Bible Reflection - Romans 4 and James 2

By Father Rod

“Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

For many of us, at this time of year, our attention is drawn to our credit card statements. Some of us perhaps got a little carried away with the spirit of generosity during the Christmas season and now our credit is drained. Some may have to do a few extra shifts to balance the books, others may have to curb spending for a while until equilibrium can be restored.

Paul engages the idea of credit in the bank as he attempts to grapple with how faith and works relate to each other. “Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. But to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.” Romans 4:4-5.

Paul uses a banking metaphor to help us work out what grace and faith and righteousness mean for us. We all know that if we want credit in the bank we have to work, earn some money, not spend it, and save it by putting it in the bank. What if we could get money in the bank without working? We wish!

Well, Paul says we can, at least spiritually speaking.

Paul basically says that if you are in relationship with the Source, that is have faith, then you don’t have to do any work to get the account filled up. Wow, what a great deal. Those with children may also be familiar with this concept.

Now, just in case we are struggling with the concept, Romans 4:9-12 takes us back to Abraham to further explain that “faith was reckoned (there’s that accounting term again) to Abraham as righteousness” before he did anything. Good old Abe just trusted God. He and Sarah were well beyond childbearing years when God took him outside one night and showed him the stars and said you will have more kids and grandkids than these, “Abraham believed and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6. Ka ching! No work done by Abraham, money in the bank. Spiritually speaking of course.

Having explored the promise to Abraham, Paul finishes Romans 4 with God’s extension of the same promise to each and every one of us, “Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.”

So, the money is in the bank, and it’s free.

Then there is James. While Paul is concerned with how the money gets into the account, James is concerned with how it is spent. He is not content with it just sitting there earning interest.

James writes his letter (44-48CE) before Paul writes Romans (55-57CE) so it’s not possible that James had read Romans, but had Paul read James? More likely they had a discussion at the Council of Jerusalem (48-50CE) (Acts 15) as it’s interesting that they paddle around in the same metaphorical pond and both appeal to Genesis 15 and Abraham’s righteousness to support their arguments. It would have been fascinating to have been in on that discussion.

James talks about being rich in faith, “Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?” James 2:5, the implication being that if those riches are not shared, they are devalued.

For James faith without works is not just devalued, it is dead. James 2:17.

He then appeals to another Abraham story, that of the sacrifice of Issac to demonstrate his point, Genesis 22. Displaying that Abraham’s faith was made manifest in the work of obedience to God. This leads him back to the quote he shares with Paul, “faith was to Abraham as righteousness”, but he sees Abraham’s work as a fulfillment of his faith. “Thus, the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God.” James 2:23.

James and Paul do not contradict each other, one focusing on faith the other on works. They hold a tension, addressing different issues from different perspectives. In the bible tensions are not contradictions. Tensions in the biblical text encourage us to avoid easy answers and superficialities, drawing us ever more deeply into our relationship with God and with each other.