This post is written by Katie Orr as a companion for Unit 21, Session 4 of The Gospel Project for Adults, Volume 7: From Heaven to Earth (Spring 2023).

The more I study Scripture, the more I realize I have so much more study to do. There is a breadth to the Bible that can never be exhausted here on earth, and it’s become a thrilling chase to follow the rabbit trails throughout, uncovering themes and connections from Genesis to Revelation. Yet the deeper and better I study the Bible, the more I uncover seemingly incongruous elements. It is tempting to ignore and avoid these tricky passages altogether. I assume I am not alone in this thought. Of course, we know that “the word of the Lord is right, and all his work is trustworthy” (Psalm 33:4) and that every word is purposeful and profitable for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Therefore, if we want to keep on digging, we need to be able to approach the difficult verses with confidence that the Bible is indeed one unified work, without error or contradiction. To do so, we typically need to consider the author, audience, and aim of each passage to better understand the original intention of the verses that confuse us.

Take Paul and James, for example. If you have studied any of Paul’s letters, you can clearly see that Paul was big on the fact that we are saved by grace through faith alone. We cannot earn our salvation. But when you read the book of James, there is much teaching that sounds like he believed one can earn their salvation. For example, compare the following two verses:

“For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” –Romans 3:28

“You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.” –James 2:24

At face value, this seems incredibly puzzling, especially if you cherry-pick these verses and read them out of their literary context. And these two verses are not the only problematic pieces. But with a more in-depth look at both books, we can see that these are not opposing views at all. Here are seven contextual helps for the books of James and Romans that will help us to see that Paul and James were actually teaching the same doctrine from two perspectives.

1. James wrote his book earlier than Paul wrote Romans.

James wrote his letter to the early church somewhere between AD 40 and 45. Paul wrote Romans in AD 57. James addressed the church early in her transition into new covenant living, only about a decade past the resurrection of Christ. Geographically, Christians were just starting to get out of Jerusalem to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. So James primarily wrote to a Jewish community who stated they had embraced Jesus as the Christ. However, many didn’t move forward in their new faith. Their lives looked no different than before, which casted doubt on the faith they claimed to hold. James’s letter provided needed precepts to help these early Christians better walk with Christ. He gave many everyday examples of how faith in the Messiah should have shaped the way they lived. He declared that it’s not enough just to say you believe in Jesus—your faith has to be proven through the worship-driven works of a born-again believer.

2. There were major theological events that occurred between the two books.

James wrote in a pre-Pauline theology age. This doesn’t mean that Paul’s theology was an evolved, different belief than that of James. But after the writing of the book of James, there were theological and practical problems that arose. Specifically, the church had yet to address how non-Jewish people should convert to Christianity. One important piece that came between the book of James and the book of Romans was the vision Peter received from God (Acts 10). In his vision appeared all sorts of unclean animals with which a faithful Jew would not come into contact for fear of being unclean for worship. Yet God told Peter to eat them! This was a major shift in the history of God’s revelation to His people. Other issues beyond dietary ones, such as circumcision, became big enough to disrupt the worship of local churches. The controversy came to a head at the Jerusalem Council in AD 48, where the leadership of the church met to take an official stance on how Gentiles should come into the fold of Christ-followers (Acts 15). A prominent leader in the council, James agreed with Paul and others that faith in Christ is sufficient for Gentiles to become Christians. Non-Jewish believers did not need to follow the Old Testament law. So when James’s words seem to communicate otherwise, we must keep this in mind.

3. The church at Rome was wrestling with different theological issues.

Not only was there much doctrinal clarity that occurred between the writing of James and Romans. There was also a pendulum that had swung in the hearts of God’s people between these two works. James addressed those within the church who thought they could have the gospel without any works to prove their faith. Well over a decade after the writing of James, many were on the other side of that faith pendulum. Paul addressed the church after a swing toward legalism had occurred. Part of Paul’s purpose in writing to the church at Rome was to refute specifically the persistent false-teaching that the Jerusalem Council had countered. Paul corrected those who thought they needed the gospel plus works.¹

4. James addressed an empty faith that did not bring salvation.

Beyond the difference in timing, audience, and purpose, the writings of James and Paul also vary in semantics. Using the same word doesn’t necessitate the exact same meaning. There are many times in James’s work when he referred to faith where it would be best understood with quotations around the word faith. He did not refer to a saving faith but to a so-called faith that is mere belief in God without trust in Him. James made this meaning clear in James 2:19 with the declaration that even demons believe in God. So we must not read every instance of “faith” in James as saving faith.²

5. Works doesn’t always mean trying to save oneself.

Another linguistic difference is in the word works. James mentioned works primarily as a general description of moral deeds. It’s the expected fruit that flows out of a healthy Christ-follower. Whereas Paul often used that same term to refer to the specific works of the law. He made the case that those works are not how you receive salvation. One way to think about the difference in intended meaning is pre-salvation works versus post-salvation works. James most often refers to works as post-conversion proofs of salvation. Paul’s concern, on the other hand, was with those who were depending on self-sufficient works in order to achieve salvation. In Ephesians, Paul addressed the relationship between post-salvation works and faith (Ephesians 2:8-10): Salvation by faith first, then those saved by grace through faith must move forward with the works God has prepared for them. This expectation of works for the Christian is all over Scripture. On the other side of salvation, works are proof that a spiritual transformation has happened.

6. Justification by faith and upholding the morality of the law are not mutually exclusive.

Bound up in the works conversation is teaching on the law. Though Paul was clear that works of the law had no place in coming to Christ through faith, Paul does not reject the law altogether. If we continue to read Paul’s line of thought in Romans 3, we see that he states that the morality of the law ought to be upheld by all believers (Rom. 3:29-31). This is the same sense that James held with post-salvation morality displayed as works. As for Paul’s argument that the law cannot save, James also claims the same: “Whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all” (James 2:10). Indeed, James affirms that works are insufficient for salvation.

7. There are different senses of justification.

James and Paul also used the idea of justification differently. Paul taught that faith leads to justification—right standing before God. The justification James speaks of is one that will be declared at the end of the Christian’s life, the final stamp of approval that one’s faith was indeed genuine. If someone stated they had faith and, at the end of their life, there is evidence that their faith in God was indeed a saving faith, their faith is justified, affirmed to be right. The converse is true for one whose faith never led to any spiritual works. They will not be justified in the end because they didn’t have true saving faith and therefore were never justified to begin with. Unfortunately, they will “learn that faith without works is useless” (James 2:20).

There are more seeming incongruences in their doctrine, all of which (once you consider history and context) in the end come together as the same teaching on the gospel. This is but a mere glimpse of the unity of Scripture that can be uncovered with a bit of work. Paul and James believed in and taught the same gospel. They served the same God. And we can wholeheartedly study both James and the books of Paul, as well as the rest of the Old and New Testament, with great confidence that this is one harmonious, glorious message supremely authored by none other than God Himself.

1. Douglas J. Moo, James: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. Eckhard J. Schnabel, 2nd ed., vol. 16, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2015), 148.
2. Kurt A. Richardson, James, vol. 36, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1997), 136–37.

Katie Orr is the author of Secrets of the Happy Soul, seven FOCUSed15 Bible studies, and is the creator of the Bible Study Hub community, where women can receive training, encouragement, and accountability to enjoy God’s Word. Katie holds an MA in Discipleship from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. She and her husband, Chris, along with their three children, live in central Florida.