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“Faith Apart From Works Is Dead”

This Sunday we arrive at James 2:14–26 and what is probably the heart of the letter and one of the more debated and discussed passages in the New Testament. The reason this passage is so well known is because on the surface it sounds like James may be contradicting one of the main tenets of gospel doctrine—that we are justified by faith and not works. The doctrine of justification by faith alone is one of the central themes of Paul’s letter to the Romans and became one of the primary issues of the Protestant Reformation. 

So what are we to make of this? Does James contradict Paul? Do our works play a part in our justification? How are we to synthesize James 2:24 (“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone”) with Romans 3:28 (“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law”)? 

These are the questions we’ll seek to answer this Sunday as we dig into this text. My hope, though, is that we don’t just come to a theological or doctrinal conclusion, but that we also seek to apply this passage to our lives so that we might be more like Jesus. 

See you Sunday!

Brad