John Calvin Commentary James 2:21

"Was not Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?" — James 2:21 (ASV)

Was not Abraham. The Sophists seize upon the word justified, and then they triumphantly exclaim that justification is partly by works. But we should seek out a correct interpretation according to the overall meaning of the whole passage. We have already said that James does not speak here of the cause of justification, or of the way men obtain righteousness, and this is clear to everyone; but that his only aim was to show that good works are always connected with faith. And, therefore, since he declares that Abraham was justified by works, he is speaking of the evidence he gave of his justification.

When, therefore, the Sophists pit James against Paul, they err because of the ambiguous meaning of a term. When Paul says that we are justified by faith, he means nothing other than that by faith we are counted righteous before God. But James has a completely different aim, namely, to show that one who professes to have faith must prove the reality of his faith by his works. Undoubtedly, James did not mean to teach us here the basis on which our hope of salvation should rest; and it is this alone that Paul focuses on.

So that we do not fall into that false reasoning that has deceived the Sophists, we must note the twofold meaning of the word justified. Paul means by it the gratuitous imputation of righteousness before the tribunal of God; and James means the manifestation of righteousness by conduct, and that before men, as we can gather from the preceding words, Shew to me thy faith, etc. In this sense, we fully concede that man is justified by works, just as when someone says that a man is enriched by the purchase of a large and valuable chest, because his riches, previously hidden and enclosed in a chest, were in this way revealed.