The Passage that Martin Luther Hated
Is St. James a straw epistle? Actually, No
Today, we see one of the most famous passages in Christianity (James 2:14-18). This is part of a passage that Martin Luther disliked intensely, so much that he considered this Letter of St. James a straw epistle.
First, one of the questions that many ask when it comes to our salvation is are we saved by grace or by works. According to Martin Luther, we are saved by grace. The Church teaches a similar idea but from our faith we must do works. Our faith and the way we live our lives cannot be disjointed.
So we are saved by grace, but we must respond to that gift of grace by the way we live our lives. Otherwise, we are doing what Jesus says “Giving lip service.”
How are we saved?
This is a real contention in Christianity because Martin Luther taught that we are saved by grace. This means that God bestows his grace on us by the death and resurrection his son and we are saved, the minute we believe in Christ. Some people interpret this is that is all we have to do.
Others, such as Billy Graham preached, no we have to show we accept that grace by the way we live our lives. We as Catholics believe something similar.
However, some Catholics especially in the United States believe that we are only saved by working hard to grow in holiness. Notice that is not even close to what St. James in saying. Obviously, growing in holiness is important the most important way to do it is to grow in charity.
So we need to be people of prayer and allow that prayer to transform us as we grow in charity.
Two extremes
So let us look at the two extremes. One extreme is to believe once someone says the sinner’s prayer he or she is saved. This means they do not have to change their life at all and live a sinful life but they said the Sinner’s prayer so they are saved and they are saints.
Many years ago, when I was in the Navy, a friend borrowed my car for the day. When he went to pick me up this conversation happened once I was once again behind the wheel.
“Now, Bob, do not get upset.”
“Ok, why will I not get upset?”
“You have a gun under your seat.”
“Ok, why do I have a gun under my seat?”
“Well, I needed to protect myself where I was going. Don’t worry, I will take it out as soon as we get to my house.”
“I know!”
If you know me, that represents everything I do not stand for, but he was one of the Sinner’s Prayer Christians.
The other extreme is we have to work hard to ensure we are among the people saved and if we do not work hard enough, we are not saved. That is wrong too but it is a common fallacy of salvation among US Catholics, especially the more traditionalists.
These are also the Massa Damnata people who teach virtually everyone is going to Hell. Obviously, because they do not work hard enough.
Neither is true.
What St. James calls us to do
What we have to do is pray and respond in gratitude for what Jesus did for us on the cross. Through his action as commanded by the Father, he brought us salvation for we live in gratitude and charity in response to it.
We live the commandments to love God and neighbor through our prayer life.
Fr. Robert J Carr is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA
The parish podcast is at https://catholicaudiomedia.com