"You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." - James 2:24
"Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?" - James 2:21
"And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?" - James 2:25
Divine declarations such as the above threatened Martin Luther's Justification by Faith Alone slogan. In his limited perspective and hermeneutics, he could not reconcile this clear declaration from James, the brother of Christ with Paul's declaration in Romans 3:28:
"For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."
and Galatians 2:16:
"yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."
This is why Martin Luther and many reformers believed the book of James should be taken out of the New Testament canon. This scared his fellow professor and close friend, Melanchthon, simply because Martin Luther hated the pope of Rome but was now pontificating and acting like the Pope by challenging the authenticity and credentials of the Apostle James!
Fortunately, the Holy Spirit protected the Word of God and history has overruled Luther.
The common sense point if Luther had a wider perspective and more respect for Jesus Christ in the gospels much higher than Paul of the several epistles, he would have easily figured out that James DID NOT contradict Paul at all. Instead, James confirmed the words of Christ:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." - Matthew 7:15-20
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit." - Matthew 12:33
"As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” - Matthew 13:23
"Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits." Matthew 21:43
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush." - Luke 6:43-44
If James and Christ were wrong from the viewpoint of the Reformation, then we OBVIOUSLY know who is REALLY WRONG in their theology no matter how great they sound. The non-Reformation but BIBLICALLY correct declaration should be:
Man is saved by faith proven by good works which can be seen by others (Matthew 5:16..."THAT THEY MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS and glorify God..." or as the Eastern Orthodox Church means it when they say, "we are saved by faith and works", what they mean from my research is the non-Reformation Bible truth, "Man is saved by faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6)
This is also what John Wesley meant when he saw and taught that SANCTIFICATION BY FAITH is NEVER OPTIONAL for full salvation! Take full salvation or leave it.
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