Why Are Faith And Works Both Important?
In James 2:26, we read that faith without works is dead, but in Ephesians 2:8–9 we read that salvation is by grace through faith and not of works. How do these passages fit together? What exactly are works?
James 2:26 – For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Works are our appropriate response to the great things that God has done for us. As believers, we energetically serve, honor, and obey Jesus. We serve God and we serve our neighbor, but we don’t do it to achieve a right standing with God. We do it because we’ve been placed in a right standing with God through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, especially what He did on the cross and His resurrection. Works are the necessary and natural response of the believer in gratitude for all God has done.
James’s concern was that people were professing faith in Christ, but weren’t following through on a saved lifestyle, which would produce works. When he’s talking about works, he’s not saying that we are justified in terms of being saved by works. Works do not justify us. But works show our claim to faith to be valid. James isn’t saying, “You’re saved by works.” No, he’s saying, “Your faith is proven by works.”
The whole letter of James addresses people who are professing faith but not living their lives accordingly. The genuineness of your faith is demonstrated by how you live. Apart from that demonstration, your faith can just be an intellectual abstraction, or just an idea in your head, but it’s not something you really believe and lean on. So, James isn’t saying that we are justified by works, but that our faith is demonstrated by works.