Tribulation Salvation

 Inductive Study of James 2:14-26

Before jumping right into James 2, I think it is important to briefly cover the literary and doctrinal context of the book of James. This will dispel a lot of confusion that has been conjured up by scholars and commentators that have only muddied the waters with their failure to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). According to the very first verse of the book of James, the book is written to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1). I do not think it could be any clearer, the author of the book declares that he is writing to Jews rather than Christians. Robert Breaker writing in his commentary on James states, “James does appear to contradict Paul several times in his epistle. However, one must keep in mind who James is writing to. According to James 1:1, he was writing doctrinally to Jews... When you realize that James was writing to Jews and Paul was writing to saved, born again Christians, then all those ‘so-called’ contradictions vanish... James is written doctrinally to the Jews in the Tribulation” (Breaker Intro). It is apparent to anyone who reads James in conjunction with the book of Revelation and other passages describing Daniel’s 70th week that James has a tribulation flavor to it (see James 1:9-11, 2:5-7, 5:1-6, 11, 17-18 etc.). This all begins to make sense when one discovers that salvation in the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7) is by faith and works (Matthew 24:13; Revelation 12:17, 14:12 etc.) and that the Bible, specifically in this case, the New Testament is laid out in premillennial dispensational order (Matthew-Acts is primarily to the Jews doctrinally. Acts is a transitional book from the Jews to the Gentiles. Romans-Philemon is Paul’s epistles to the Church, he being the apostle to the Gentiles. Philemon pictures the rapture. Hebrews-Revelation is primarily to Jewish tribulation saints doctrinally).

Now that we have that out of the way, moving onto James 2. This whole section of verses deals with faith and works as a means of justification in different dispensations (as we will see). This passage has been the subject of a great controversy ever since Martin Luther’s day; he, like many others, discovered that this passage completely contradicts what Paul wrote in Romans 4:2-10 and Romans 5:1-9. The Catholics took advantage of this passage and repeated bombarded him with objections stemming from this passage. As a result of this headache the papists caused him regarding this passage, Martin Luther famously said, “Therefore, St. James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw, compared to these others” and, “The epistle of James gives us much trouble for the papists embrace it alone and leave out all the rest... I almost feel like throwing Jimmy into the stove.” (Maoz 11). Just like how it was in the early days of the reformation, James 2 is still the nesting ground for a multitude of heretics. Martin Luther recognized that James 2 did not contain Pauline doctrine and he is right, it does not. The question comes up, “how does one reconcile the doctrinal differences between what Paul wrote and James wrote?” The simple answer is that one must rightly divide the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). The answer to the question posed in verse 14, “can faith save him” is an unequivocal yes according to the aforementioned passages in Romans and similar statements made by Paul. However, the verse implies a no, this is confirmed by what is said in the verses that follow. Verses 15 and 16 coincide with the whole rest of the book and other tribulation passages by taking for granted that rich people (all, without any qualifying statement) go to hell and that poor people (all, without any qualifying statement) go to heaven in this doctrinal context. Such passages as James 1:11, 2:5–7, and 5:1–6 that are positively reinforced by 1 John 3:17; Matthew 25:35–36; Job 22:6–9; Psalm 49:16–17, 10:2, 34:6, 35:10; and many passages in Proverbs. Each one of those passages in James is aimed at someone during a time (the time of Jacob’s trouble) when if you are rich you are damned and if you are poor you are saved. This is because the only ones that have money would be those that have taken the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:18). You know as well as I do that in this age there are many saved, Bible believing wealthy men that do a lot of good and they are just as saved as the apostle Paul. And we all know that there are some extremely wicked and lost poor people. We must not forget that the Bible was not only written for this age and the Church, but it was written for all ages and for many different delineations of People.

Moving on to verses 17 and 18, many people have had a time at juggling these verses and trying to make these verses accommodate Paul's clear statements in Romans and Ephesians. No matter how much mental gymnastics is done, the verses say what they say. The Bible means what it says and says what it means, the verses clearly say that faith and works are necessary for salvation. Verse 17 is a statement of doctrine while verse 18 is a hypothetical case where two people are arguing about such. The first person questions the second person’s salvation be he (the second person) does not believe works are connected with it. These verses match perfectly the scores of verses that state that in the tribulation it is a faith and works system of salvation and that salvation can be lost in that period by taking the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:18, 14:11) because tribulation saints are kept by works (Revelation 12:17, 14:12, 22:14 etc.). It is abundantly clear that the doctrinal content of the book of James primarily deals with tribulation saints so there is no actual contradiction between James and Paul because they are each writing to different groups. In this dispensation faith clearly can save a sinner through the new birth (John 1:12; Romans 4:5, 5:1; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5), but in the tribulation it is an imperative that works accompany faith (Hebrews 6:4-6; Revelation 14:11-12).

Verse 19 is self-explanatory and has many applications. The idea is that the belief in a “Supreme Being” as some say it does not qualify anyone for everlasting life. The very devils believe in God (they are not as foolish as evolutionary scientists), fear God, and believe in the fundamentals of the faith (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:41). They know certain things to be true but just because one believes in a creator, even the right one, does not mean they are saved. Someone can even believe in the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, the inerrancy of Scripture and the other fundamentals and not be saved. What saves a man is receiving and believing the gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 10:9-10). Of course, that is applying this verse to this age, which can be done. But the doctrinal context refers to salvation in the tribulation, so like this age, it will not be enough just to believe in a designer of the universe. At that point, a person needs to keep the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:17).

Now onto the case of Abraham, verses 20-23. The “our Father” of verse 21 shows how he is still talking to Jews here, physical descendants of Abraham (similar to the “our Father” found in the disciple’s prayer, which is a Jewish prayer, Matthew 6:9). Abraham was justified by works but saints in the present age of the Church are justified by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:9; 1 Peter 1:19). What we must realize is that Abraham’s salvation is not our salvation, it may be a type but there are numerous differences. Abraham was not justified at the moment he had righteousness imputed to him (Romans 4:24; James 2:23). Abraham’s justification did not happen until seven chapters after he received his imputed righteousness, that would be a little more than ten years afterwards. Imputed righteousness and justification are not the same. According to Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, the word impute means “to set to the account of” and justification means “remission of sin and absolution from guilt and punishment” (Webster’s). Our justification happens the very second that God imputes His righteousness to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Some people fail to see the clear difference that God’s righteousness is imputed to a New Testament Christian. In Abraham’s case, his act of faith was imputed to him for righteousness, it is not the same (Genesis 15:6). God’s righteousness was not illustrated in the Old Testament through Abraham’s belief in his future seed (Genesis 15). It is illustrated by what God told Balaam in Numbers 23:21, this is confirmed by what is said in Micah 6:5. Abraham’s imputed righteousness does not match up with ours, it merely serves as a type of ours. Some people make a mess of this passage and the last few verses of Romans 4 to try to equate Old Testament salvation with New Testament salvation. Abraham was not a “son of God” (John 1:12), he was not spiritually circumcised (Colossians 2:11, 13; Genesis 17:11), he was not part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), his soul did not go to the third heaven at death (Luke 16:19-31), his sins were not taken away nor was he redeemed (Hebrews 9:15, 10:4; Exodus 34:7), he was not adopted into the family of God (Romans 8:15-16), and he did not experience the new birth (John 3; Psalm 22:30-31). Timothy S. Morton commenting on Abraham’s salvation enumerates, “What Abraham believed God would do is drastically different from what one is to believe today. Abraham believed his ‘seed’ would number as the stars in heaven, and God saved him for it. He believed nothing about someone dying on a cross for his sins... he could only believe in what God revealed to him... Paul... uses Abraham as a figure of Church Age salvation, but he is only that, a figure; not an exact picture” (Morton 54-55). The word “justified” occurs thrice in this chapter, each time it has nothing to do with being justified before men (Romans 4:2). No one was around when Abraham offered up his son Isaac and there would be no use in telling anyone he offered him up because he did not actually offer him up (Genesis 22:13). In regards to Abraham allegedly being justified before men Doug Stauffer writes, “Some well-meaning teachers try to explain away James 2:24 by saying that it is referring to one being justified before men instead of before God. However, our Lord Jesus Christ destroyed that notion in Luke 16:15. There he rebuked the Pharisees for justifying themselves before men. 1 Corinthians 4:3-4 also dispels this notion... He is telling tribulation saints that their faith without works will not justify them” (Stauffer 28).

Lastly, we have to deal with verses 24-26 that deal with Rahab the harlot among other things. James goes on to make another double application applying what he stated earlier to a harlot (Joshua 2:1). Rahab did not get any righteousness imputed to her but was still justified by works. This is another illustration of the system of faith and works present in the Old Testament under the law (Romans 2:24-26) as well as outside the law (Romans 2:6-7, 13-15). This is how people in the Old Testament were justified without having the new birth or their sins taken away from them. This is not how anyone in the Church age is justified. David E. Walker writing on James 2 and Romans 2 pens, “If we, in the Church Age, after Calvary, are ‘justified by faith without the deeds of the law’ (Romans 3:28), then everyone in all ages must also be justified by faith without works. The problem then arises, how do we deal with the plethora of verses that teach just the opposite, such as Romans 2:6–13, which chronicles previous dispensations prior to Calvary when the Jew followed the Law and the Gentile followed his conscience... And, when you consider the teaching of James, who taught, ‘by works a man is justified, and not by faith only’ (James 2:24), you have a choice. You can either be honest and approach the Bible as a believer, laying aside any preconceived system that forces all verses to fit your salvation, or you can wrestle the scriptures to fit your ideas” (Walker 33). Verse 26 again provides another contradiction with what Paul wrote, specifically in Ephesians 5:14 and 1 Corinthians 15:34. By now one should know how to resolve this issue, it is by realizing that Paul is writing to a different group of people than James is. The two examples of salvation that James writes about in this passage are both taken from the Old Testament. One was a Hebrew prophet, and the other was a Canaanite harlot. It appalls me that someone would try to go to this passage in order to try to find out what salvation consists of in this age. Could it be any clearer that this passage has nothing to do with this age doctrinally speaking? Ultimately, what James is getting at is that Abraham represents the Jews in the matter of their salvation in the tribulation period and Rahab respectively represents the Gentiles in that period. Both the Jews and Gentiles will have works involved as a part of their justification in that future time period (Psalm 15; Hebrews 3:14; 2 Peter 2:20-21; Revelation 14:11-12).

Works Cited

Breaker, Robert Ray. The Book of James. CreateSpace, 2011.

King James Bible. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Maoz, Daniel. “Actions and Words: Luther and James through an Alternative Hermeneutical

Lens.” A Canadian Journal of Public Theology, 1 Dec. 2017.

Morton, Timothy S. The Difference Is in the Dispensations. Preservedwords, 1997.

Stauffer, Douglas. One Book Rightly Divided. McCowen Mills Publishers, 1999.

Walker, David E. King James Only Revised Dispensationalism Dismantled. WestBow Press,

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Webster, Noah. Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. Foundation

for American Christian Education, 2018.