By Bro. Nathan
" What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 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. Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (Jm. 2:14-26) NKJV
This one of the many passages in the bible wherein ineemphasize ang connection between faith and works and how actually a person is justified. Martin Luther even attempted to remove the book of James from his protestant bible canon but still retained it. the context explicitly tells that a person is justified by both faith and works, and not by faith alone (see. v 4). evangelicals would argue na "it tells us na ang works ang bunga ng faith" at sinasabi nila na sa statement ni Paul about kay Abraham, it was "proving" daw o "vindication" to retain yung misinterpretation nila sa justification. (so icricritique natin yung exegesis nila)
In protestant soteriology, ang justification daw ay through faith alone. at ang righteousness daw ay imputed sa believer (imputed righteousness) or should be called "alien righteousness". in James 2 at Romans 4 ay ang proof textes na ginagamit ng mga protestants as a proof text sa point of view nila sa justification and often misinterpret yung "being justified by faith". Paul however teaches na ang justification ay transformative at hindi imputed rightheousness.
So let us refute this. ang greek ng verse ay :
Τί τὸ ὄφελος, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐὰν πίστιν λέγῃ τις ἔχειν, ἔργα δὲ μὴ ἔχῃ; μὴ δύναται ἡ πίστις σῶσαι αὐτόν; ἐὰν ἀδελφὸς ἢ ἀδελφὴ γυμνοὶ ὑπάρχωσιν καὶ λειπόμενοι ὦσιν τῆς ἐφημέρου τροφῆς,εἴπῃ δέ τις αὐτοῖς ἐξ ὑμῶν· ὑπάγετε ἐν εἰρήνῃ, θερμαίνεσθε καὶ χορτάζεσθε, μὴ δῶτε δὲ αὐτοῖς τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῦ σώματος, τί τὸ ὄφελος; οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις, ἐὰν μὴ ἔχῃ ἔργα, νεκρά ἐστιν καθ’ ἑαυτήν. Ἀλλ’ ἐρεῖ τις· σὺ πίστιν ἔχεις, κἀγὼ ἔργα ἔχω. δεῖξόν μοι τὴν πίστιν σου χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων, κἀγώ σοι δείξω ἐκ τῶν ἔργων μου τὴν πίστιν.σὺ πιστεύεις ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ θεός, καλῶς ποιεῖς· καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια πιστεύουσιν καὶ φρίσσουσιν. Θέλεις δὲ γνῶναι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε κενέ, ὅτι ἡ πίστις χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων ἀργή ἐστιν; Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαὰκ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον; βλέπεις ὅτι ἡ πίστις συνήργει τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἡ πίστις ἐτελειώθη, καὶ ἐπληρώθη ἡ γραφὴ ἡ λέγουσα· ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην καὶ φίλος θεοῦ ἐκλήθη. ὁρᾶτε ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Ῥαὰβ ἡ πόρνη οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἐδικαιώθη ὑποδεξαμένη τοὺς ἀγγέλους καὶ ἑτέρᾳ ὁδῷ ἐκβαλοῦσα; ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα χωρὶς πνεύματος νεκρόν ἐστιν, οὕτως καὶ ἡ πίστις χωρὶς ἔργων νεκρά ἐστιν. (Jm. 2:14-26) Nestle-Aland 28
First, James here did not used ang mga terms for vindication or enoxaration, rather, gumamit siya dito ng terms para sa salvific justification (δικαιοῦται). if James would point out vindication, he should have used mga terms na common sa Koine greek gaya ng δοκιμαζο, δεικνυμι, παριστημι, περιαζω, συμβιβαζω, at φανερος.
In verse 24, when nagdagdag si James ng καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον (not by faith only) ay nagdadagdag ng much more specific na element para masuportahan ang argument ni James regarding justification. James here explicitly shows us yung point niya na one is justified not by only a single thing faith (faith) but both things that work together (faith & works) and hindi para ipoint out na navindicate si Abraham through his works. there would no longer be needed na iadd ni James ang καὶ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως μόνον if ang pinopint out dito ay na ang works ay ginagawa as a demonstration ng justification before, hindi na dapat ito inilagay ni James. walang nadedemonstrate kung faith alone lang in order to be negated, and thus it would be unnecessary to eliminate it from the works that are demonstrating
If sinasabi sa atin ng context ay about sa vindication ni Abraham, magiging valid lang ito kapag iinsert natin ang concept ng vindication sa context which talks about justification. But this phraseology would have required James to use the notion of “vindicated” in the early part of his argument (vv. 14-23) in order for him to use it in the latter part (v. 24); otherwise, the concept of vindication would have no referent in the context. it will destroy yung entire argument ni James about faith being salvific. if iaaply ang vindication to both faith and works, mawawalan ng saysay ang faith which is salvific.
Inaassume ng mga Protestants ang vindication by making equivocations, na magkaiba daw ang terms na ginamit ni Paul at James sa kanilang writings about kay Abraham. both writers quoted Genesis 15:5-6 :
" Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." (Gen. 15:5-6) NKJV
Romans 4:3 and James 2:23 reads :
" For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Rom. 4:3) NKJV
" 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." (Jm. 2:23) NKJV
Both writers of these passages used the greek word for righteousness, δικαιοσυνη (dikaiosune) and defined it in the same way. hindi babaguhin ni James ang meaning ng δικαιοσυνη by inserting ang verbal form nito na δικαιοω (dikaioo - justified) that appears in the context of verse 23 to 24 and gives backround sa meaning ng verse 23. verses later sa context says na Rahab was justified in the same way as Abraham (Jm. 2:25) which concludes na walang diffrence between justifiying a gentile at justifying a Jew. God is perfectly just (Ps. 89:14) at wala siyang two separate systems for justification. ang justifcation ni Rahab ay unlike sa protestant concept ng justification (forensic). take note na si Rahab was once isang prostitute at immoral na babae and was justified by accepting the God of Israel at sa kanyang obedience sa kanyang laws (Josh. 2:1-3; 6:17-25; Heb. 11:31) since both Rahab and Abraham were justified in the same way, therefore salvific justification ang nasa context at hindi vindication.
John Salza wrote :
Are works a “by-product”
of faith?
Some Christians argue that good works only demonstrate the type of faith that one has. As such, works are only a qualifier of faith, and not something that needs to be added to faith in order to achieve justification. While those who make this argument may acknowledge that works are a separate entity from faith (see James 2:18), they view works as simply a by-product of faith which reveals the sanctity of the person, but does not justify and save the person. Therefore, they contend, good works are classified in the category of non-salvific sanctification, and not salvific justification.
However, Scripture never says that works qualify faith, or are a by-product of faith, or only sanctify a person who already has saving faith. In fact, James’ epistle rejects these views. James is speaking to genuine Christian believers who already “hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory” (James 2:1). James, therefore, continually refers to these believers as “my brethren” (James 2:1, 5, 14). But even though James is speaking to true Christian believers, he repeatedly warns them about doing good and avoiding sin.
· He tells them to avoid anger, slander, and worldly things. (James 1:19. See James 1:26; 3:6-12; 4:11. See also James 5:12. See James 4:4)
· He exhorts them to have patience, humility, and endure to achieve salvation. (See James 5:7-8. See James 4:6; 5:1. See James 1:12)
· He warns them not to engage in sins of commission such as murder and adultery (James 2:11).
· H also warns them not to fall into the sin of omission by failing to help the poor man in shabby clothing (James 2:2) or the person lacking daily food (v. 15).
James specifically says that the failure to do good works is a sin (see James 4:17). Thus James admonishes them to make a conscious decision to add works to their faith. It is obvious that good works are not just flowing naturally out of these believers. (John Salza, The Biblical Basis for the Catholic Faith [Huntington, Ind.: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, 2005], 172-73)
James says that Rahab was also justified “in the same way” as Abraham (James 2:25). While Protestants try to divide Abraham’s justification between actual (see Gen 15:6) and declared (see Gen 22), they cannot do so with Rahab. Rahab’s initial faith was demonstrated by her good works. When Joshua sends spies out to the land of Jericho and they come to Rahab’s house, she cooperates with God’s plan by hiding and protecting them (see Josh 2:4). Only later does Rahab acknowledge that God has given the land to the Israelites (v. 9). James says that Rahab was justified by her works (see James 2:25). Before this encounter, however, Rahab was a harlot. Thus, her justification came about immediately upon helping the spies. This means Rahab’s justification described in James 2:25 was an actual justification, no a declared justification or vindication of a prior justification. Because James says Rahab was justified “in the same manner” as Abraham, this means that Abraham’s justification in Genesis 22 was also an actual (not declared) justification. James’ example of Rahab once again speaks to the inseparability of faith and works to achieve salvific justification. Works are a cause, not just an effect, of our justification. (Ibid., 176)
