Good morning! Thanks for taking the time to grant me the blessing of ministering to you today. I pray that the Holy Spirit will use the following truth to great effect in your life, as He has mine!
If you happen to be a consistent follower of my teachings, you probably have noticed that I spend a lot of time expounding upon truths taught by the Apostle Paul. Furthermore, more often than not, my focus is angled toward the sanctification facet of salvation as opposed to justification alone. This is only due to the fact that the Holy Spirit seems to have led me to this focus as I embark on my God-given calling to minister to the addicted. It is not their lack of justification, but their inability to assimilate their sanctification that keeps them bound.
That being said, today I want take a more comprehensive view and examine the relationship between the teachings of the Apostle’s James and Paul. As we examine the underlying implications surrounding justification and sanctification as taught by James and Paul, it is my intention to show why we must consider both of their teachings to fully comprehend the doctrine of salvation.
In my opinion, the book of James is one of the most important books for young developing Christians to study. However, much caution should be observed when new Christians commence in this area of Scripture, for a new Christian with minimal doctrinal understanding can often be led astray by the Apostle James’ words.
We all (hopefully) know that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Our salvation is completely independent of any works that we ourselves have, or ever will, engage in. This doctrine can be proven by a multitude of Scripture references, but none more clearly than John 3:16. Here, Jesus (the ultimate Authority) says, “…whosoever believeth (that’s faith) in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The Apostle Paul most notably concurs with this truth in Ephesians 2:8 when he writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves…” In this verse and many others, Paul teaches that salvation is achieved strictly by faith in the redemptive act of Jesus Christ on the cross. In fact, it could be said that faith equals salvation according to Paul. I will explain momentarily why I believe Paul emphasizes this fact with such fervency.
But first, knowing this truth, we can then, and only then, truly discern the profound truth found in James’ writings. Take, for example, James 2:14, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?”
The point that James is trying to convey here is that when a person comes to a saving faith of God, it SHOULD manifest itself in good works. James elaborates to a great extent in chapter 2 of his namesake book on the fact that faith absent of works is, in fact, not actually a true and complete faith.
But how can he say this? And why, pray-tell, does he say this in light of what we have already established??? After all, Jesus Himself declares this fact!!!
The answer lies in whom the intended audiences of these teachers were…Paul and James are actually discussing two different subjects because they were confronted by two completely independent issues.
During the time period of Paul’s ministry to the early church, his biggest opponent was the Judaizers. These people maintained that Gentiles could only be saved and sanctified through circumcision and other works of the law. Thus, it is often Paul’s primary focus to prove that this is not true; hence, his ardent efforts in proclaiming salvation by grace through faith (alone).
Conversely, when James wrote his general epistle, he had an entirely different challenge to surmount. His challenge was presented in the form of apathetic Christianity. As the early church developed, and Gentiles embraced the truth of salvation through faith alone according to the teachings of Paul, another problem arose.
James earnestly addressed this problem concerning the “dead” condition of “faith absent works” in response to the times’ current trend of fallacious salvation. Many Gentiles were “accepting Christ by faith”, but failing to enjoy Christ’s gift of sanctification. They were more or less going through the motions and essentially deceiving themselves as to their true position in Christ. They were apathetic! Paul rebuked the church of Galatia for the same thing in Galatians 3:1-3, calling them FOOLISH!
To this end, it is my belief that James did not address this issue primarily because he was concerned with whether or not people were actually experiencing true justification (deliverance from hell), but rather he addressed this because he saw the tragic absence of the benefits of sanctification (Christ’s power upon their lives) in these cold Christians.
So, while on the surface it may appear that Paul and James are teaching contradicting truths and challenging each other, they are, in fact, standing back-to-back combating the same issue– albeit in two very separate arenas. And this, my friend, is the reason why they angle their teachings in the manner that they do-not because they differed on the doctrine of salvation.
So then, it could be stated that in justification we get Christ in us. And in sanctification we let Christ come out of us! Picture your life as drinking glass. As you are justified God fills your glass with the presence of the Holy Spirit. But as your experience the benefits of your sanctification, your glass will overflow and Christ will pour right out of you.
Upon doing so, you will not only have Christ IN YOU, but you will have Christ emanating FROM YOU…If that doesn’t excite you, I’m dumbfounded as to what will, for surely there can be no greater thrill than exceeding your fill.
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