Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary James 2:24

"Ye see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith." — James 2:24 (ASV)

In this summary statement James assumes that a person is justified by faith but “not by faith alone.” It is by faith and “by what he does.” Taken by itself, this declaration may seem blatantly contradictory to such Pauline statements as Eph 2:8–9. If both passages are studied in context, however, the seeming contradiction disappears. James has indicated that deeds complete faith (v.22). Thus deeds are the evidence that saving faith is present in a person’s life (v.18). He was combating a superficial faith that had no wholesome effect in the life of the professed believer. Paul, on the other hand, was combating legalism—the belief that one may earn saving merit before God by one’s good deeds. Consequently he insisted that salvation is not by works but by faith alone. However, the following context in Eph 2:10 reveals that Paul did not depreciate good works. He declared, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” In Paul, therefore, as well as in James, good deeds are the product of genuine faith. In both writers faith that produces no good deeds is incapable of saving a person.