Faith and Works in the Second Chapter of James
by
By Ronald R. Shea, Th.M., J.D.
James in three Peanut Shells
1) Peanut Shell No. 1-- Salvation In James:
When James speaks of being "saved," he is not talking about
being saved from hell. He is talking about being saved from
the consequences and hardships of trials ("peirosmoi" in
Greek) especially though not exclusively, the hardships and
trials that poverty and homelessness had visited upon
believers who had fled Jerusalem during the great
persecution of Acts, chapter 8. Those trials and hardships
could realistically include homelessness, hunger and freezing
to death.
And faith is no more the commodity for delivering one from
The trials of homelessness than obedience to the Ten
Commandments is to save one from God's eternal
condemnation, or seashells are in purchasing a new Mercedes
Benz. One is saved from eternal condemnation by believing
on Jesus Christ, not by living a good life. And one purchases
a new Mercedes Benz with dollars, not seashells. Similarly,
if one wants to save their unemployed brethren in Christ from
the grave consequences that attend unemployment, such as
homelessness and hunger, they will not secure or impart such
a salvation by faith. Saving one%u2019s brother from starvation is
done by charitable works.
l James is not speaking of being saved by "faith plus works."
l James is not speaking of a "faith that works." (As if
works automatically follow eternal salvation.)
l James is not saying that works will automatically
"follow" eternal salvation.
l James is not saying that works will "prove" whether or
not someone has "really" been saved.
The reason, quite simply, is that James isn't speaking about eternal salvation at all. He is speaking of salvation from trials and hardships.