One of the primary rallying cries of the Protestant Reformation was—and still is—sola fide. That is, Salvation is by faith alone.

This doctrine of faith alone is drawn from texts like Romans 3:28 and Ephesians 2:8-9. But others come along and point us to some verses in the letter of James, and say: No, it is not so simple as faith alone. Because James says one is justified by works, and not by faith alone.

This post will be a deep dive into this issue, because there’s either a reasonable explanation (because not every explanation given to try and rectify the tension is reasonable); or there is a hopeless contradiction in our Bible.

The sixteenth century Reformer Martin Luther famously “added” the word alone to his translation of Romans 3:28: For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (ESV‬‬) For we hold that one is justified by faith alone.

Truth is, Luther didn’t “add” anything—alone is strongly implied in the Greek—if not demanded by it.

[Warning, there’s some Greek ahead. I’ve transliterated it to try and help. You don’t have to read this section if it’s not your thing. I’m just “showing my work” for the assertion I just made above.]

It says, first: λογιζόμεθα γὰρ δικαιοῦσθαι πίστει ἄνθρωπον [logizómetha gar dikaiousthai pistei anthrōpon]. The word πίστει, by faith, is an instrumental dative. That means it’s telling you how the preceding verb—in this case, being justified—is accomplished. Paul says a person is justified—declared righteous in God’s sight—by faith, or through faith.

Then, he says: χωρὶς ἔργων νόμου [chōris ergōn nomou]: apart from—or without—works of the law.

That adverb χωρὶς is rather strong. It means separate and apart from. People are justified by faith, completely separate from works of the law.

[Here endeth the Greek lesson.]

I did this exercise to show you what St. Paul was doing, and even if it’s “all Greek” to you, I still hope you can get the sense of it. The Apostle was strongly contrasting two ways of approaching God: either through faith, or through works of the law (i.e., one’s own personal righteousness and obedience).

He’s saying that we can either come to God through faith [alone], or through law-keeping [alone]. The two ways are mutually exclusive! That’s why he used chōris, an adverb of separation.

But, Paul says, only one of these ways will lead to God declaring you righteous, and that’s coming to Him through faith.

Thus—the Greek at least demands that we understand that justification is by faith alone. Luther didn’t “add” anything to the sense of the verse when he qualified faith with alone.

And this is St. Paul’s consistent doctrine. You can either try to get to God through faith—specifically faith in Christ and His finished work; or you can try to get to God by your own works. But there’s no mixing the two of them together! And only faith will set you right with God. Your works will damn you.

St. Paul says that in the immediate context: For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans‬ ‭3:20‬ ‭ESV‬‬) The law of God tells you to love God and your neighbor, and condemns you for not doing it. But it has no power to make you love God or your neighbor. Since we never actually love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind; or our neighbor as ourselves—not perfectly and perpetually—if we come before God with our own works to testify for us, the law can only condemn us.

St. Paul makes this very same point even more explicitly in Galatians:

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”
‭‭

Galatians‬ ‭3:10-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Do you see what Paul says there? The law is not of faith—in other words, you either perfectly fulfill it, or you don’t fulfill it at all. Thus everyone who relies on their own doing for salvation at any point is under a curse, because no one but Christ has ever fulfilled the demands of even one of God’s laws. But those who are righteous by faith shall live.

This all seems pretty straightforward until you hit the second chapter of James. And the Lord’s brother tells us this:

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone … For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
‭‭

James‬ ‭2:24, 26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

And now we start scrambling.

James is using the same words here as Paul did in Romans 3:28. Justified is dikaoō. Works is ergōn. Faith is pistis.

Some will jump in here and try to make a big deal out of the fact that James only says ergōn—works—while Paul says ergōn nomou—works of the law. They interpret that to mean that James is talking about works of love and service (which by the context of James 2, he is); but when Paul says works of the law, he means only the external ritual laws, like circumcision or dietary laws.

But is Paul really being that narrow when he speaks about works of the law? No, he can’t be. Because elsewhere he’s going to make statements like this:

… the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
‭‭

Romans‬ ‭13:8b-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

He says the same in Galatians 5:14: For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (ESV)

So it’s pretty obvious that for Paul, the works of the law includes our obedience to God and acts of love to our neighbors. But if there’s still any lingering doubts, peep Galatians 5:3-4:

I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.
‭

ESV

St. Paul is outright telling the Galatians: If you’re trying to score brownie points with God by being circumcised, understand that you’re now obligated to keep the whole law! That includes the Ten Commandments—personal, perfect, perpetual righteousness before God. But, Paul adds, as soon as you go that way, understand that you’re not just cutting off your foreskins—you’ll be cutting yourself off from Christ, too. Because you’re choosing law over grace through faith as your righteousness before God.

So it’s pretty obvious that when Paul says works of the law, he’s not just narrowly defining that as the outward, ritual and ceremonial works of the law. He means the whole law. Including personal righteousness, obedience, loving your neighbor.

So that dog just won’t hunt. Paul means the same thing by works of the law in Romans 3:8 as James does by works in James 2:24, etc. So we are still left with Paul and James seeming to say the exact opposite of each other, using the very same language.

But our God is not a God of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians‬ ‭14:33‬ ‭ESV‬‬). So there are no contradictions in His word.

So now I’d like to zero in on a few things that should smooth out the difficulties here.

1. What do James and Paul mean by faith? It’s rather obvious what Paul means. When Paul speaks of faith, he means faith in Christ. For example:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
‭‭

Romans‬ ‭3:21-26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Paul speaks here of a righteousness that comes to us from God, by grace, apart from the law, through faith in Christ. God declares those righteous who trust in Christ’s finished work. This justification then is totally apart from our own doing. It is on the basis of God’s grace alone, it is accomplished by Christ alone, and it comes to us through faith alone.

But James 2 seems to have something different in mind when it mentions faith:

You believe [pisteúō, verb form of pistis, or faith] that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
‭‭

James‬ ‭2:19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Here’s a clue that James and Paul probably don’t have exactly the same thing in mind when they’re talking about faith in their respective passages.

A demon might believe some true things about God—like that there’s only one God. But a demon isn’t trusting Christ alone for his salvation. Do you see the difference? Notice that James is saying that demons have faith … of a sort, in that they believe something true about God. But he never claims they have faith in Christ, does he? That’s kind of an important distinction to notice, isn’t it?

So: James and Paul use the same word for faith, but context shows us that they’re using the same word in different ways.

2. What do Paul and James mean by justified? Again, for Paul, this is incredibly straightforward. He means sinners are counted as righteous by God, solely on the basis of what Christ has accomplished in His life, death, and resurrection—and this can only be received by faith. For example, in Romans 4:3-4, Paul writes:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
‭‭

ESV

Justification for Paul means that God has “righteoused” us for Christ’s sake.

But this is precisely what justified cannot mean in James. This is the case both in terms of sound theology and the context of James 2.

When James says a person is justified by works and not by faith alone, he cannot mean that our works God declares us righteous on the basis of our works. Why can James not mean that?

Well, again, first because it would contradict Romans 3:20 (among numerous other examples): by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Simply put, the scripture says 1) Our works cannot declare us righteous in God’s sight; and 2) That’s not what the law was designed for, anyway.

But second, it would mean that God isn’t all-knowing. Think about it: Does God need to see our good works in order to know whether or not we have saving faith? The answer should be self-evident: No!

The Psalmist tells us:

You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
‭‭

Psalm‬ ‭139:2-4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God knows what is in us better than we do! Moreover, we are plainly told that: God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” (2 Timothy‬ ‭2:19‬ ‭ESV). ‬‬

Scripture in various places and ways teaches us that God knows who belongs to Him. We do not need to justify ourselves before Him by our own efforts, to prove our faith is genuine. How would we ever know we had done enough?

So what James absolutely cannot mean when he says a person is justified by works and not by faith alone, is that we are approved as righteous before God by our deeds. There are just too many very plain scriptures that teach the precise opposite.

So what can James mean? Something Christ said will help us immensely: but wisdom is justified [ἐδικαιώθη, edikaiōthē, a form of dikaoō—same word as James and Paul] by her deeds [ἔργων, ergōn, “works”—again, same word James and Paul use] (Matthew 11:19 ESV).

So, using the exact same words we see in James and Paul, Jesus says that wisdom is justified by works. Well, it’s rather obvious that He doesn’t mean that wisdom—a virtue, not a person—is reckoned righteous by God on the basis of her obedience to the law.

Rather, Christ is using the same word in a different way than Paul does. Words are capable of having different shades of meaning, after all. What Christ is saying is wisdom is vindicated by her works. In other words, you can tell what’s true wisdom by seeing its outcome.

James is using the term justified in the same sense Christ did in Matthew 11:19. Not the way Paul does in his letters.

Here’s where we can go back to older theological categories for help. Let’s talk about coram Deo and coram mundo.

Coram Deo means “living before God.” It’s our awareness that we live in God’s presence, under His gaze and authority. How is a sinner declared righteous coram Deo in God’s sight? By faith in Christ alone! Only by grace, through faith.

But coram mundo refers to our life in the world, in the presence of our neighbors. And this is what James is getting at in these verses.

He’s not telling you how to be justified coram Deo, that is, in God’s sight. He’s teaching you about living coram mundo—before the eyes of the world.

How will you prove to your neighbors—especially your unbelieving neighbors—that your faith is true, and that it saves? In James 2, the issue is how some in the church were mistreating other Christians who were poor.

James is explaining that an orthodox faith—while necessary—isn’t going to prove the substance of their faith to other people.

And this should be clear from what James says in v18: Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (ESV‬‬)

James isn’t talking about justifying ourselves before God by our works! He’s explaining how what we do justifies or vindicates or proves our faith before our neighbors.

Like Christ said about wisdom, James is telling us that our faith is vindicated in court of our neighbors’ impressions by the fruit it produces.

TL;DR: Paul tells us how we are justified—counted righteous—before God. James tells us how our faith is justified—vindicated—before men.

3. What do Paul and James mean by faith alone? In Romans 3:28, we see that faith alone is strongly implied by apart from works of the law. Even if a translator felt squeamish about supplying the word alone, the sense of the text demands it.

Meanwhile, we see that James says that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Now, we’ve see that James is using faith in a different sense than Paul is. James here means something like believing right things about God, while Paul means specifically trusting Christ alone for salvation.

We’ve also seen that James means something different by justified than Paul does. Paul is speaking of God’s declaration that we are righteous through faith, on the basis of Christ’s work on our behalf. But James is speaking of the world’s appraisal of our faith, by the fruit it produces.

Given these differences, wouldn’t it also be reasonable to assume that James and Paul also mean something different by faith alone? It would be reasonable. And the language bears this out. Because here, for once, they’re going to use different words for their concepts of alone, and that’s going to make a great deal of difference.

For Paul, the key word is χωρὶς [chōris], “apart from.” We are justified by faith alone, apart from works of law. Faith, as opposed to trying to earn our way by our own efforts.

But when James says a person is justified by works and not by faith alone, the word he uses for alone is μόνον [monon]—alone as “only.” A “lonely” faith, as it were.

The Reformer John Calvin, picking up on this distinction, offered this clarifying statement:

It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone: just as it is the heat alone of the sun which warms the earth, and yet in the sun it is not alone, because it is constantly conjoined with light.

“Antidote to the Council of Trent” (1547), emphasis added

Likewise, the confessional documents of the Lutherans concur, along similar lines:

We believe, teach, and confess that, although the contrition that precedes, and the good works that follow, do not belong to the article of justification before God, yet one is not to imagine a faith of such a kind as can exist and abide with, and alongside of, a wicked intention to sin and to act against the conscience. But after man has been justified by faith, then a true living faith worketh by love, Gal. 5:6, so that thus good works always follow justifying faith, and are surely found with it, if it be true and living; for it never is alone, but always has with it love and hope.

Formula of Concord – Epitome, 3:11 (1577), emphasis added

In other words, saving faith—justifying faith—doesn’t stay lonely. Hope and love come with it. The Holy Spirit makes it fruitful, so that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) begin to blossom and finally to mature from it. But we must never mistake the root of our justification for its fruit! We do not do good works to be justified before God. Rather, because we are justified, we are finally able to do good works.

If we return to Calvin’s dictum above, in Romans 3:28, Paul is saying that faith alone justifies; while James is emphasizing that the faith that justifies is never alone. Rather, it will be vindicated in the eyes of our neighbors because of the hope and love and good fruit that grow from it.

4. Do James and Paul agree that faith without works is dead? They absolutely do!

James is going to say it outright: For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead (James 2:26 ESV).

Paul is going to make the same point, but in a more positive direction, in Galatians 5. His vision of justifying faith is lively faith—a faith borne of the Holy Spirit, and thus adorned with love and good fruit.

In Galatians 5:6, Paul speaks of faith working through love. And he presents us with this lovely image of the Holy Spirit producing good fruit in the lives of believers:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
‭‭

Galatians‬ ‭5:22-23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Now, if a branch is sprouting fruit, that’s proof it’s alive. So Paul is showing that if justifying faith is alive in us, it will produce fruit. 

And here’s the neat thing about this fruit metaphor: These good fruits, cultivated and nurtured in us by the Holy Spirit, do manifest themselves in good works! Other people are going to experience our love and joy and patience and kindness as tangible actions for them! Right? We’re going to serve them with our love and kindness. We’re going to be gracious towards them in their shortcomings and struggles through our patience. We’re going to encourage them with our joy.

James and Paul are equally concerned with communicating that others experience our faith, not merely as some ethereal principles or correct set of beliefs (although believing correctly is essential); but as a living, fruitful thing that empowers us to love them, and live in patient hope.

5. Then what’s the problem? The problem is with our sinful human nature. There’s something in us that prefers to be under law instead of under grace.

Like the Israelites longing to go back into Egypt—even though they were slaves there, and being murdered—we long to be under law. We crave the boundaries it provides.

But more to the point—relating to God through the law gives us a sense of control. My standing with God depends on what I do or don’t do. But grace through faith means we have to rely completely on what is outside of us—Christ and His finished work—instead of our own works. And that unnerves us.

Whenever you start preaching sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus—by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone—people start freaking out and say: You can’t teach that! If you tell people they’re saved through grace alone, not by works, then they just get lazy and do whatever they want to!

The sixteenth century Reformers like Luther and Calvin were told this. But—get this—so was St. Paul!

We see him responding to this accusation in his letters:

And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
‭‭

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
‭‭

Romans 3:8; 6:1-2, 15 ESV

You want to be really careful when you tell somebody it’s dangerous to preach faith alone, because you always sound like the people who were on Paul’s case. You just want to sin guilt-free! You’re overthrowing the law of God!

Because that’s exactly what St. Paul’s detractors were saying to him. That’s what the medieval church said to the Reformers. So you need to be really careful before you talk like that, because what Paul said about people who threw that at him was: They’re slandering the Gospel of Christ—that’s blasphemy—and their condemnation is deserved.

When you preach that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone—and you do it correctly—St. Paul says you’re not overthrowing the law, you’re upholding it. What did he mean?

Well, simply put—the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good (Romans‬ ‭7:12‬ ‭ESV‬‬), because God is holy and just and good. The problem is that we are not holy and just and good: nothing good dwells in me (Romans‬ ‭7:18‬ ‭ESV‬‬).

When we come to God in Christ, by grace through faith alone, that means the law has done its job, showing us our sin (Romans 3:20; cf. Romans 7:13).

The law kills our old prideful Adam: For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God (Galatians‬ ‭2:19‬ ‭ESV‬‬). We then come to God, confessing our sin and misery, and our inability to fulfill what his law demands. And we cast ourselves upon the mercy of Christ, who has fulfilled the law and all righteousness for us (Matthew 3:15; 5:17).

Thus we uphold the law. We give glory to God by confessing that He is holy and just and good, while we are not. We confess that we have had another God before Him: our own righteousness. We have sought first our own kingdom and righteousness, instead of His. And through faith in Christ, who suffered the curse of the law in our place, in baptism we undergo the law’s condemnation of idolaters and blasphemers like us: We are put to death!

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
‭‭

Romans‬ ‭6:3-4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Curiously, it’s those who try and put the law back on us who aren’t upholding the law. You know why? They water it down so it’s easy for them to keep it (if you can keep it, it’s not God’s law)—or at least, so they believe they are. They substitute their own laws for God’s, add their own rules to God’s, and shame you for not living up to their superficial expectations.

They are not concerned with making disciples for Christ, as much as clones of themselves, because they are still seeking to be their own gods.

Christ says of them:

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
‭‭‬‬

Matthew‬ ‭23:4, 13, 15‬ ‭ESV

They preach to you: Do your best, and God will take care of the rest. “God will take care of the rest” is their anemic gospel. But then they turn around and keep telling you all the ways you’re not doing “your best.”

These law-preachers are not upholding the law at all. They’re looting and plundering it to build their own kingdoms and gratify their own egos. Pretend gods have incredibly fragile egos.

I keep circling back to the sixteenth century Reformers, Luther and Calvin—primarily because they were the ones leading the church, with their battle cry: Sola Fide! Faith alone! Thus, God used them to restore the church’s rightful inheritance to her: the gospel of Christ in its purity and simplicity.

But the Reformers didn’t view faith alone as a license for indolence or sinful indulgence. Not anymore than St. Paul did.

Indeed, Luther countered strongly that it was precisely when we believe that we are declared righteous by God through faith alone that we are set free to do good works. And indeed—we will be more fruitful and productive than those who believe that their works—whether wholly or in part—are the basis of our standing before God.

Rather, Luther declared of justifying faith:

Faith is not the human notion and dream that some people call faith. When they see that no improvement of life and no good works follow—although they can hear and say much about faith—they fall into the error of saying, “Faith is not enough; one must do works in order to be righteous and be saved.” This is due to the fact that when they hear the gospel, they get busy and by their own powers create an idea in their heart which says, “I believe”; they take this then to be a true faith. But, as it is a human figment and idea that never reaches the depths of the heart, nothing comes of it either, and no improvement follows.

Faith, however, is a divine work in us which changes us and makes us to be born anew of God, John 1[:12-13]. It kills the old Adam and makes us altogether different men, in heart and spirit and mind and powers; and it brings with it the Holy Spirit.

He’s saying: Here’s what people don’t get about faith. It’s not this feeling we muster up within ourselves, of ourselves. If that’s what you think it is—something you did of your own initiative and power—that’s not what the Bible means by faith. Faith is a work of God, that makes dead men alive (Ephesians 2:1-5): Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John‬ ‭6:29‬ ‭ESV‬‬) Faith is not our work. It’s the work of God in us.

It’s not that God believes for us—it’s that through the Holy Spirit, God brings faith to life in us. It’s not a human work. It’s a gift: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Ephesians‬ ‭2:8‬ ‭ESV‬‬, emphasis added).

Luther’s point: Those who are saying faith is not enough to save, you must also add your own works to be counted righteous, have never actually understood saving faith. Because anyone who had wouldn’t talk that way. Their faith is just a figment of their imagination. They decided they had faith. It’s not from God.

He continues, explaining how saving faith produces its own fruit:

O it is a living, busy, active, mighty thing, this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good works incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done them, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever. He gropes and looks around for faith and good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are. Yet he talks and talks, with many words, about faith and good works.

Now, if you’re thinking: But my life doesn’t look busy like that, take heart. Because what Luther’s saying is: These people with imaginary faith are always looking around for good works to do—like a security blanket—and trying to get you to follow with them.

He wants you to understand that while they’re busy looking for good to do, you’ve already told your husband you love him, changed a diaper, made the bed, fixed breakfast, and started baking a pie for the charity auction to pay sister Molly’s medical bill. God’s well-pleased with that, because you’re doing them in Christ.

Meanwhile they’re desperately pursuing their quiet times and charity cases while scolding their anxious daughter for not being outgoing enough. God has not told them to do any of these things. But you’ve been busy doing the good works you were created in Christ Jesus to do, which God prepared beforehand, that you should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). You are actually doing good works that God has given you to do. They are not!

They will try and make you unsatisfied with your humble little good works. Oh, changing your kid’s diaper. Even pagans do that! It’s not enough! But pagans aren’t changing diapers in Christ, to the glory of God. That makes all the difference! And only someone who doesn’t understand justifying faith doesn’t get that.

To those people, Luther says—where the rest of us can hear:

Beware, therefore, of your own false notions and of the idle talkers who imagine themselves wise enough to make decisions about faith and good works, and yet are the greatest fools. Pray God that he may work faith in you. Otherwise you will surely remain forever without faith, regardless of what you may think or do.

“Preface to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans,” Luther’s Works, vol. 35, 370-71

James 2 doesn’t deny that justification is by faith alone. It simply denies that justifying faith is ever alone. For with it comes hope and love, and the sanctifying Holy Spirit, producing good fruit in us. But this good fruit is not for our salvation. It’s for our neighbors.

St. Paul, James the Lord’s brother, and the sixteenth century Reformers would all agree about that.

‭‭