True faith, faith that saves, is more than an intellectual assent
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:14-17).
Commentary and explanation. We have here another key text, if we really want to understand the complete message of the Scripture regarding salvation by faith, and what God wants and expects from us, the believers.
There are so many texts, in the New Testament in particular, in which we are taught that salvation is by faith alone without the deeds of the law, that someone could be inclined to think that it is enough to believe, and then there is no obligation to do anything else. Nothing is more false and pernicious. Let us see, therefore, that there is no contradiction between the teachings of Paul and this of James; and that each one presents the same truth from a different perspective.
a) Paul's point of view: justification can't be merited by deeds. Paul teaches that justification is attained by faith alone, without the works of the law, by the redemption of Jesus Christ. According to him, good works can't produce or merit the justice of God.
There has always been the danger that someone would abuse this teaching and would conclude, mistakenly, that good deeds are not necessary after justification is attained, as proof and evidence of a true faith.
There is nothing more obnoxious and contrary to Paul's mind, who so often and in many ways exhorts us to abound in good works. Writing to Titus, he says: Those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works (Titus 3:8). If good works were not necessary as a proof that faith is genuine, Paul wouldn't have talked so persistently about good deeds in all his letters, as we will see later.
b) James' point of view: good works are necessary as an evidence that our faith is sincere. According to James, only a holy life, abundant in good works, full of compassion and love for one's neighbor, is evidence that a person is justified and that his/her faith is true. According to him the only faith really effective to declare the sinner just, is that which is accompanied by works.
As Paul emphasized that no one could get the justice of God by his/her own works, James as well emphasized that the true doctrine regarding justification is oriented to a holy life, full of good works; and that an intellectual assent alone can not be the basis for justification.
c) true faith should lead us to action. In the examples from James' letter in verses 15 through 17, he shows that it would be useless to tell a hungry man or a naked one: "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled", if we don't give them food and clothes; in the same manner it would be useless to pretend to be justified by a faith without works, because such a faith is dead.
The needy person requires our assistance to get out of his/her need; the believer's faith requires works to be proven effective. As good wishes are not enough to help the needy, in the same way, faith without works is not enough: it has to produce fruits of good works to be really effective.
Good works can not deserve salvation; but good deeds are the external, visible and necessary sign that faith is true, from the heart.
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We through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5:5-6).
Commentary and explanation. There is here a triple message: 1) faith must be translated in deeds; 2) faith must be inspired by love; and 3) faith must produce acts of love. There is also another message here: a merely intellectual faith does not guarantee the hope for God's justice; it must be a faith working through love.
For the Jews of Paul's time, circumcision was something very important, because it was "the mark" or sign of their belonging to the people of Abraham; it was so, up to the coming of Jesus Christ. Now Paul strongly affirms: it doesn't matter if you are circumcised or not; what counts now is faith in Jesus Christ, a faith which is rich in acts of love.
In chapter 6, verse 15, of the same letter, Paul repeats the same words, when he said: In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And in I Corinthians 7:19, he says also: Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. Paul is exhorting us here to action and to observe God's commandments.
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Paul teaches that faith and baptism are death to sin and the beginning of a new life, in resemblance of the new life of the risen Christ. In Romans he says this:
What shall we say, then? Shall we continue in sin that grace abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin (Romans 6:1-6).
Commentary and explanation. The main teachings of Paul in this paragraph are the following:
a) by the fact that we are sure of forgiveness, we are not authorized to sin. Or, in other words, grace is not attracted by sinning. This is a condemnation of those who say: Christ has redeemed us, and we, certain that through faith in Him God gives us His justice, are then free to make sin; or, as the Apostle himself questions, Shall we continue in sin that grace abound? (v. 1).
Faith in Jesus Christ is certainly effective to give us grace and salvation, but precisely, because faith in Jesus Christ means that we are dead to sin, we are no longer slaves of sin.
b) through baptism we are buried with Christ into death, to be raised to a new life. To really understand the message contained in these words, we must remember that baptism is not a rite, a ceremony, a cultural or familiar tradition, but a sign of faith; it is called sacrament of faith.
That means that baptism is, really, an act of faith, a decision of faith. Baptism is the public profession of that personal and internal faith that we have in Jesus Christ. We can see this fact very clearly, in the narratives that we find in the Acts of the Apostles, and in adult baptisms today; it is much less clear in baptisms of children. In children's baptism, the boy or girl are part of a faithful family, and parents and godparents make the faith declaration on behalf of the children. But, in all cases, baptism is a sign or signal of faith.
Now, the total surrender to Jesus Christ made at the act of baptism is, in the words of the Apostle, a burial with Christ, to which resurrection follows. But, what is it, to be raised with Christ?
To be raised with Christ is to begin a new life, a life of holiness, a life without sin and abundant in good works; in one word, as Paul says a little farther (v. 22): Now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life.
Paul therefore speaks about a faith which is active, of a faith that is shown by deeds. At no moment could a faith without works be accepted, since a faith without works is dead, as James says (2:20).
c) if we have been united together in the likeness of Jesus' death, we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. A little earlier the Apostle said that the surrender to Jesus Christ by baptism was a burial with Christ; now he says that it is also resurrection with Him (verse 5), not a future one, of course, but present, because, according to the context he is speaking about the effects of baptism, now.
And, what does it mean to be in the likeness of His resurrection? That means that we have begun a new life, a different life style, where the model is Jesus Christ himself. Faith in Jesus is not to sit down to sleep; faith in Jesus is to live the new life of the risen Jesus.
d) through baptism the old man is crucified, and the old body subdued by sin is done away. The resurrection with Christ that Paul has called new life, is shown this way: the "old man", the "sinful body", the "body subdued by sin", is crucified and destroyed, and it does not serve to sin any longer but to justice.
It is called old man, in contraposition with new man, of which he speaks in Ephesians 4:24 that is a risen man, which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.
This is a life of faith that goes farther than an intellectual assent, and is manifested in a life of holiness, abundant in fruits of good works. There is no doubt, then, that the justifying faith about which Paul speaks so often, is also a faith with works and without sin.
e) faith and salvation are something active and dynamic. Paul is not satisfied with all he has said so far regarding the new life in Christ, and wants to go farther and be more emphatic and clear, teaching that the new life is something active and dynamic.
The fundamental idea is similar to the change of master for a slave; it is a change of "slavery": no more slavery to sin, but to justice. Before we were slaves of sin, but now we became slaves of righteousness (Ephesians 6:18).
The Lord is the new master of whom we are slaves; slaves of sin no more: sin won't domineer us any longer; sin won't master us and we won't be its slaves. Before we presented our members as slaves of uncleanness and now as slaves of righteousness for holiness (cfr Ephesians 6:19). Now, having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life (Ephesians 6:22).
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The love of Christ constrains us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:14-17).
Commentary and explanation. Once again Paul exhorts us to live a holy life and teaches that:
a) if Christ died for us, we should live for Him. In other words, if Christ delivered Himself in ransom for me, so that I'd receive the justice of God, then I should give and deliver my life to Him. Some Christians don't come to understand that baptism is a commitment to Christ, a turning of our lives over to Him.
As a matter of fact, a Christian shouldn't be living for himself; that would be a contradiction with his/her faith; every Christian should live for the Lord. If we truly have believed and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord, we should follow Him and devote our life to Him. That is the covenant of the Christian faith; that is the meaning of our faith; it is not only to believe but to commit to Christ.
b) whoever is in Christ is a new creature. Paul couldn't use stronger and more meaningful words, to explain the radical change that takes place in the believer when he or she accepts Jesus Christ.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation —the Apostle says; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. This should be an actual fact in the believer, not something future; not something that will happen, but something that has already happened. This is a radical and profound transformation of the believer, where everything which is "old", and evil, and stained or not clean, is left behind and passed away, and a holy and new life begins, devoted to God.
Christian faith is then something very intimate and profound: is a new creation; the believer is created anew. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; he or she has begun a new life: the life in Christ.
That is why Christians are called holy in the New Testament, and they really are, because the word holy means laid aside for God; every Christian is a being set apart for God; is a new creation.
Christian faith is then something dynamic, active, and transforming not just of the being of the person himself, but of his or her life; his way of thinking and doing. Without this change, faith hasn't been carried out completely, it is still incipient, incomplete; the "new creation" is unfinished; the old things haven't gone yet. Our faith should be one where everything is new, as the Apostle says.
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Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).
Commentary and explanation. In the preceding verses, the Apostle admonishes the believers, no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk... having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God (Ephesians 4:17,18). You have not so learned Christ (v. 20), the Apostle says.
The old man Paul is referring to in this quotation, is the same as in Romans 6:6 which should be crucified, in order that the body of sin might be done away; and the new man is the one which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.
This is another exhortation so that our adherence to and following of Christ may be manifested in our lives, because we have put off the corrupt and deceitful lusts, —a reference to the devil who is the deceiver,— and we have put on the righteousness and holiness that come from God.
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