Paul vs. James?

Renewing Your Mind

Ligonier Ministries

Religion & Spirituality, Reformed, Study, Jesus, Preaching, Christianity, Scripture, Spirit, Bible, Holy, Theology, Christian, God, Teaching

4.8 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 31 October 2025

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Romans 3:28 teaches that we're justified by faith apart from works. But James 2:26 says faith apart from works is dead. Can these passages be reconciled? Today, R.C. Sproul explains the relationship between faith and good works.

Get a Reformation resource bundle with your donation of any amount: The Legacy of Luther book, R.C. Sproul's teaching series Luther and the Reformation (DVD plus digital messages and study guide), and his Justified by Faith Alone teaching series (digital messages and study guide): https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/4343/offer

Live outside the U.S. and Canada? Request The Legacy of Luther ebook, the digital teaching series and study guide for Luther and the Reformation, and the digital teaching series and study guide for Justified by Faith Alone: https://www.renewingyourmind.org/global

Gather with Christians around God's Word at one of Ligonier's events: https://www.ligonier.org/events

Meet Today's Teacher:

R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.

Meet the Host:

Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast.

Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Transcript

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0:00.0	Happy Reformation Day.
0:02.4	Today, on renewing your mind, R.C. Sprold tackles a centuries-old question.
0:07.3	Here we have the explicit statement in sacred scripture
0:10.5	that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
0:16.1	You would think that that single verse would be the crushing blow
0:19.9	to the article that Luther said was the article
0:23.2	upon which the church stands or falls. So how do we reconcile what Paul teaches in Romans
0:31.3	with what James teaches here? Welcome to this Reformation Day edition of Renewing Your Mind.
0:44.3	I'm Nathan W. Bingham.
0:46.3	All week, you've been hearing messages from R.C. Sprole's Luther and the Reformation series.
0:52.3	Well, today, you'll hear one message from the last series
0:55.8	that Dr. Sprole recorded for us at Ligeneer Ministries. It's called Justified by Faith Alone.
1:02.1	He recorded it in his office in the presence of a group of Reformation Bible College students.
1:08.4	If you'd like access to this entire series and its study guide, we'll unlock them for you
1:13.9	in the free Liganeer app when you make a donation in support of Renewing Your Mind at
1:18.6	Renewing Your Mind.org before midnight tonight.
1:22.3	And to thank you for your donation, we'll also unlock the entire Luther and the Reformation
1:27.1	series and Study guide, send
1:29.5	you that series on DVD, and send you a copy of the hardcover book, The Legacy of Luther.
1:36.3	Don't delay though, as today is the final day.
1:40.4	So does Paul contradict James?
1:43.1	How should we respond to that accusation?
	...

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