21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
In verses 21-25, James gave two examples of people who were saved by obedience to God’s will under the works-based kingdom gospel that he explained in verses 14-20. Read the post on those verses to understand the distinction between that gospel and the grace gospel that is God’s will for us today.
justified (v.21) = complete
Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac on the altar demonstrated that his faith was genuine. James’ question, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works?” merely indicates that Abraham’s works confirmed his faith. The apostle puts it this way, “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” The combination of faith and works verified that Abraham’s faith was a living faith, which manifested itself by works. According to James, Abraham served as a pattern to the circumcision that faith and works were required for salvation under their program.
Faith will most assuredly approach God in God’s way at any time, and to seek to gain acceptance with Him in any other way would, of course, be unbelief and self-will. Thus, while works never did or could save as such, they did once save as expressions of faith. Does this mean that works will be efficacious in themselves? No! They will avail only las the expression and evidence of faith as, indeed, James clearly teaches. — Sadler, page 75.
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Not merely works (v.24) but works done in faith (Hebrews 11:17-40). — Grace, page 2198.
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Rahab was saved before she provided safe passage for the messengers of Joshua, as her own words surely indicate. She was justified by works only in the sense that her actions declared she was saved. During the end of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, President Ronald Reagan sought major reductions in the number of nuclear arms deployed by both superpowers. When our CIA was able to finally verify these reductions in the Soviet Union, President Reagan loved to quote the old Russian proverb: “Trusty, but verify.” Essentially, in time past justification was based on this same concept, “Trust, but verify.” — Sadler, pages 76-77.
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