superchunk said:
kazadoom said:
That is not true superchunk. The book of James defines what true faith is. Salvation is only by Grace through faith, but James defines what that faith looks like. James states that faith without works is a dead faith, in other words non-existent. That does not contradict anything. It is merely the Bible defining itself. You need faith to be saved, and works are the evidence of that faith. You are not saved because you do good things, you do good things because you are saved. |
I would generally agree with you. However, I know for a fact there is a part where Paul/Saul says specifically that works get you no where and only, I repeat only faith in Jesus is needed. To me there is an obvious contradiction between what Paul and James said. Here is a decent discussion on the matter. Here they suggest that James and Paul are mearly choosing their words based on their audiences. i.e. telling them what they want to hear rather than the absolute truth. This also suggest that God is not the author, as God would have one way not a few essentially different ways. http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/james/Background/FaithWorks.htm |
Again, you may see it as a contradiction, but it is not. Paul is right in saying that you cannot be saved by works and James is right in saying that true faith is backed up by works. There is no contradiction there. This is why someone can be saved on their death bed when there is no chance of works, and why someone cannot say that they are a Christian and live in deliberate sin against God. Once again, You are not saved by doing good, you do good because you are saved. Righteousness cannot be gained by doing good things, it can only be obtained through faith in Christ. That faith will result in doing good works. That is what James is saying, if you are not obeying the scripture and then say you are saved, you are not, because saving faith results in obedience. You ought to be able to see this.
