Is James 2:24 Only Talking About Vindication Before Man?

Of course James 2:24 says flat out “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” (if you haven’t already read it, this article details that case somewhat – https://bibledebates.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/the-bible-says-we-are-justified-by-works/ ) But some want to get around the clear force of that verse on the “Is Salvation By Faith Only?” question. The most common way used to do that against me in discussion (both public and private) is by saying James 2:24 is just talking about justification (vindication) before man only, instead of justification before God as Eph 2:8-9 and Rom 4:2 are discussing.

But this won’t work; we can easily prove from the context of James 2 that verse 24 is talking about justification before God, not just vindication before man. Here is how we know that …

This whole section (James 2:14-26) is drawn from the question in verse 14, “can faith save him?” I would ask → What kind of justification does James have in mind in verse 14 when he uses the word “save”? Whatever kind of justification is under consideration in that starting verse, is the same as the justification under consideration in verse 24, because verses 15-26 are given to answer the question raised in verse 14. Even the “faith only” advocates would agree verse 14 has justification before God in view. Remember, verse 14 is talking about the kind of justification that can possibly come from faith, which has (as they would admit) everything to do with justification before God not man.

And similarly we know from within verse 24 itself that it is talking about justification before God, because it also is discussing the type of justification that comes through faith – that would be justification before God, right? The very point of verse 24 is that this justification comes by faith, but not by faith only; also by works.

Verse 23 also proves verse 21 has “justification by works” before God in mind. Verse 23 says the “offer Isaac as a sacrifice” event described by verse 21 “fulfills” Gen 15:6, which all agree is justification before God. My point is James 2:23 and 21 must be the same type of justification or one couldn’t be a fulfillment of the other. As a matter of fact, the Greek word for “righteousness” in verse 23 is even the same (just with a different ending) as the word for “justified” in verses 21 and 24.

And get this follow up point, because it is so very conclusive on our question: verse 24’s conclusion (“Ye see then how“) is drawn from the justification of verse 23, so if verse 23 refers to justification before God (admitted by all), then so must verse 24. Because James’ verse 23 point is supposed to lead into the verse 24 conclusion.

The “faith only” advocates will argue verse 21 can’t be talking about justification before God because we know Abraham was justified in that sense in Gen 15:6, which occurred before Abraham offered Isaac in Gen 22. But those making this argument should know that is an unsound argument because they know Abraham was actually justified before God even before Gen 15:6, in Gen 12:5-6 when he “departed out of Haran and … went forth to go into the land of Canaan.” That is proven by Heb 11:8 (“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went”). So if Abraham being justified in Gen 15 proves he was not justified in Gen 22, then Abraham being justified in Gen 12 would prove he was not justified in Gen 15. That upsets their apple cart as “what proves too much proves nothing.”

We can make the same point from Gen 13:4 “Unto the place of the altar, which he had make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.” Again, Abraham was worshipping God and calling on the name of the Lord – before Gen 15. So does that mean Gen 15:6 is only talking about justification before men? Of course not.

Third consider Gen 14:18-19,22 “And Melchizedek king of Salem … was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth … And Abram said to the king …, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth.” Remember, the “faith only” advocates have to say Abraham had never been in God’s favor until Gen 15:6 for their argument to work. So Gen 14 proves their argument doesn’t work, right?

The “faith only” advocates also argue James 2:18 is talking about vindication before man, therefore so must the rest of the section. There are two problems with that argument. (1) James 2:18 is not saying works demonstrate our justification before men, but that works demonstrate our faith before men. See that very important distinction? (2) Verse 18 is an illustration James brings up to help prove his point in this section; it is not the point itself. Similar to how the fact stated by verse 25 that the prostitute Rahab was saved/justified physically (Josh 1:1-21,6:25, Heb 11:31) is given as an illustration to prove James’ point, but is not the point itself (the “faith only” advocates agree this section is not talking about physical salvation; remember they think it is talking about spiritual vindication before man).

Question: Was Abraham’s justification in verse 21 justification before God or before men? If before men, then before what men? Gen 22:5 shows only God was there with Abraham and Isaac, and Isaac didn’t even know God had asked Abraham to sacrifice him (verse 7b).

Actually, doesn’t God saying “now I know that thou fearest God” in verse 12 show Abraham’s Gen 22 vindication was in the eyes of God? If it had just been vindication in the eyes of men, shouldn’t it have read “now men know that thou fearest God”?

The James 2:14-26 context is clearly discussing our justification before God. And so anybody that says we are justified by faith only is flat out contradicting verse 24 which says “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Nuff said.

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