you get there, scroll down a little bit and there's a section right on that home page where the current day's message appears. When we come back tomorrow, Stephen will have the last message in this series, Sola Fide. So join us here on Wisdom for the Heart. .