Does James 2:17-26 prove salvation is through faith and works?

Many people claiming to be Christians believe and promote salvation through faith and good works, using portions of James 2:14-26 to prove their case. Some of James’ statements they point to as irrefutable evidence are as follows: 

• “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14) 

• “Faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” (James 2:17) 

• “Are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (James 2:20) 

• “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?” (James 2:21) 

• “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24) 

• “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” (James 2:26)

On the one hand, I understand how a person can conclude that justification is through faith and works based on these individual statements. But like I shared last week, the Bible is not a collection of fragmented verses where each is understood and interpreted at face value apart from its context, chapter, book, and the rest of Scripture. On the contrary, the doctrines taught in the Bible are consistent and reliable and fit together within a logical framework. Hence, correctly understood verses will never contradict correctly understood verses but harmonize with the rest of Scripture and its overall message.

Therefore, considering the Bible’s clear and consistent message that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, we must acknowledge three things if James were advocating for "Salvation = Faith + Works":

• First, James would be a heretic for preaching a different gospel because only one gospel saves (see John 3:16, 36; Romans 5:1-2, 6:23, 10:9; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 1:6-9, 2:15-16; 1 John 5:11-12).

• Second, James would be a hypocrite for contradicting the true gospel he embraced and taught in Jerusalem with Peter and John and endorsed Paul to preach to the Gentiles (see Galatians 2:6-10; 15-16).

• Third, James’ book would not be divinely inspired because God cannot lie, author mixed messages, or generate contradictions within His written Word. 

Yet, we know from Scripture that James was not a heretic or hypocrite. He was a prominent leader in the Jerusalem church who proclaimed the genuine gospel (see 1 John 4:6; Galatians 2:6-10; Acts 15:12-13).

Therefore, what did James convey in James 2:17-26?

In context, James went to great lengths to vigorously distinguish the difference between genuine salvation (= saving faith) and pretense or charades (= dead faith), using the evidence of good works as a determining factor. James argued that if someone claimed to be born-again but did not exhibit good works, their “faith” was not authentic but imaginary and nonexistent because genuine salvation produces godly obedience and works.

In other words, James conveyed the impossibility for the Holy Spirit to indwell someone without manifesting any observable or measurable evidence of His presence in their life because, as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” That notion would be as preposterous as the President of the United States moving into someone’s home to live with them without any visible evidence of his presence or any modifications to their property—it is not just an implausibility but an impossibility.

Likewise, the Holy Spirit’s presence within a redeemed person’s heart inevitably generates a desire for godly obedience, resulting in good works. Consequently, the absence of godly obedience and works in those claiming to be redeemed proves they have not been born again but possess a fabricated or dead faith. Or as James 2:26 penned, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

Lastly, it should be noted that James’ negative reference to “faith alone” does not oppose salvation through faith alone. It refutes the claim of salvation through faith alone without any accompanying works to verify its authenticity. James presented Abraham’s offer of Isaac on the altar as powerful evidence to illustrate this point while uncompromisingly maintaining Abraham’s faith rendered him righteous before God, not his good works or obedience.

I hope this information helps equip you to stand for the truth, contend for the faith, and defend the glorious gospel of salvation by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ—especially when encountering those who present or promote a different gospel.