Romans 4 says that Abraham was justified by faith, and James 2 says that Abraham was justified by works. How do we explain these two kinds of justification? How are they related to one another?
The Scripture speaks of two kinds of justification: one is justification by faith, and the other is justification by works. We can prove this by the following verses:
Acts 13:39 says, “And from all the things from which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses, in this One everyone who believes is justified.” Romans 3:28 says, “For we account that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” These verses by Paul clearly show us that justification is by faith.
First Corinthians 4:4 says, “For I am conscious of nothing against myself; but I am not justified in this, but He who examines me is the Lord.” The primary difference between this verse and the two previous verses is that it refers to being rewarded before the judgment seat of Christ. The meaning of justification in this verse is a reward for good works. This verse is also by Paul. He speaks of justification by faith, on one hand, and justification by works, on the other hand.
The Bible speaks of the matter of reward when referring to justification by works and also mentions justification by works in the midst of justification by faith. Let us read about this.
We know that the books of Romans and Galatians speak of justification by faith, whereas the book of James speaks of justification by works. Some may think that Paul’s words about justification by faith alone were not fully adequate; therefore, James had to fill up the lack by speaking about justification by works. But this concept is not accurate, because the books of Romans and Galatians had not been written when James wrote his Epistle.
In Romans Paul tells us that justification is by faith. He feared that some might not know what God had done, what Christ had accomplished, and how effective the precious blood was. They might have thought that just believing was insufficient and that there was an additional need for man’s works in order to be saved. Therefore, Paul used the case of Abraham to show that justification is by faith. James, however, also used the case of Abraham in speaking about justification by works. Consequently, we can see that there is a close relationship between justification by faith and justification by works. Paul and James actually spoke about the same thing; their words are not contradictory. Let us see their relationship to each other and how these two portions of Scripture are connected.
Let us first come to Romans 4.
Verses 2 and 3 say, “For if Abraham was justified out of works, he has something to boast in, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness.’” Verses 9 and 10 say, “Is this blessing then upon the circumcision only, or also upon the uncircumcision? For we say, Faith was accounted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.” This portion of the Word tells us that even before Abraham was circumcised, he was justified by faith. The Jews regarded circumcision as the most important act. In the eyes of the Jews, uncircumcised Gentiles were as swine and dogs. Yet before Abraham was circumcised, he was justified by faith.
Verse 11 says, “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those in uncircumcision who believe, that righteousness might be accounted to them also.” Circumcision is like a seal stamped by God, which declares that one is justified by faith and that nothing will change this fact. The reason God required Abraham to be circumcised was not so that He could justify Abraham by this act; a seal was stamped on him in order to declare that nothing would change the matter of his justification by faith. Even if Abraham had not offered up Isaac later, he still would have been justified by faith. Therefore, we can be assured that once we are justified by faith, we are securely justified.
Verse 12 says, “And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision.” This shows that being circumcised required faith, because Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised.
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