Are we saved through good works?

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I had a friend recently ask me how she could dialogue with her Catholic friend who wholeheartedly believes and passionately argues with her that a person can only be saved through doing good works (to my understanding, not all Catholics would agree with him on this). He referred to James 2:24 as his proof text. My response to her question is not my effort to bring offense to any of my Catholic friends or readers, but instead to merely shed light on what the Bible has to say about this subject.

James 2:24 says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only."

When reading this verse by itself, it certainly would appear that our salvation is based on more than our faith in Jesus alone. 

However, in this verse James is not referring to the steps to salvation, but rather the EFFECTS of salvation. This entire chapter in context is arguing how our faith can only be justified before “other people” by the good works that we do. James is not referring to our justification before God, but our demonstration of faith before others.

For example earlier in this chapter, James says, “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” (James 2:18).

So in this verse James is using an argument of 2 different people about what true and saving faith looks like from a human perspective. For example, if I said to you, “Brother, you have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” I am arguing with you that my faith goes further than just words. My faith will be justified by my actions, whereas your faith will have no substance to it other than your words... which means it is dead. Another way to say this in our modern vernacular is, "This person professes to be a Christian, but there is no visible evidence in their life of it being true. They do not put God first in their life. They never read their bible, or seek the Lord in prayer. They do not serve the Lord at church, nor do they minister to His people (cf. James 2:15-17; Matthew 25:21-46). There is simply nothing in their life to validate their profession of faith."

 This is what James is talking about here in his letter. He is saying that our actions justify our faith. Our actions do not justify us before God, that would mean we are still under the curse of our sins (Galatians 3:10-11). It is our faith alone in Jesus that justifies us before God. The Bible tells us, "Therefore, having been JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). The Greek word here for justified was a legal term that meant a person was cleared from their crime, and all charges have been removed. In a court of law, once a person is pronounced innocent of a crime, they are free to go and will no longer be condemned for the crime they were being accused of. And it is no different for the person who places their trust in Jesus. They are free from the penalty of their sins which is eternal condemnation. So when the Bible tells us that we are justified by faith, it is saying because of our faith in Jesus, it is JUST-AS-IF-I'D never sinned before.

And so we see here that in context, James 2 does not teach a works-based salvation, but a faith-that-moves-us-into-action because of salvation.

In Romans 1:17 the Bible tells we are “justified” by faith alone. “For in the righteousness of God (being made right with God), is revealed (made available) from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith.’” The Bible tells us in Romans 5:1 that we are justified by faith alone, and not by works. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that we have been saved by grace through faith, and not by any good works. In the very next verse the Bible tells us that because we have been saved by grace through faith, we must demonstrate that our faith is real by walking in the good works that God has created us in Christ Jesus to do (Ephesians 2:10).

Therefore, getting back to James 2:24 and being justified by works, we see that it is our faith alone that saves us and makes us right before God. The works that James is talking about are the works that others see us doing. It is our works that justify our saving faith to others.

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