# Lehre und Wehre_St. Louis Missouri_April 1855_S123
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

James’s Doctrine of Justifying Faith. 123

“from,” and is also translated in this way in Matthew 12:37 in connection with being justified. In sentences, however, that express some judgment or declaration, the Greek “from” indicates that from which the judgment is drawn or on which it is based, and in such cases may quite properly be rendered “according to,” “because of,” “by virtue of,” or “on the basis of.” Abraham’s works, then, are to be regarded as that from which the judgment that he was righteous was drawn, or on which it was based. By whom was Abraham declared righteous according to his works?—By God and, because God deals with human beings through the Word, by the Word of God, we answer without hesitation; for James is plainly seeking to say about works the same thing that Paul in particular states about faith. Faith, for example, in Romans 5:1, is connected by “from” with being declared righteous in such a way that it appears as the basis from which that declaration follows; and again, in Romans 3:30, God Himself is identified as the one who declares righteous according to faith. The same Word of God—for example, Romans 3:21 and Matthew 9:2—which the repentant sinner grasps in faith, also declares him righteous according to this faith; and, as James means, the same Word of God—for example, Genesis 22:2 and Luke 14:26–27—which Abraham or the believing Christian obeys, also declares him righteous according to this deed or work, that is, declares him a possessor of the righteousness of faith. This sounds strange, and for that reason more recent theologians also disapprove of the unanimous assertion of the older Lutheran church teachers that justification through faith is a judicial act of God, carried out by means of a word or declaration. They say that applying the Word that declares righteous to the individual person is nothing other than the inward appropriation by faith itself. Yet the Word of God in the hand of the Holy Spirit is not merely the basis of faith, but also a means of sealing or assuring us that we truly stand upon the basis of faith (2 Corinthians 1:21–22), a testimony to our spirit that we are God’s children through faith in that very Word which testifies to our sonship. Thus, whoever accepts in faith the Word concerning the righteousness of Christ, which avails before God and is credited to faith, also receives from that same Word the assuring declaration that he has a share in that Word (Acts 8:21) and, by virtue of his faith in it, is regarded as righteous before God (compare 1 John 5:6ff., where it says, among other things, that the Spirit testifies that the Spirit is truth). We may leave further discussion of the testimony of the Holy Spirit worked through the Word—which is usually regarded as a feeling, but in truth occurs through the same Word to which it testifies—to a later work, all the more because the matter itself presents no difficulty at all in the present case. If Abraham had not obeyed the Word in Genesis 22:2, it would have declared him unbelieving; because he obeyed it, it declared him believing and consequently righteous through faith. The commandments of God, which fundamentally require nothing but works of faith, assure every believer who fulfills them of his