IN Romans 3: 28 the apostle Paul declares 'For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law'. Here is the great testimony of the Gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Justified means being accepted as righteous in the sight of God. This means that all our sins our forgiven and forgetten by God, and as a result God bestows on us the gift of eternal life in heaven.

But in this verse in the epistle of James and the verse above James speaks of two kinds of faith. One is a faith without deeds; and the other is faith shown by deeds. This seems to oppose the words of Paul in Romans 3: 28 which he declare that a man is justified by faith apart from the law. Is there a resolution for this seeming contradiction?

There most certainly is! When a person is granted the gift of faith in Jesus as our sin-bearer and righteousness, if it is real faith that saves our souls from sin and death and hell, it will also bring about a massive change in our life. It is called by Jesus 'new birth' and by Paul in 2 Corinthians as a 'new creation'. This is the resurretion of our inner being so that it is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4: 24), and this means when we are justified by faith we long to please God and live a life indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

When this happens our faith is proved to be saving by the life we lead where we seek to live to the glory of God. This means a life first of all that seeks to avoid sin and wrong, and second a life which loves others as God has loved us. In this way we show our faith is truly God given by our deeds. In writing as he did James was seeking to oppose the lies of the devil when he tempts people to say and act as if being justified by faith means it does not matter how we live, and people can continue to live in a sinful way.