In part one, I primarily focused on the typology of Genesis 22 in the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah. We saw how this event, while literal and historical, also had a symbolic significance as it foreshadowed the propitiation made by Jesus Christ.
This article will focus more on the “obedience of faith”, what exactly that means, and how the New Testament writers understand, interpret, and apply the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah.
There are two places in the New Testament where this episode on Mount Moriah is referenced. One we have already seen in part one:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
Hebrews 11:17-19
The other is found in James’ epistle:
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
James 2:21-24
This second passage complicates the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Indeed, in v. 24, James outright denies that a person is “justified…by faith alone”. He makes this argument based on Abraham and Isaac. Indeed, the Genesis passage also adds this element when God tells Abraham that because he obeyed, the promises will be fulfilled: “because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you” (Gen. 22:16b-17a).
And yet we read in Hebrews 11 that it was Abraham’s faith that led him to offer up Isaac. And we read this in Paul’s letter to the church in Rome:
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
Romans 4:2-3
And we read this in Paul’s epistle to the Galatian church:
yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Galatians 2:16
So which is it? Who is right: Paul or James? And who has the more accurate understanding of Abraham and Isaac?
There are a few options here:
- Paul is right about justification by faith and James is wrong about justification by works.
- James is right about justification by works and Paul is wrong about justification by faith.
- Paul and James are both right and actually agree and see the Abraham/Isaac example in the same way, though from different perspectives.
If we believe the Bible is the infallible word of God, we must choose option 3. The Biblical authors do not contradict each other. Paul and James in Gal. 2:16 and Jas. 2:24 respectively are not at odds, they are in harmony. Their claims are perfectly harmonious and actually reveal the true nature of faith.
First, let’s examine James’ argument.
Faith & Works
We may walk away from James 2:24 with a wrong conclusion if we simply read it isolated from its context. (This happens a lot actually when we isolate Scripture from its context.) We must read the surrounding passage in James to make sure we do not misunderstand what he is saying here.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
James 2:14
The main argument James makes about faith and works begins here in v. 14 where he asks this question. He then goes on to imagine how faith alone (without love) could leave a practical gap in compassion:
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:15-17
James is speaking against dead professions of faith that make no difference in the way one lives. A profession of belief without consequential action, James maintains, is useless. He goes on:
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?
James 2:18-20
In v. 18, James makes a claim that can help us understand his use of the Abraham/Isaac example later on down in vv. 21-24. He says “I will show you my faith by my works.” He once again pokes at the empty professions in v. 19 by pointing out that if justification is just a matter of believing and professing certain doctrinal realities, than the demons would qualify since they believe and profess that Jesus is the Son of God (Matt. 8:29).
James’ problem here is not saving faith which he contrasts with works. His problem is with “dead faith” or empty professions of faith and belief that do not lead to actions.
And this is how he uses the example of Abraham.
Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
James 2:21-23
Now James maintains that Abraham was justified by works by offering Isaac on Mount Moriah. Verse 22 helps us clarify this claim: faith was active with his works. The NASB translates this verse as follows: “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;”.
So this was a working faith. It was a faith that, as we concluded in part one, took action and walked. It would have been dead faith for Abraham to simply have said to God: “I know that you can do anything to fulfill your promises to me. You can even raise Isaac from the dead” but never actually journey to Mount Moriah with Isaac. God was not interested in simply getting a profession of faith from Abraham. He wanted to test Abraham’s faith to make sure it was genuine. As the saying goes, it’s easy to talk the talk but you’ve got to walk the walk!
After using another Old Testament example (Rahab) to make his point, James concludes his argument with this:
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
James 2:26
So, James is not arguing that to be saved (justified) one must confess Jesus as Lord and place your faith in Him and then do a lot of good works. He is arguing that faith is dead if it is not accompanied by outward works as evidence of the sincerity of the faith. And that cannot be faked! It is not a matter of trying harder to do good works to prove you have faith. It is a matter of doing the good works that grow out from your faith. Paul calls this the obedience of faith (Rom. 16:26).
Faith, Not Works of the Law
Now, we turn to Paul’s arguments in the fourth chapter of Romans and in Galatians 2:16. We shall see that these passages do not contradict James, but instead they provide another perspective on the same reality.
Once again, the context is important. In Romans, Paul is in the middle of laying out the Gospel. He started in ch. 1 with the nature of pagan man and the sinful disobedience that brings the judgment and wrath of God. In ch. 2 he moves to the Jew, the one with the Law, and shows that simply having the Law does not make them any different. This leads to his conclusion in ch. 3 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. When we reach Romans 4, Paul is ready to lay out the solution to this problem: justification by faith.
In Galatians, the context is similar but more pointed. Paul is writing to the Galatian church which has been hounded by the legalistic “Judaizers” who insisted that Gentile converts to Christianity should be circumcised and should follow the Mosaic Law. Paul is writing this epistle to set the matter right. His claim in 2:16 that “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” comes right after his report of confronting Peter about his hypocritical actions toward Gentile believers (Gal. 2:11-14).
So Paul’s concern in Galatians (as well as Romans) is not to deny the role of works. His concern is to clarify that works of a specific kind, namely works of the Law, do not justify a person before God.
In Romans, Paul quotes Genesis to make his point about how Abraham was justified before God through faith and not through works. This quotation from Romans 4:3 refers back to Genesis 15:6 which simply states: “And he [Abram] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”
It’s worth noting that this occurs before the events of ch. 22 with Isaac on Mount Moriah. Abraham’s works lead from his justification by faith, not the other way around.
Elsewhere in Paul’s writings we see that he was not at all advocating a “works-less” Christianity. His epistles are full of very practical exhortations to do good works towards others and arguments against falling headlong back into sin.
Faith Alone, But Never Alone
The Bible is clear: we are not saved by our good works or by our obedience to the Law. But is also clear on a harmonious and complementary point: true saving faith is not an empty profession but is always worked out practically.
John Calvin famously wrote:
It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone:
Calvin, Antidote to the Council of Trent
I like to illustrate this point by using the common analogy of salvation as a path up a mountain. This illustration is often used by people who want to argue for pluralistic salvation, many roads leading to God. They say that there are many roads up the mountain to God.
Using this analogy we can say that there is only one true road that leads all the way up the mountain. That is Jesus Christ and our faith in Him (John 14:6). And we can equate works with a glade or forest that one passes through while traveling on this road. When we reach the top we will not say, “Ah yes, I made it up to the top because the glade of good works brought me here”. We give credit to the road. But, if we never pass through the glade of good works we must critically and seriously ask ourselves if we are in fact on the correct road. For our map tells us that the correct road will inevitably pass through the glade of good works. It is a landmark of the Way, not the Way itself.
Martin Luther puts it this way:
We are not saved by works; but if there be no works, there must be something amiss with faith.
Luther, Weimar Ausgabe VIII
We do not trust in our works to save us. They are simply an external outworking of the Spirit’s presence in our lives which is itself brought about through our union with Christ through faith. Like I mentioned in part one, it is not our faith that actually saves us, it is Christ, in whom we place our faith. Faith is only as reliable as its object.
Obedience and Promises
We shall conclude with this. Abraham was justified in the same way we are: that is, through faith and by God’s grace. Both Paul and James as New Testament writers understood this and they both emphasized different aspects of this justification by faith. Paul emphasized the justification by faith apart from works of the Law and James emphasized the nature of that saving faith as evidenced by works. Both aspects show up on Mount Moriah. Abraham offered up his son on the altar (a work) because He trusted God’s promises (faith).
God tells Abraham that “because” he did not spare his only son, that God will fulfill His promises to him. But back in ch. 15, God had already put the condition of the promises on Himself through a covenant ceremony where He alone bore responsibility for the fulfillment of the covenant.
Our faith is in the God of the covenant who has surely promised us salvation by His grace through the means of our faith. Our faith is the tool that God uses to save His people. It is not a “work” that we do so we have anything to boast of.