²⁴You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Now James brings it all together to make his point (but then he follows it up with one more OT illustration). Clearly, he is writing to people with an OT background and understanding. All along, God has demanded life change of His people, change that would set them apart from all others. That was the thrust of the law of Moses (concisely summarized in the Ten Commandments). The requirement of life for all people is to live the way God has appointed. Salvation is not just about gaining entrance to heaven for eternity (though, praise God, it does include that). Otherwise, why would He not take us home to glory immediately after we come to saving faith? Many believe we need to spend the rest of our lives earning worthiness, or meriting our entrance into heaven. But that is not what James is all about.

The verse begins similarly to verse 21, but James uses a different word for “see” and averts a pun’s force of emphasizing outward, observable behavior. Here we have a simple call to perceive the conclusion based on James’ comments about Abraham. Although God reckoned Abraham to be justified, this justifying faith is not divorced from God’s overriding desire that we should do the good works He has intended all along for us.

Paul, in full agreement with James, puts it this way:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Eph. 2:8–10)

There is no discord between the two; James teaches the same thing as Paul. James brings the application down to the dust and dirt of everyday life (just as Paul does in Romans 12–15). Faith that is alive is faith that can be seen in what it does in this life. It is faith in action that shows a person to be genuinely justified as a result of their proven, justified faith.

When the reformers of the sixteenth century captured their doctrine of salvation in pithy form, they spoke of justification by grace alone, through faith alone. Like all pithy statements, this needs some qualification. In light of James, we would add, “Yes, justification is through faith alone, but that faith, while not a cause or a merit for our salvation, is not a standalone faith.” Saving faith is a working faith, not an esoteric state of being, stripped of usefulness beyond eternal salvation.

Lord, I pray for those who are still trying to work their way to salvation.