313
Rahab demonstrates faith through
action by helping two Israelite spies
escape the clutches of her fellow
Canaanites, in an image from a
12th-century French manuscript.See also: Entering the Promised Land 96–97 ■ The Nature of Faith 236–41 ■
Salvation Through Faith 301ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION
Later, when God commanded
Abraham to sacrifice his son,
Isaac (Genesis 22), Abraham
placed him on an altar, believing
that God could bring his son
back to life (Hebrews 11:19). For
James, that obedience fulfills the
claim that God had reckoned
Abraham righteous. James then
cites Rahab, a Jericho prostitute,
who showed the same kind of faith
when she sheltered two Israelite
spies (Joshua 2). Both Abraham
and Rahab demonstrated and
grew their faith through honoring
God with their actions under
difficult circumstances.The faith that saves
The conclusion that people are
justified—worthy of salvation—by
their works, or actions, seems to
contradict Paul’s views. When
false teachers in Galatia taught
Christians that obedience to the
Law of Moses is an essential
addition to faith in Jesus, Paul
insisted that such works cannotjustify (Galatians 2:16). The
apparent conflict arises because
the two authors use the word
“justify” differently. While James
sees works as the visible evidence
of faith, Paul speaks of justification
as righteousness before God. Paul
and James agree that the faith
that saves is active, not passive.
In Romans, Paul writes of “the
obedience of faith” and he reminds
the Galatians that what matters
is “faith working through love.”
The relationship between faith
and works is a key point of debate
between Roman Catholics and
Protestants. Catholics see works
as a necessary addition to faith.
Protestants see them as the result
of genuine faith, and therefore
affirm that salvation is sola fide
(by faith alone). ■James the Just
There were several figures
in the New Testament who
bore the name “James.” Two
were disciples of Jesus, but
the third was one of Jesus’s
four brothers, later known as
James the Just. This James
did not believe in Jesus as the
Messiah during His lifetime,
but came to have faith in
Jesus after the resurrection,
possibly because the risen
Christ appeared to him in
person (1 Corinthians 15:7).
There is debate about
which James wrote the New
Testament Epistle of James,
although the most likely
author is James the Just.
Tradition holds that James
was martyred in Jerusalem
for his faith in Jesus.
James came to be called
“the Just” (meaning “the
righteous”) because of his
fidelity to the Law of Moses.
Although he voiced the
consensus of the Council of
Jerusalem (Acts 15), which
recognized that Gentiles
did not need to observe the
Law of Moses—specifically
circumcision—to become
Christians, he did believe
that they should adhere to
other Jewish practices.US_312-313_Faith_and_works.indd 313 27/09/17 10:18 am