James 1:12; 2:18–26
In the name of the Father and of the + Son
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There are a few men called James in the New
Testament. The one we celebrate today, sometimes known as James the Just, was
not one of the 12 disciples or apostles. This James seems to have been a
brother, or at least a close relative, of Jesus. During Jesus’ ministry James
and His family apparently did not believe in Him. In our Gospel reading, James
and the rest of Jesus’ immediate family were cited by the unbelieving people of
Nazareth to question Jesus’ authority and to mock His teaching. But Paul
records in 1 Corinthians 15 that after rising from the dead Jesus made a
special appearance to James. We assume this is when James finally came to faith
in the man he knew from childhood, and confessed Him to be Christ the Lord. James
then became a leader in the Jerusalem Church, especially it seems, as the
apostles departed on their missionary journeys. This is why we can give him the
title “bishop,” the leading pastor for the Jerusalem Christians. His position
becomes evident at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 where the apostles,
pastors, and people met to discuss the status of Gentiles in the Church and
whether they had to obey the Law of Moses. Peter spoke about the Gentiles being
saved by faith, not by the Law. Paul and Barnabas spoke about their missionary
activity among the Gentiles. But James had the decisive and final word. He
quoted the prophets, that it was foretold that the Gentiles would also be
called by the name of the Lord and be saved. According to the Jewish historian
Josephus, James was killed by being stoned to death in Jerusalem around the
year of our Lord 62. This was due to his Christian faith and so this martyr’s
death served as a witness to His crucified and risen Lord who grants
forgiveness and life to all who believe in Him. Although Josephus was not a
Christian, he still recognized that James was a righteous man and wrongfully
killed. Josephus even recognized this unlawful execution of an innocent man as
one of the events leading up to the Roman’s destruction of Jerusalem.
James the Just was given his
nickname by later Christians for his reputation as a just and righteous man in
keeping God’s Law. And the Epistle that he wrote and bears his name also
strongly emphasizes a need for Christians to live holy and righteous lives
according to God’s commandments. Unfortunately, some have seen his teaching as
contradicting the teaching of St. Paul, especially in Galatians and Romans. For
example, in Galatians 2:16, Paul writes, we
know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in
Jesus Christ. But in James 2:24, James writes, you see that a person is justified by works and not be faith alone.
Paul clearly states that we are justified or declared righteous with the
righteousness of Christ when we believe in Him. However, it seems that James
claims we are justified or made righteous according to our keeping of the Law. So
what do we make of this apparent contradiction in Holy Scripture?
First of all, we must recognize
that James is working with a different definition of faith than Paul. James is
talking about an historical faith, or in other words, a knowledge of the facts,
for he writes, Even the demons believe –
and shudder! Demons have knowledge about the Christ. They know He is the
Christ, the Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, but they do not
trust or love Him. While knowledge is necessary for faith, there’s more to it
than just knowing the facts. You’re not saved just because you know who Jesus
is or have Bible verses memorized. You’re not saved just because you got
confirmed once upon a time. You’re not saved just because you show up at church
and go through the motions. True, saving faith is a real trust and love for
Christ, a confident hope in His promise to forgive your sins and give you
everlasting life.
So if we see that Paul and James
are not contradictory but that they are dealing with two different issues, we
come to see that the Holy Spirit, who is the one divine author of the
Scriptures, He is teaching us two important things through the pens of Paul and
James. Through the writings of Paul, the Holy Spirit wants to save us from legalism,
that is the false idea that sinners can please God by their works. And through
the writing of James, the Holy Spirit wants to save us from licentiousness, that
is the false idea that because we are saved by grace then sins don’t matter and
we can go on breaking God’s commandments. It is the second point that we should
especially learn today from James the Just, but it should also be recognized
that both Paul and James are concerned with Christians having a genuine faith
that produces fruits of repentance. That means, it is expected that if a
Christian truly confesses his sin and truly believes the Gospel then he will
also begin to do good works in accordance with God’s will, which He lays out
for us in His commandments.
So, dear Christians, you can’t
just go on sinning. Christian faith means you believe you are a sinner and that
that is wrong, and you believe you have a Savior in Jesus Christ. So how can
you confess your sin, ask for forgiveness, and then simply go on committing
that sin? How can you say you have faith but willingly deny what God clearly
says by your words and actions? You can’t – that “faith” is a sham. So if you
are a Christian you can’t simply go on living in sin, like living with someone
you’re not married to. Part of repentance is that we turn away from our sin and
try to stop doing it. Even though we will never be completely without sin, we
still need to separate ourselves from situations that clearly tempt us to sin
and promote a life that is contrary to God’s Law. But another form of living in
sin is living with bitterness and hatred in your heart. Jesus teaches that if you do not forgive others their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:15),
and we are reminded of this truth every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer as Jesus
taught us: Forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against us. If we know God’s free forgiveness
for the horrible things we have done, then we also should sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us. What
James wants to warn us about is dead faith, that is, saying you believe while
you go on sinning as if it doesn’t matter. To this kind of arrogance, James
writes, faith apart from works is dead.
(James 2:26)
On the other hand, the Holy
Spirit, through James, teaches that faith, which is hidden in the heart, can be
demonstrated by the good works a person does. James writes, Show me your faith apart from your works,
and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:18) It’s impossible to
see faith apart from outward works because faith is invisible. The only way to
see a person’s faith is by seeing the good works they perform because of their
faith. Or we could sum this up with the words of the great Lutheran hymn, Salvation unto Us Has Come:
Faith
clings to Jesus’ cross alone
And
rests in Him unceasing;
And
by its fruits true faith is known,
With
love and hope increasing.
For
faith alone can justify;
Works
serve our neighbor and supply
The
proof that faith is living. (LSB 555:9)
Some people may be aware that Martin Luther
was not a big fan of the Epistle of James because he thought it confused the
matter of faith and works. But Luther also made the same points about true
faith producing good works. He wrote:
Faith is a divine work in us which changes
us and makes us to be born anew of God. It kills the old Adam and makes us
altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers; and it
brings with it the Holy Spirit. O it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing,
this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. It
does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is
asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not
do such works, however, is an unbeliever… Faith is a living, daring confidence
in God’s grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on
it a thousand times. This knowledge of and confidence in God’s grace makes men
glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and with all creatures. And this is
the work which the Holy Spirit performs in faith. Because of it, without
compulsion, a person is ready and glad to do good to everyone, to serve
everyone, to suffer everything, out of love and praise to God who has shown him
this grace. Thus it is impossible to separate works from faith, quite as
impossible as to separate heat and light from fire. (AE 35:370–371)
What James, and Luther, want to teach us is
that true faith is more than just knowledge, more than just going through the
churchly motions. True faith means your life is different – different from the
sinful world and different from your sinful desires. True faith means your life
belongs to God and you try to show this by how you live.
There is no real contradiction between
Paul, the Apostle of Grace, and James the Just. Every Christian is a Just or
Righteous One on account of Christ’s righteousness freely given by God and received
by faith in Him. And at the same time, every Christian should also strive to be
just or righteous in our life according to God’s commandments. Therefore, James
the Just by faith, and James the Just by the Law, can be a good example to us
for how we believe and how we live.
It’s not easy to live a
Christian life. While the gift of salvation is free on account of Jesus’ death
for sin and is granted to everyone who has faith in Him, the gift of salvation
also calls us to a holy life in keeping with God’s Word. And that means we
suffer trials in the Christian life. We struggle against temptation and act
differently from the rest of the world. And that means we can also suffer
ridicule from the world for not going along with their ideas. So the words of
St. James the Just should be a comfort and encouragement to us as we remain
true to our Savior Jesus Christ: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has
stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to
those who love him. (James 1:12)
In the Holy + Name
of Jesus. Amen.
