"Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." (James 2: 21-24 nkjv)
I believe that a sinner is saved and justified when he penitently believes in Christ and the Gospel. I do not think he is lost until he is baptized in water nor that his faith does not save until he has added good works to it. The thief on the cross was saved while dying on the cross beside Christ when he placed his faith in Christ and petitioned Christ by saying "remember me when you come into your kingdom." (Luke 23:42) He did not live long enough to be baptized nor to have any good works. Yet, he was saved and justified by a penitent faith alone. Many likewise have been saved in their dying hours but who did not live long enough to do good works or bear fruit.
Theologians debate whether James contradicted Paul on the question of how condemned sinners come to be justified. Paul plainly says a man is justified by faith apart from works of law keeping. (Rom. 3: 28; 4: 5) This is a frequent declaration of ministers of the word. For instance, Paul said the following in one of his sermons:
"Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13: 38-39 nkjv)
Notice that Paul did not say "everyone who believes and is baptized and does good works is justified." If good works were essential for justification, then Paul would have done great harm in telling people that justification was sure to all who simply believe.
With these preliminary comments before us, let us ask how theologians who believe justification is sure to all who believe apart from works of law keeping explain what James means when he says sinners are justified by works and not by faith alone. Does he contradict Paul? On the surface it does seem so. How can both be right? That is the difficulty facing Bible expositors.
Many theologians who believe that faith alone justifies (based upon the words of Paul as stated in the above texts) will often say that Paul is talking about justification before the eyes of God and the law but James is talking about justification before the eyes of men. The "Primitive Baptists" (who I was once a part of) teach that there are three ways a person is justified. They say justification in the "eyes of God" or "court of his law," occurs apart from faith, either before the world began (or from eternity) or when Christ died on the cross. They then say that justification by faith is what occurs in the "court of conscience" and in their own eyes, being the time when a believer comes to realize his justified condition. They argue that justification by faith is not a necessary condition for eternal justification in the eyes of God.
Finally, they teach (like other theologians) that justification by works by the believer justifies in the "court of public opinion" or before "the eyes of men." So Dr. R.C. Sproul said in his book "Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification": “Our works ‘justify’ our claim to faith in the eyes of human beholders. Such ‘justification’ or vindication is not necessary for God.” (pg. 199-200)
Other theologians who believe in justification by faith alone will likewise say that the justification by works that James speaks of is a "justification before men," meaning it is by works that we show to others that we are truly what we profess to be, i.e. believers in Christ. Now, I do not doubt that there is some truth in this and is evident from some things James says in the text. Such as:
- "if someone says he has faith but does not have works"
- "Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works
- "Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?"
- "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only"
So, yes, our works of righteousness do prove or demonstrate to others that our faith in Christ is real, not fake, not superficial, not mere mental assent. So, it is true that our works justify us and our faith in the eyes of others, whether they are our neighbors or brothers in the church. But, we must not exclude being justified in God's eyes. We must be careful, when fighting extremes, not to go to extremes ourselves as a result. It is an extreme to say that justification by works of faith excludes justification in the eyes of God. We know that is true from what God says to Abraham when Abraham was in the act of sacrificing his son. The record says:
"And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Gen. 22: 12 nkjv)
Notice that God says "now I know," or now I see, that you fear me genuinely and that your faith in me is real. He does not say "now everyone will know" that you are the real thing. Of course, no one else was present except Isaac. So, the only way for others to see and know that Abraham was justified by works is for someone to tell you the story of his test of faith. Gill's commentary says:
"he knew full well beforehand what would be the consequence of such a trial of him; but this is said after the manner of men, who know things with certainty when they come to pass, and appear plain and evident: or this may be understood of a knowledge of approbation, that the Lord now knew, and approved of the faith, fear, love, and obedience of Abraham, which were so conspicuous in this affair, see Psalm 1:6; Saadiah Gaon (i) interprets it, "I have made known", that is, to others; God by trying Abraham made it manifest to others, to all the world, to all that should hear of or read this account of things, that he was a man that feared God, loved him, believed in him, and obeyed him, of which this instance is a full and convincing proof..."
Of course it is true that God knew beforehand what Abraham would do. So, the words "now I know" must be considered and interpreted in that context. But, it is clear that the justification was in the eyes of God and not merely in the eyes of others. I don't think James intended to convey the idea that the justification of Abraham by works excluded being justified "before God." The above text in Genesis 22: 12 shows this to be true. Further, we must remember that it is not the faith of Abraham that is justified but Abraham himself. The text says "was not our father Abraham justified by works..."
Further, being justified by faith is before God, before his court, before his eyes and James says being justified by works is likewise a justification before God. You cannot reasonably say that the justification that is by faith is before God and the justification by works if not before God. When James says "you see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" he shows that he is speaking of the same justification that is also by faith.
So, since we know that God's declaration to Abraham "now I know" does not mean simple knowledge of the fact for God has foreknowledge of all things. So, in what sense did the Lord "know" by Abraham's obedient act that he truly feared and believed God? Gill, in the above commentary, gives several possible ways to answer that question. He says it may be a way God is condescending to speak as if he were a man, speaking anthropomorphically or anthropopathically, "after the manner of men," and is thus not to be taken literally. He also says the words may be "understood of a knowledge of approbation" which I think is quite right, and is the view of John Calvin in his commentary, who said the words "may be understood of a knowledge of approbation." I don't think the view of Gaon, who said that the words "now I know" mean "I have made known to others," is correct. I think the meaning of God's words may be understood to mean --
- now you have finally proven yourself to me, proved to me that your faith or fear was not a pretense
- now I know by your actions and not by your mere words or by my foreknowledge of your actions
- now it is evident to me (evidentiary knowledge)
- now I acknowledge (declare my knowledge)
- now I know officially and declaratively
For instance, a math teacher might say, “Let’s see if we can find the square root of 49,” and then, after demonstrating it, declare, “Now we know that it is 7,” even though he knew from the beginning what the answer was. The Lord knew and foreknew that Job would hold firm to his faith when Satan called Job's faith into question. However, the Lord allowed Satan to put Job to the test. After all the various evils that the Lord suffered Satan to bring upon Job, Job held firm and so the Lord could have said to Satan -- "we now see or know that I was right."
Wrote one unknown author at Biblehub web site (emphasis mine):
"God speaks as a judge rendering a verdict in real time so that finite creatures grasp the seriousness and public nature of the test. Divine omniscience is thus uncompromised; instead, God communicates in the language of courtroom certification...“Now I know” functions like a royal seal: the servant has been weighed and publicly vindicated. The Hebrew idiom parallels Deuteronomy 8:2, “to humble you and test you so that He would know what was in your heart.” The knowledge is relational-forensic: the sovereign Judge announces the verdict."
"Job 1–2 portrays a heavenly council that observes human fidelity. Genesis 22 shares that motif. The test is not for God to learn facts but for angelic, demonic, and human witnesses to see faith enacted. As Gregory of Nazianzus phrased it, “God knows, but He wants us to know that He knows.” The phrase marks the moment that faith passes from potential to enacted reality." (See here)
Some of those who believe that sinners are justified by faith alone (a Doctrine I also believe) and argue that the justification by works that James talks about is "before the eyes of men and not before the eyes of God" will cite the following words from Paul to sustain that argument:
"What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 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 God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Rom. 4:1-3 nkjv)
So, how are we to reconcile the above statement with Genesis 22: 12, and other arguments I have presented above, where it is clear that being justified by works (which James speaks about) is indeed "before God." I believe that when Paul speaks of justification by works he is speaking of works done without faith, the kind of works of which the Pharisees and Sadducees boasted about. When these self-righteous people asked the Lord Jesus Christ -- "what shall we do that we might work the works of God" Jesus said -- "this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent." (John 6: 28-29) He said this because he knew that not only is the proposition true that says "faith without works is dead" but so too is the proposition true that says "works without faith are dead." So, not only do we recognize "dead faith" but also "dead works." (Heb. 6:1; 9:14) The same Book of Hebrews author said:
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (11:6 nkjv)
And, the apostle Paul also said elsewhere: "for whatever is not from faith is sin." (Rom. 14: 23)
The word "justified" may mean "proven to be right." By this meaning we may even speak of God being justified. So Paul uses the word in this sense when he writes the following, citing the words of David in Psalm 51:4:
"Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.” (Rom. 3:4 nkjv)
We also see where God is justified in his words in this text:
"And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John." (Luke 7: 29 kjv)
I contend that Abraham was justified in his words expressing faith in God, i.e. his confession was shown to be right, and thus he was justified. In this sense every good work done out of true faith justifies us in our words of allegiance to the Lord. Good works done in faith are the results of having been created in Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2: 10) Where there is genuine faith, there will generally be good works to follow. There are exceptions to this however as I have shown in the case of the thief on the cross or in the case of all genuine deathbed repentance. There is simply no time left on earth for good works to follow.
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