Romans 3:27 vs. James 2:14-26 --- Resolving the Faith and Works Conflict
There are two teachings presented in the Bible, one by the Apostle Paul and one by James the brother of Jesus, that compose the root of what has sometimes been viewed as a considerable Biblical contradiction. Paul emphasizes in many of his epistles that man is justified by God because of his faith. James emphasizes the necessity of works as a means for justification. My goal here is to support and defend both teachings, but most importantly to explain why the two viewpoints are not contradictions so that if a question arises concerning the faith vs. works conflict, we may in accordance with properly organized Biblical theology and other various helpful verses answer knowledgably on the subject for the edification of others.
First, I will present the doctrine of Romans 3:28, where Paul declares, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” In later passages he continues to expound upon and defend this statement saying in 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ABRAHAM BELIEVED IN GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” In 11:5-6, he makes an especially strong defense of God’s grace saying, “(5)In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. (6)But if it is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Many other of Paul’s epistles repeat this teaching, and it is well-established that God does not offer His forgiveness as a result of anything that we achieved in and of ourselves, nor did we attain our salvation because of some qualifying action that we accomplished. The statement of Romans 11:8-9 is unquestionable in the fact that, if our salvation were to be a result of independent efforts, then it would no longer stand as a gift of God’s grace alone, which makes way for boasting as it says in Romans 3:27, “Where then is there boasting? It is excluded.” Therefore, God sanctifies our spirits through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in order to bless us for our faith because He loves us, not because of anything that we have accomplished, for by this great sacrifice, the requirement to follow the Law in order to be approved before God was made no longer necessary. In light of this longstanding revelation, an important detail of Romans 3:8 must be understood, and that detail is the fact that Paul specifically stated that a man is justified apart from the works of “the Law”. Paul never once throughout his writings condemned taking action upon ones faith as a Christian by doing good deeds, nor does he ever state that works done in the name of the New Covenant are useless or misguided. He was simply explaining in this passage what the initial elements involved in receiving salvation are, and for additional clarification, he states and defends in later passages that actions which involve works of the Law have no place of necessity in sanctification or reconciliation to God according to the new and better covenant in Christ Jesus. Historical context and circumstances should also be considered when reading these passages as me may recall that during the entire time of Paul’s ministry, Pharisees, scribes and Judaizers were still strongly promoting the false supremacy of the Law and its works, such as the supposed necessity of circumcision and other oppressive laws that excluded and denied the divine grace found in the New Covenant of Christ. Paul dealt with this often, which is why he addresses such heresies in Romans 4:9-10 saying, “(9)Is this blessing then on the circumcised , or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, ‘FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’(10)How then was it credited? While he was circumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised…” To avoid the presumption that Paul looks down upon works, we must remember that he was simply stressing the absolute essentiality of faith as the means by which God grants us His grace in order to combat the lies of the Judaizers. Therefore, we are assured that a man is truly justified by faith as God rewards it in full with the salvation of Jesus Christ, and it can in that sense be credited as righteousness, and righteousness apart from the Law at that. The Law must now just be seen in a different light, such as it is viewed, not negatively, but in a supported manner in Romans 3:31, “Do we then nullify the Law by faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.”
Now, with the doctrines of faith and grace established, let us read the second passage of subject, James 2:14-26.
“14 What use is it, my brethren, 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,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
In this passage we encounter numerous alarming statements which seem at first to argue against Romans 3:28 and the doctrine of justification by faith, but if we merely consider the points made in the previous section and take into account the general qualities of Christian service to God, this section of James does not have to be construed as a contradiction. To avoid doing so, we must first make sure to comprehend the passage as a whole to avoid confusion. The truth of the teaching can only be understood in the harmony of each individual explanation and defense flowing together to compose its overall theme. First of all, just as Paul was not condemning works, James here in no manner is belittling faith. He is rather disapproving of a dead faith as he states in verse 17, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself.” We already know with complete assurance that genuine faith is asked of man by God in order to receive atonement, but in addition to that, He also desires our spiritual progress through the process that He wants to work in our spirits. This divine spiritual development is spoken in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” God created our souls to have joy in His righteousness, for He loves us and wants us to be joyous in Him, but how can this take place if we do not participate with Him in a manner to where He can bestow upon us His spiritual blessings? How can we declare Him as our King and yet not serve Him, but instead go about our lives as they were before, waiting for a myriad of blessings in our spirits even as we neglect His work? Can we in the same sense expect to paint a picture on a canvas without picking up the brush and using paint? The obvious answer is no, so if we desire to paint, then let us diligently use that brush and paint to create a beautiful scene. According to that same logic, if we want to be free from sin and death and are given salvation, let us diligently go out and do all things for the name of the Lord, so that in return, we may fulfill our obligation to Him by blessing Him as He has so graciously blessed us. In light of this, we must certainly concur to the insufficiency of mere belief in God as a display of love and of commitment to His calling of righteousness and to the ministry of His Kingdom, for any person is able to believe in God without having the willingness to let God change their spiritual state or the course of their earthly lives. That is why Jesus clearly calls to believers in the Scriptures for complete sacrifice, just as we see in Matthew 16:24 where He proclaims, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow after me.” This means that we must fulfill anything Jesus calls us to do, no matter what, for only our complete self-denial and obedience is worthy of Christ. This faithful subjection evidently entails the undertaking of doing good works, and certain other Scriptures that testify to the necessary position that works and good deeds should hold in our lives as God’s children can be found in passages besides James 2:14-26. For example, if there is any passage that prevents the unfounded criticism of prioritizing works as an important element in our Christian walk, it is Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” In this noble command we are assured that our works in the name of Christ can be an effective form of witness, and can thus be in that sense a way to glorify God; we must only avoid “practicing our righteousness before men to be noticed by them” as warned against in Matthew 6:1 so that all our works may be aimed solely toward the glorification of God. Another important verse to consider that correlates with works is John 15:1-2 where Jesus also says, “(1) I am the true vine and My Father is the vinedresser. (2)Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” Our good works can thus be seen as good fruit in the sight of our Father, who will then in a spiritual sense “prune” us so that we may produce more good works, or fruit, through which we can please Him. We must also harken back to the strong argument James himself gives in verses 15-16, “(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,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? This statement attests that works do truly both justify and testify to God and to man our faith, for in doing them we are merely being obedient to the commands of the Father God and showing Him our willingness to obey His will.
With the teachings of faith and works being established, we must now understand the importance of their sequence according to how they operate in our relationship with the Almighty God. All preceding explanations in this writing may now be summarized and thus successfully concurred in the following statement: The first step in the process of adoption to God is that our spirits are justified by God through faith, and that we are brought to Him by His grace apart from any actions we have ever made. John 6:47 affirms this saying, “Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.” The second step in being a child of the Lord is that we must in all self-denial affirm our faith to Him by committing our lives and energies to any good works that the Holy Spirit and the Word of God calls us to do, just as the faith of Abraham and Rahab was justified by the brave and selfless acts they accomplished, for Jesus assures that our righteous actions toward others are rewarded in Matthew 10:42, “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cold cup of water, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.” It is the most important thing to understand that as we live our lives for the glory of God, we must have in equal proportion both faith and works. In the uplifting of faith, Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe the He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” In the uplifting of works, Hebrews 13:16 says, “And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” If both of these teachings are viewed according to their proper working association, then we will know that the overemphasizing or condemnation of either one should never be allowed, for if we read what the Word says on both of them, we will find that no real conflict exists between them. James does not deny that we receive atonement because of faith; he only states that our faith is justified by our actions. Nor does Paul declare works for the Lord as futile and wrong; he merely emphasizes the invalidation of works of the old Law. The problem we must avoid in our relationship with the Lord is to not rely on either one more than the other to serve Him. If we offer God only faith without acting upon it with actions that glorify Him, it will be harder to grow closer to Him because of our stationary mindset concerning the expansion of His kingdom. If we focus too much on works, we will become prone to thinking too highly of ourselves and forget that our good works were predestined by God for us according to His will as it says in Ephesians 2:10. In the end, following both teachings can be a source of blessing to God and to ourselves, and as we pray, God’s Spirit will teach us how to balance the two qualities of our relationship so one will not overtake the other in position of importance.
I hope this writing has served as an edifying and adequately comprehensive explanation to the reader concerning faith and works, but most importantly, I hope I have convincingly displayed yet another case of the fact that the Bible does not contradict itself, for the Holy Spirit of God does not contradict or alter itself as He is the author of all Scripture. Through the blessing of His eternally consistent Word, the Lord will faithfully and lovingly reveal to His children the bounties of His wisdom and the divine guidance of His righteous will, and as we are so graciously given these things through His Word, we may be assured that, as we diligently study it for the glorification of our Father, we will never have to encounter any disagreement or conflict in it, and we should therefore praise Him unceasingly for the complete wisdom and uniformity of His holy Scriptures.
It is an absolute truth that without faith, any Christian life is useless. If we pray for something but do not have the faith to know that God will grant it, our prayer life will suffer greatly; if God commissions us to a task, and we have no faith that He will help us do it, then will never be able to truly follow his will; if someone challenges our belief, and we are shaken by their affront because of a lack of faith, then we will be constantly burdened by a lack of spiritual foundation. It is crystal clear that faith is vital, but Scripture also clearly shows the importance of committed service and self denial. You disapproved of my use of the word must, but Jesus Himself plainly stated in Matthew 16:24. This makes it clear that Jesus desires a strong and genuine commitment, which He is utterly worthy. He of course does not expect anyone to live a perfect life, but to argue that complete self-denial is an element of Christianity is to argue with the word's of our Savior Himself. The passage I gave from James in the post makes an undisputable defense of why God desires us to affirm our faith before Him through good deeds, as do the several other scriptures I listed. I am not saying that if we at anytime neglect to do a good deed that we will lose our salvation. That kind of thinking is silly and biblically unsound. I am saying that if we continually deny opportunities to follow God's will by not helping others in some way, then we have a dead faith, just the passage clearly states. 
. The goal of the paper was to resolve what seemed at first like a contradiction, (just as you said) but was rather just two separate teachings that can through proper interpretation abide harmoniously in the mind and behavior of God's children. I referenced many scriptures to do so, and other than the faulty wording I mentioned earlier, the message is sound.(Not because of my own efforts, but because of the fact that I based the writing around Scripture.)
I'm also positive as you are that it is addressing the matter of a person hearing the truth, knowing in his heart that it is true, but ignoring it and continuing his life with disregard to the truth he now knows. The same can be said for the parable of the sower. The seeds that fell on the rocks and blew away and the seeds that birds snatched are not people who actually received the gift of eternal life, but rather people who received the knowledge of it, but in the weakness of their flesh did not truly commit to it. The birds represent Satan, but Jesus said in John 10:28, so those seeds cannot represent God's actual children. I have gone back and forth about whether one can lose their salvation, and the one verse that keeps me from going towards the belief of once saved always saved is Colossians 1:22-23, but I'm sure if the wording of that verse means what I think I does. I guess when it comes losing or not losing salvation, it comes down to if a person was ever really saved or not, but I lean towards eternally intact salvation as John 10:28 says.
God bless. 