James 2:20-24 - Exposition

(3) Third point : Proof from the example of Abraham that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. In Genesis 15:6 we read of Abraham that "he believed in the Lord; and he accounted it to him for righteousness" ( LXX ., ἐπίστευσεν αβραμ τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην , quoted by St. Paul in Romans 4:3 ; Galatians 3:6 ). But years after this we find that God "tested Abraham" ( Genesis 22:1 ). To this trial St. James refers as that by which Abraham's faith was "perfected" ( ἐτελειώθη ), and by which the saying of earlier years found a more complete realization (cf. Ecclesiasticus 44:20, 21, "Abraham … kept the Law of the Most High, and was in covenant with him … and when he was proved, he was found faithful. Therefore he assured him by an oath, that he would bless the nations in his seed," etc).