JUSTIFIED BY FAITH....ALONE?

One of the dividing lines between Catholics and Protestants is the concept of Salvation, specifically the
issue ion justification. Are we justified by faith alone or are we justified by faith and works?

Protestants claimed that they follow “sola fide” primarily because they are “Bible” Christians, and it’s
what the Bible “plainly” said. However, we should not simply accept everything that they have to say.
Rather, let’s look at their favorite book, the Bible, whether their claims are valid or not.

James 2:24
24 You see that a man is justified by works and NOT by FAITH ALONE

It’s just awkward that the only time the terms “faith alone” was mentioned was when St. James explicitly
denied it. Yet, if we offer this verse to the Protestants, they have different ways of defending Sola Fide,
and today, I will look at one of those.

What they usually say is that the word “justified” was not used in the context of being declared righteous
in the eyes of God. Rather, what it actually means is that we justify our faith by works because good
works are the result of genuine faith.

If a Catholic hears this response, I think that it’s wiser for us to agree with them partially. They got it
partially correct that good works are the result of genuine faith. However, what they missed is the fact
that St. James used the word “justified” in the context of being declared righteous by God.

If we will observe one verse before verse 24, what we can see is how Abraham was justified by his faith.

James 2:23
23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned
to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.

If a Protestant sees this verse, we should expect from them that they should recognize that Abraham was
justified by his faith in the context of being righteous. Verse 23 is important because by reading it in
order, we can see how a man is justified both by faith and works.

Obviously, verse 24 takes place after verse 23. In verse 24, the positive way of reading it is that a man is
justified by faith and by works. Verse 24 only discusses one type of justification, and St. James showed
that this can be done in two ways, by faith, and by works. This can’t be done by faith alone or by works
alone. The conjunction “and” indicates that faith and works are connected in the sense that we are
justified by works in the same way that we are justified by faith which would mean that the Catholic’s
interpretation is more consistent rather than the Protestant’s interpretation. With this, let’s always remind
us that faith apart from works is dead just as the body apart from the spirit is dead (James 2:26).