NICHOLS: Yeah, this is a perennial question, and it pits James against Paul, and it pits the
non-Reformed understanding of faith alone versus, you know, the Reformed understanding. So, what
Calvin deals with this, there's a long history of dealing with this, and I think Calvin just
puts it out there in a very helpful kind of way. We're talking about our justification before God.
So, as Paul is talking about justification, he's talking about our standing before God.
And in our standing before God, it is justification by faith alone.
But in terms of our...as we're talking about even in our church relationships and our
relationships in the body of Christ, what is not visible to the body of Christ is our faith.
But what is visible to the body of Christ is the effect of that faith, the fruits of that faith,
which would be our works. So, James is after that justification, if you will, or that
evidence, or that manifestation of a right standing with God
before others, which is manifested in a life saved by faith is then transformed and lives for God.
But we can make no move to somehow connecting that
to our justification and our standing before God. We have to be very careful
not to say "justification by faith" and then smuggle works in the back door. And so, I think we
need to look at what Paul is doing and what James is doing, and they perfectly harmonize there.
LAWSON: Yeah, just to add one thing to that, Stephen, that's well said. When Paul looks at
justification, he's looking at Genesis 15 verse 6, "Abraham believed God, and it was
reckoned to him as righteousness." It's just faith alone. When James addresses it in James 2:14-26,
James is not addressing Genesis 15 verse 6, he is addressing many years later, Genesis 22,
with Abraham offering Isaac. And Genesis 22 is simply the evidence of the reality of the faith
that was exercised, saving faith, justifying faith that was exercised in Genesis 15.
So, they're coming at it from two totally different perspectives. Paul
is at the point of what we would say today "conversion"
where Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. James is not looking at it,
he's looking at the fruit of that. And to put it another way, Abraham is looking at the root;
James is looking at the fruit. And the two are inseparably bound together, heads and tails of
the same coin, yet there is a cause and effect. The cause is Genesis 15; the effect is Genesis 22
and Abraham giving evidence of his faith by going to Mount Moriah to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.
PARSONS: Just to say a quick word on this, just in addition, as everything my brothers have said,
of course, I agree with entirely. But this is sort of a secondary point that I think is important.
Sometimes you've heard the language of final justification. Have any of you heard of that
language, that phraseology? It's based on, you know, a number of texts that are
poorly interpreted in my opinion, most notably Romans chapter 2 and verse 13,
where some have taught that we have a justification now, that we are justified now,
but that we have to, in one sense, sort of prove, demonstrate that justification to the end that we
are looking forward to with assurance and hope, to a final justification on the day of judgment.
And I think that's from a very wrong and poor interpretation of Romans 2:13.
We need to understand that we are justified once and for all. That that justification is a
one-time act. That God has declared us righteous because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ,
and it's by faith and faith alone. We do not have to wait a final justification on judgment day.
We are justified once and for all, one time, by faith and faith alone. There's a lot more we could
say about that, but I think it's a very important point when we're on the subject of justification.
LAWSON: Alright, one more thing then to say about that. If you're not justified now in this life,
you will never be justified on the last day. You will be condemned on the last day if you
are not justified in this lifetime. So, those who misinterpret Romans 2 verse 13, they forget the
analogia Scripturae, they forget that the whole body of the entire Bible to be brought to bear.
They're trying to interpret the rest of the Bible in light of one verse. We never interpret that
way. We interpret one verse in light of the entire rest of the Bible, and the whole rest of the Bible
speaks crystal clear that justification is inseparably connected to sanctification,
and everyone who is justified immediately begins the journey of progressive sanctification.
Some will progress faster, others slower, depending upon many factors.
But nevertheless, everyone who is justified is being sanctified. And there are no exceptions
to that, and will ultimately be glorified. So you've got to see the entire systematic theology.
You've got to see the whole counsel of God to even address that issue of final justification.
That's nonsense. Again, if you're not justified now, you will be condemned on the last day.