James

What Did James Say About Grace?

November 13, 2024 by Paul Ellis

“Did James understand grace? Were he and Paul on the same page? Are we saved by faith plus works like he said? Should his book be in the Bible?”

People have been asking these questions for hundreds of years. According to some, James did not understand the gospel of grace. Well, maybe he did a little bit. But he was confused. And too Jewish. Either way, you can’t learn much about grace from James.

Before we proceed, here’s a pop quiz I’m calling…

“Which apostle?”

Can you guess which apostle…

…was not one of the original twelve but had an encounter with the Risen Lord?
…wrote letters that were included in the New Testament?
…wrote about the great grace that comes from a God who loves to give?
…used Abraham as an example when writing about the justification that comes by faith?
…warned about the curse of living under the law?

If you answered “James”, you have nailed it. James was truly an apostle of grace.

“Wait. I thought you were describing Paul.” In that case, let’s play again.

Can you guess which apostle…

…was called by God to preach to the Jews and tailored his message to suit Jewish audiences?
…sometimes practiced old covenant rites and rituals including circumcision?
…bragged that he knew the Jewish religion better than just about anyone?
…wrote a letter exclusively for the Jews where he expounded on the gospel of Christ?
… frequently quoted the Law of Moses?

Yes, this was Paul. (Scriptures to support these answers can be found at the end of the article.) Paul did all these things, yet no one says he was confused about grace. Or too Jewish. But poor James gets thrown under the bus. Let’s look at five myths people believe about James.

Myth 1: James didn’t understand Paul’s message of grace

Fact: James was one of the first people to hear the gospel of grace from Paul. He heard it way back in Acts 9, not long after Paul returned from Damascus. (Paul mentions their meeting in Gal. 1:19.) If Paul alone received some special insight into the mystery of Christ, chances are James heard about it before anyone, and he heard it long before Paul went on his first missionary trip.

Myth 2: James disagreed with Paul

Fact: James supported Paul. At the Jerusalem Council there was a dispute between Paul and Barnabas and those of the circumcision group. Who did James support? He went with “our beloved Barnabas and Paul” of course (Acts 15:25).

Much of what James said about circumcision, idol food, and sexual immorality mirrored what Paul would later write in his epistles. There is no hint that the Jerusalem apostles needed to be convinced by Paul about God’s acceptance of the Gentiles and his grace for all people. The only source of division came from the party of the circumcision.

Myth 3: James added law to grace

Fact: James preached the curse of law, just like Paul. James never preached the works of law for that what contradict what he said about the justification that comes by faith (see below).

It’s true that James asked the Gentile believers to abstain from eating idol food for the sake of their Jewish brothers, but so did Paul. James also encouraged the believers to avoid sexual immorality, just like Paul.

Myth 4: James wrote for Jewish audience (and not for us)

Fact: James’ first letter was addressed to Gentile believers (Acts 15:23). It’s true that his epistle was written for the Jews (see Jas. 1:1), but so was Hebrews and the Gospel of Matthew. Are we going to dismiss those books as too Jewish? There isn’t one gospel for Jews and another for Gentiles. The good news is for all of us, regardless of race or tribe.

Myth 5: James did not preach justification by faith

Fact: Actually, he did (see Jas. 2:23).

There is a lot of misunderstanding about James and Paul but the facts are plain. They BOTH preached justification by faith and they BOTH used Abraham as their exemplar believer. They BOTH preached on the great and abundant grace of God and they BOTH wrote letters to Jews and Gentiles.

What’s the problem with James?

The problem is when James says, “A man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (Jas. 2:24). How do you read it? Many people swing one of two ways:

John Calvin’s response: “Faith alone saves, but saving faith is never alone.”
Martin Luther’s response: “James was preaching law so you can ignore him.”

So either (a) you need works that prove your faith, in which case James was preaching “another gospel” making him a cursed preacher, or (b) James was preaching the law with all its curses for disobedience. In either case, his is a cursed book and you should have nothing to do with it.

What infamy! What an insult to a man who knew more about grace that most of us ever will.

The problem is not with James. The problem is with our definition of “works”.

Two kinds of works

When Paul says a man is justified by faith and not works, he is referring to the works of the law (Gal. 2:16). “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom 3:28).

But when James says we are justified by works, he is referring to works of faith by which he means believing in Christ.

This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. (John 6:29)

We are not justified by works of law (Paul), we are justified by works of faith (James). And lest there be any confusion about works of faith, James use the same example and quotes the exact same scripture as Paul:

James: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Jas. 2:23)
Paul: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3)

Same message, same example, same gospel.

What did James say about grace?

James preached about the grace that God gives to the humble and the justification that comes by faith. He touched on the new creation, what it means to be righteous, and intimacy with God. He scorned “worthless religion”. He was good friends with the apostle of grace and the two men vouched for and quoted each other.

When I first called James a preacher of grace and an apostle of grace in 2010, some said I was reaching. But when I launched my grace-based commentary on James in 2023, it became the best-selling book in The Grace Bible series.

This suggests people are ready to give James another chance. They don’t want to hear that the New Testament epistles contain a mixture of law and grace because that’s confusing. But don’t take my word for it. Listen to Paul.

In the bonus materials that accompany this article on Patreon, I trace the 20-year friendship between Paul and James. These two great apostles were more than friends, they were allies and partners who steadfastly resisted the Judaizing influences in the early church.

Read James in context and you will find he says wonderful things about the new creation, faith, and the grace of God. BTW, you don’t need to buy my book to discover the treasures in James. You can read it all for free on The Grace Commentary.

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More questions about James

Quiz answers

James’ encounter with the Risen Lord is mentioned in 1 Cor. 15:7. James wrote two letters that are found in the New Testament; the epistle of James and the letter recorded in Acts 15:23–29. When James wrote about the “greater grace” God gives to the humble, he used a word (megas) that means exceedingly great, high, large, loud, and mighty (Jas. 4:6). Like Paul, James quotes Gen. 15:6 which says “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (see Jas 2:23). And like Paul, James said the law curses and condemns those who try to live by it (see Jas. 2:10).

Paul was known as the apostle to the Gentiles but he was also called to preach to the Jews (Acts 9:15). Paul said “to the Jews I became a Jew, so that I might win Jews” (1 Cor. 9:20). If circumcising Timothy and engaging in purification rites in Jerusalem was going to help win people for Jesus, Paul was happy to do it. “To those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law.” Paul knew more about the Jewish religion and the Jews’ ancestral traditions than just about any of his peers (Gal. 1:14, Php. 3:5–6), and the letter he wrote especially for the Jews was, of course, Hebrews. Paul quoted the Law of Moses frequently (e.g., Rom. 7:7, 12:19, 13:9, 1 Cor. 9:9, Eph. 6:2–3, Gal. 5:14).

969. “Draw Near to God! Cleanse Your Hands! Purify Your Hearts!”

June 30, 2024 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

We're wrapping up our recent series about some things found in the letter from James to believers in Jesus from the twelve tribes of Israel ... and the contrasts found with Paul's writings. One example we'll look at is in James 4, where an old covenant mindset is communicated about telling believers to draw near to God which will result in Him drawing near to them. He said they should work at cleansing their hands and purifying their hearts. How? By avoiding becoming a judge of the law but rather a doer of it. It was a follow-through to what was stated earlier in the letter.

Our identity is not meant to be found in what we do and see, but as believers who trust in the sufficiency of Christ and what He did. There is a theme within the letter that focuses much on works of the law and externals—compared to Paul who exhorted people to look at the things which are not seen—who are already declared as clean, justified and sanctified apart from their actions.

The summary here is that most believing Jews at this time thought the law was still in place for them and was to be mixed with faith in Jesus as a way to attain righteousness and justification. There was a greater grace—but the law was still part of their landscape. Paul came along with what was considered controversial teaching by many for which he was harshly persecuted because of his message that the Jews had been redeemed from the law and that they and Gentiles could be saved and inherit righteousness apart from such a law of works.

Does this mean the letter from James should not be in the Bible? We believe having it included actually validates the other things we find in the New Testament. There is an overall divine inspiration being provided ... but that doesn't necessarily mean that every "verse" is coming as a quote directly from the mouth of God. That is not an accurately pure interpretation of how the word "inspired" should be defined as a verse-by-verse assumption. Zoom out from the verses (which were never included in the original scripts) and we'll find the writings as a whole provide an inspiration of a much bigger picture regarding our need for God and how He met that need with the promise of His Son. Perfect grace. Perfect love. No quid pro quo. No strings attached.

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968. After the Cross: The Mixing of Law and Faith

June 23, 2024 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Throughout the pages of the New Testament, we see numerous examples of how there were Jewish people coming to believe in Jesus, but understandably also believed the law of Moses was still in place for them. The Apostle Paul came along a short while later with a gospel message he claimed was taught directly to him by divine revelation ... to declare the former law had been put aside and nailed to the cross. His message was that life could not be found in the law which had now come to an end, and that the Jewish people had been delivered from such a burdensome ministry of death and condemnation.

But he was in the minority and suffered much persecution because of it. Various places within the New Testament show how James and his council of leadership within the Jerusalem church were part of this persuasion who believed that the Mosaic law was a component towards attaining salvation/justification (for the Jew). They also encouraged at least portions of it for the believing Gentiles. By not ignoring this important part of the big picture within the scriptures, we can begin to see how all of these books (including the works-based letter from James) harmonize with each other to tell the story. The story of what was happening with the struggles in the early church at that time—but more importantly—the message of Jesus and how eternal life is found in Him as a gift by grace through faith ... apart from works.

Here's the playlist for our previous series, "Faith and Works, Paul and James."

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967. “The Law of Liberty” – Something New or Something Obsolete?

June 16, 2024 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Continuing with program #3 of our series on being a "doer of the word" and what this was meant to be about...

The "law of liberty" is seen twice in the New Testament, both times used by James in the first two chapters of his letter written to the twelve tribes of Israel which had been scattered to different regions. If doing an online search to find out what the law of liberty is ... like many other Bible topics ... be prepared to see no fewer than hundreds of different opinions. But as we springboard off the context from chapter 1 of his letter and move into chapter 2, we'll notice clearly how James is using this phrase as a reference to the law of Moses—something he also refers to as the royal law.

Within this context, he encourages his audience to follow all of that law and to speak "and do" as those who will be judged by that law—what he calls a law of liberty—but had just defined it as the Mosaic law. James would double-down to say faith without works is dead (useless) and that one cannot be justified by faith without works (of the law). He will declare that faith is perfected by works ... the precise opposite of what Paul said in his writing to the Galatians at the beginning of chapter 3. Even when using the example of Abraham, there is a conflict with what Paul said along the same lines, which we will cover more on the next program.

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966. “Be Doers of the Word” (But What IS the “Word” in This Instance?)

June 9, 2024 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

James made a statement in his letter to the twelve Jewish tribes ... believed by most historians to be the earliest writing in the pages known as The New Testament. "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22). This passage, along with what follows has a consistent but curious theme of externals, doing and works—and all under the topic of righteousness, salvation and justification.

In program #2 in this brief series, we continue to take a closer look at the entire context of what James said shortly before this (and after). Have you ever stopped and asked yourself what he meant by "the word?" Modern-day believers may skim over it and think that James is telling us to be a doer of the Bible (whatever that means). But in order for these Jewish believers to be able to meet this goal of identifying as a doer, it would have to be something specific that they were already familiar with ... and something they could see, hear and do—dare we say—something being read and heard in synagogues every week on the Sabbath.

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965. Can We Have a Word? (A Look at the Word “Word”)

June 2, 2024 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The popular phrase from the Old Testament known as, "The Ten Commandments" is more rightfully interpreted as "The Ten Words." Is it a big deal? Perhaps not, but we wanted to point out a few things about this to lay some groundwork before getting into something that James wrote to his believing Jewish brothers and sisters from the twelve tribes.

James made a statement to them about being a doer of "the word" and not a hearer only. It's easy to brush past this, but let's put on the brakes and check it out in context. Just exactly what did James mean by being a doer of the word? How we answer this becomes a bigger deal. He also said that the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. So what is it precisely that James believes will produce the righteousness of God? What did he mean when referring to the law of liberty? Is it a grace thing found within the New Covenant or something else? We'll dive into it and offer some perspectives over the next few programs.

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943. Paul Arrested – But Still Proclaimed Salvation for Gentiles (Series Conclusion)

December 31, 2023 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

We're concluding our series on salvation coming to the Gentiles (this is the 10th program). After the endeavor by James and the church leadership in Jerusalem of trying to convince Paul to deny what he was teaching and to participate in an Old Covenant cleansing ceremony in the attempt to make peace with Jews who were zealous for the law ... Paul was nearly killed by the zealots — many of whom believed in Jesus — and ultimately he was arrested. His course was now completely changed for the rest of his earthly days, living in chains. Having been warned twice by the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem, Paul could have avoided all of this, but he wanted to go and was prepared to be bound and even die on this journey.

Ultimately, Paul would end up under "house arrest" for a couple of years in Rome, where he invited leaders of the Jews to come to him — who were unfamiliar with "the sect" of the Jesus movement other than they knew it was spoken against everywhere. Perhaps Paul's former reputation as a Jew devoted to the ministry of the law from his younger days still carried weight among some of the unbelieving Jews ... because Paul gained an audience with them ... sharing and persuading them of Jesus from morning until evening by using the writings from the law and the prophets. Some believed, others did not.

Paul warned those Jews who refused to believe, using words from the prophet Isaiah and then this follow-up regarding their rejection of the Messiah:

Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it! And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him (Acts 28: 28-31).

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942. “Hey Paul, Issue a Retraction About Your Teaching” (Signed, the Jerusalem Church)

December 24, 2023 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

We're nearing the conclusion of our series on the challenging time of transition after the resurrection related to Gentile controversies from the book of Acts. Taking a look at Acts 21, where Paul went to Jerusalem to address some issues head-on ... knowing he may end up suffering or even facing death. This would have been about a decade after the heated debate centered around Gentiles back in Acts 15 with other apostles and elders. This time, he met with James and the leadership council from the "church headquarters" in the city. Paul was eager to share what God was doing among the Gentiles and they all rejoiced. But there was still a barrier causing a division or separation between Jews and Gentiles. That barrier of hostility was connected to the law of Moses which was still being embraced among the church leadership and their community.

Many Jewish people were also coming to believe in a risen Jesus, but remained zealous or fervent for the Mosaic law ... a law that Paul had been teaching was abolished and a ministry of death and condemnation from which Jews had been fully redeemed. These newer believers who were passionate for the law were unhappy to hear Paul was proclaiming these things and some wanted death for him. During this private meeting, those who were present from the Jerusalem church attempted to convince Paul that he should squash the rumors of his teachings, denouncing them as empty hearsay, and declare he also was zealous for the law and traditions of Moses ... while participating in an old covenant cleansing ceremony. But ultimately, Paul would not compromise his message, as he would escape death for a period of time and primarily spend the rest of his days as a prisoner ministering a gospel of grace apart from works.

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941. Gentiles – And Eating Strangled Meat Sacrificed to Idols

December 17, 2023 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

Continuing in our series about the controversies in the early years of the church regarding salvation for Gentiles and whether Jewish religious law should apply to them, we compare what James said in Acts 15 to some things Paul said about the question of eating meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. In the effort to alleviate confusion about whether Gentiles should follow the law of Moses, the declaration given in writing ended up eventually causing more confusion among non-Jewish believers in Christ. It was a significant disruption in their everyday lives.

There is quite a contrast with what Paul would say to Gentile converts in comparison to the original letter that was sent from James and the church council a few years earlier. But considering the cultural clash about some issues in that day between Jews and Gentiles, his bottom-line exhortation would be ... in spite of them being free from law and that all things were lawful ... to filter everything through love while considering those who may be weaker in faith and are more susceptible to a guilty conscience.

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940. The Judgment: Gentiles Remain Free From Moses (Except for the Fine Print)

December 10, 2023 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The scene takes place about a decade or so after it came to light that Gentiles could be saved. In Acts 15, a contentious debate occurred between apostles and other Jewish elders and leaders in the early church at Jerusalem. Should non-Jewish believers in Christ be forced to abide by the Mosaic law ... as these believing Jews thought they were still supposed to follow? Gentiles never had the law. James provided a compromise of sorts. He sided with the team of Peter and Paul - that Gentiles should not be burdened with the law in the same way as Jews - but it often gets skipped over that he made exceptions to the "rule." James listed four things from the law that he felt Gentiles should do going forward.

We'll begin to take a look at these lawful line items, and what it would mean for the Gentiles of that time within their culture as they would be trying to live in harmony with nearby Jewish believers who still embraced Moses. These four things were not merely 4 commandments out of 613 from the law, but were more like categories which would involve much more than what it initially looked like on paper, and would unnecessarily result in a much bigger burden than what would have been initially understood.

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Did Paul Preach a Different Gospel?

March 2, 2022 by Paul Ellis

Read the New Testament and you might come away with the idea that there is more than one gospel.

The very first words of the New Testament in the King James Bible are, “The Gospel According to Matthew.” Read on and you will also find the gospels according to Mark, Luke, and John.

In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, we find Jesus preaching the gospel of the kingdom, while Mark refers to the gospel of Jesus Christ and the gospel of God.

The word gospel does not appear in John’s Gospel, but in Acts and all the letters that follow, the gospel is mentioned plenty of times with different labels:

the gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1)
the gospel of Christ (Rom. 15:19, 1 Cor. 9:12, 2 Cor. 2:12, 9:13, 10:14, Gal. 1:7, Php. 1:27, 1 Th. 3:2)
the gospel of God (Mark 1:14, Rom 1:1, 15:16, 2 Cor. 11:7, 1 Th. 2:2, 8, 9, 1 Pet. 4:17)
the gospel of the blessed God (1 Tim. 1:11)
the gospel of his Son (Rom 1:9)
the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:23, 9:35, 24:14, Luke 16:16)
the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4)
the gospel of your salvation (Eph. 1:13)
the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15)
the glorious gospel of the blessed God (1 Tim 1:11)
the eternal gospel (Rev. 14:6)

These are not different gospels but different labels for the one and only gospel, namely the gospel of grace.

When Paul refers to the gospel of grace in Acts 20:24, he means the same thing as when he and others refer to the gospel of God or the gospel of peace or the gospel of your salvation. All of these gospels reveal the One who is called Grace, who was given to us out of the fullness of the Father’s grace, and through whom we have received grace upon grace.

This is all pretty obvious, right? Only many don’t see it.

They see Jesus preaching one gospel and Paul preaching another. Or they see discord among the apostles. “Paul preached salvation by faith; James added works.” Or they see different gospels for different dispensations; a gospel for then, another one for now.

But if this were true, how would you know which gospel to believe? People would say things like, “I follow Paul.” “I follow Peter.” “Well I follow Jesus!”

Paul said if anyone preached a gospel different to the one he preached, let them be cursed (Gal. 1:9). So if Jesus preached a different gospel, Paul was cursing the Lord and the Bible can’t be trusted.

And if you believe there are different gospels, then you will have a divided heart. You will be forever wondering if you have picked the right one.

Did Jesus and Paul preach the same gospel?

Did Paul preach a different gospel? Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom while Paul went around preaching the kingdom of God (Acts 20:25). Looks like the same gospel to me.

“But Jesus emphasized the kingdom, while Paul emphasized grace.” These are not different emphases but different ways of saying the same thing. When we preach the kingdom, we are revealing a King whose name is Grace. Grace is the language, the culture, and the economy of the kingdom.

When Jesus says seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, he is saying “seek me and my righteousness.” Where do we find his righteousness? In the gospel of grace!

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. (Romans 1:17)

In many of his letters, Paul preached the gospel of Christ. On other occasions he preached the gospel of God. These are different labels for the gospel of grace because it is the grace of God revealed in Christ that makes the good news good news.

Did Paul and Peter preach the same gospel?

I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised… (Galatians 2:7)

Paul and Peter preached the same gospel to different audiences. Peter preached to the Jews (but not always), while Paul preached to the Gentiles (but not always). But they both preached the same gospel.

Paul is known to us as the apostle of grace, but Peter was an apostle of grace too. Peter preached about the God of all grace revealing his grace through a Savior (1 Pet. 1:10, 5:10).

It was Peter who encouraged us to be good stewards of the manifold grace of God and stand firm in the true grace of God (1 Pet. 4:10, 5:12).

And it was Peter who prayed that grace would be multiplied to us as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus (2 Pet. 1:2, 3:18).

There is no question that Peter understood grace as well as Paul, but what about the odd man out? What about James?

Did Paul and James preach the same gospel?

Many dismiss James as unacquainted with grace. A young Martin Luther even referred to James’ letter as an epistle of straw.

But James was an apostle of grace who understood the grace message as well as Paul. Like Peter, James preached to the Jews. His letter was written to religious people who believed in God and were diligent in their observance of the law.

The religious Jews were doing plenty of works, but their works were dead works and their faith was a dead faith (Jas. 2:17). They believed in God, but their faith was not accompanied by the “work” of believing in the one he sent (Jas. 2:14).

The apostles and epistle writers did not preach different gospels. They all proclaimed the grace of God and justification by faith in his Son.

Don’t be misled by the different labels. There aren’t different gospels for different folks or different times.

Just as there is one Lord and one faith, there is only one gospel – the gospel of grace.

—–

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814. The 800 Club: Looking Back – The Clash Between Paul and James

July 4, 2021 by Mike Kapler and Joel Brueseke

The final program in our Looking Back series revisits the subject of the apostles Paul and James … and the question of whether they were in disagreement and had different points of view on the subject of justification. We did a 21-part series on this last year.

The common mindset in the world of Christianity is that Paul and James had to be in agreement in order for the Bible to be considered completely valid. Whether coming from a legalistic perspective or one that is more based upon grace, both camps will arrive at that same assumption while trying to explain conflicting statements from the apostles in a way that fits into their narrative or doctrinal perspective. But both will also need to bend, twist and reshape Bible verses to fit the theology—whatever that happens to be. And although the explanations may vary, the purpose remains the same … convince ourselves that Paul and James could not have possibly been opposed on such an important issue as justification. Is it based upon grace? Works? A combination of both?

However, maybe there is a bigger picture to see. We quickly offer a number of things to consider on this topic—which may once again cause some of us to not only arrive at a different point of view, but to shift our thinking to an entirely different paradigm—which involves backing away from the verses for a view of the bigger picture.

Since this episode is essentially a summary of our original series, you may wish to take some time to go through the original series itself, which took place during Podcasts 778-799 (except episode 786, which was a Christmas episode). Click here for the first episode, and then click "Newer Post" at the end of each post for each subsequent episode. Or you can listen to the entire series via our YouTube playlist.