The Problem:

The Bible teaches that eternal salvation is the gift of God

through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and that one must

accept eternal life as a free gift, or not at all.

Without the Scriptures to guide Him, the natural man will

invariably come to adopt a belief system different than that

taught in Scripture.  Some become murderers, some

practicing homosexuals, and still others slave owners.  And

some men, without Scripture to guide them, come to the

conclusion that eternal salvation is obtained by good works,

either in the turning away from sin, or affirmatively, by

performing works of charity and nobility.

Rather than coming to Scripture to learn the mind of God,

some unregenerate men approach Scripture determined to

justify the beliefs they already hold.  Some use Scripture to

justify homosexuality, and others, to justify slavery.  Not

surprisingly therefore, those who believe that they, rather

than Jesus Christ, are the Savior of their own souls, have,

for centuries, sought from Scripture proof-texts to justify

this conclusion.  Perhaps no other passage in Scripture has

been more abused to justify this belief than the second

chapter of James.

As a result, unregenerate teachers claim that James teaches

salvation by "faith plus works, and justification by

"faith plus works," and that evangelicals are preaching a

half-truth when they preach that Jesus Christ alone is

sufficient for man's salvation.

In a similar manner, narcissists who are wise in their own

eyes delight in supposing they are smart enough to find

errors or contradictions in Scripture.  They likewise point to

James, believing they have found proof that the Bible

contradicts itself, with Paul teaching justification and

salvation by faith alone and James teaches justification and

salvation by faith plus works.

The problem, therefore, can be expressed in a simple

question:  Is the passage of James quoted in chapter 1

teaching that eternal salvation and eternal justification are

secured by "faith plus works" rather than by faith alone?