A Ch contributor wrote "If OUR works are what justifies, then we are justified by our works - not Jesus'." and saint James the brother of the Lord Jesus Christ wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit "So you see, a man is Justified by works and not by faith alone." The contrast is shocking.
They are a perfect match. As I've posted many times before, terms like "salvation" "conversion" "justification" "sanctification" (and more) are used variously in Scripture - we need to look to the context to see what meaning is being used. This is also why I have stressed repeatedly that for 500 years, Lutherans have always been EXTREMELY careful to define EXACTLY what we mean by "Justification." This was so that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for the RC Denomination and RC theologians to misunderstand and of course it/they did not when they declared it apostate heresy to hold that Jesus is the Savior in Justification. The RCC knew EXACTLY what Lutherans mean by that (see posts 2, 3 and 8) - we mean John 3:16.
The Book of James and Narrow Justification:
1. The Book of James is written to Christians, to those ALREADY JUSTIFIED - those with the divine Gifts of life, faith and the Holy Spirit. The "you" here, the "brothers and sisters" here all prove he is speaking to the Justified. IF this was written to pagans, then you MIGHT have a point - James is repudiating Christianity and declaring Jesus an irrelevant joke. But James wrote this to CHRISTIANS with those Gifts, not pagans denouncing those gifts. You can't use this verse to repudiate Christianity and denounce the Gospel (Protestants are amazed that Catholics would WANT to). And it is obvious that James is using the term "justification" in a broader sense than Lutherans do in systemmatic theology - to speak to the entire issue of soteriology. What some Catholics do is rip this verse ENTIRELY from context, impose a certain definition to it, and then use it to repudiate Christianity and denounce the Gospel of Jesus as the Savior. Unfortunate at best.
2. As we read the whole Book of James, it is obvious the book is not only addressed to Christians (thus, those already justified in the Lutheran sense.... already with the gifts of life, faith and the Holy Spirit), and it is obvious the Book is speaking to ALL the life of a Christian (not even limited to soteriology, and certainly not limited to Justification narrow). James is saying that HAVING life is not the end of everything, what God desires, what God calls, what God empowers is more than JUST a changed relationship with God. To use a physical example, being conceived is not the "end all" of being a human - we are to live, to grow, to mature, to DO. It would be one thing if James was speaking of how the Dead gain life.... how one BECOMES a Christian, but he is obviously not: he is speaking to the Justified (in the narrow sense), in very practical terms, about our need to be all God desires and calls us to be. To use this to repudiate Christianity and make Jesus an irrelevant joke, one must do as you did: Rip this entirely out of context, define the word in a way it obviously is not meant, and insist that this is about the Dead coming to Life. It's not. As anyone recognizes if they actually read the book.
3. There's an old Protestant proverb of "Faith alone justifies but faith is never alone." While I'm a bit uncomfortable with the proverb, there is a point here. EVEN if the faith is genuine (and thus Justification), it is not to be "alone." "Faith is busy with loving deeds" (Luther). As I've written repeatedly here, there are MANY things associated with the divine GIFTS of life, faith and justification. As I've written, theologically anyway, justification doesn't exist apart from repentance (for example) - but it is silly and unbiblical to insist that THEREFORE our good work of repentance is what causes us to have life, faith and justification. One may say that generally speaking, human physical life involves breathing but it owuld be silly to dogmatically insist that it is our breathing that caused our conception (empowered by God or otherwise) - association does not imply causation (Catholics SHOULD have learned that.... but there seems to be this desire to repudiate Christianity that is HARD to understand).
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4. Many would argue that James actually is speaking of just the CLAIM of faith.... speaking of just chanting the words "Jesus is the Savior" as if that chant in and of itself is a good work that results in a dead one gaining life, faith and justification. James is stressing the whole of the Christian LIFE. That James is saying what Luther did: Faith ( that is not just a meaningless chant) is "busy with loving deeds." Or to use the analogy: if a human isn't breathing, we might wonder whether they have the Gift of life. But again, it's silly to insist that the person breathing is the cause of their conception. But sound to say that generally, one who is alive does breathe.
It is simply not possible to actually READ the Book and conclude what you do: That Christianity is a lie, the Gospel wrong and Christ irrelevant since the Dead give themselves life, faith and justification because of the works that the Dead did (making Jesus irrelevant, a joke.... and wrong that Jesus saves us).
- Josiah
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