Martin Luther (1483-1546) is the man that sparked the Protestant Reformation in his day. He preached widely and wrote exensively on Biblical topics which formed the core beliefs of the Reformation itself.
James Chapter 2 is easily misunderstood by those who do not have the correct teaching.[1]
Here are the specific verses:
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. James 2:18
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? James 2:20
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:26
False shepherds teach "faith plus works" for Salvation.
Below is teaching relevant to James Chapter 2 as explained by Martin Luther and taught by all the Reformers and still taught by all the true Protestant Churches today.
LUTHER ON JAMES 2
"The Answer to this question is that the apostle is distinguishing between Law and Faith, or between the Letter and Grace, and thus also between their resepective works. The works of the Law are those, he says, which take place outside of Faith and Grace and are done at the urging of the Law, which either forces obedience through fear or allures us through the promise of temporal blessings. But the Works of Faith, he says, are those which are done out of the Spirit of Liberty and solely for the Love of God. And the latter (The Works done by Faith) cannot be accomplished except by those who have been Justified by Faith, to which the works of the Law (or any other human works) add nothing, indeed, they strongly hinder it, since they do not permit a man to see himself as unrighteous and in need of Justification.
"Here is an example. If a layman should [shall we say, perform all the outward works of a Pastor, conduct a Church service, admit persons as full members to that Church, tell them they are absolved as recognized members, administer the Communion to the Church members, dedicate an altar or building, etc.][2], it is certain that all these actions in every respect would be similar [to the actions of a true Pastor], in fact, they might be performed more reverently and properly than the real ones. But because he has not been truly Consecrated by God being Ordained and Sanctified for the Office, he performs nothing at all, but is only playing church and is deceiving himself and his followers. It is the same way with the righteous, good and holy works which are performed either without or before true Justification. For just as this layman [who tinkers at having the Office] does not become a Pastor by performing all these functions, although it could happen that he be made a Pastor later without doing them, namely, by true Ordination, so also the man who is righteous by the works of the Law is actually not made righteous by the works of the Law at all, but without them, namely, through Faith alone in Christ, by which he is Justified, and as it were, Ordained, so that he is made Righteous for the performance of the Works of Righteousness, just as this layman could later be Ordained a Pastor for the performance of the functions of a Pastor. And it can happen that the man who is righteous by the Law does works which are more according to the Letter and more spectacular than than the man who is Righteous by Grace. But yet he is not for this reason righteous but may actually be more impeded by these works from coming to Righteousness and to the Works of Grace.
"Another example. A monkey can imitate the actions of a man, but he is not a man on that account. But if that monkey should become a man, this doubtless would not take place because he has imitated the actions of a man, but by some other power, namely, Gods'; but then having become a man, he would only then truly and rightly perform the actions of a man.[3]
"Therefore when St. James and the apostle say that a man is Justified by Works, they are contending against the erroneous action of those which thought that Faith suffices without works, although the apostle does not say that Faith Justifies without its own works) because then there would be no Faith, since, according to the philosophers, 'action is the evidence that form exists'[4]), but that it Justifies without the works of the Law. Therefore Justification does not demand the works of the Law, but a Living Faith which Produces its Own Works.
"But if Faith Justifies with its own Works, but without the works of the Law, then why are heretics regarded as beyond Justification, since they also believe and (they say) from this same faith produce great and sometimes even greater works than true believers? And all the people in the Church who are spiritually proud, who have many and great works which also surely proceed from faith, why are such people found to be unrighteous? (We must ask them): Does something else other than Faith in Christ and its (Own) Good Works seem to be required for Justification?
"James answers the question briefly:
"And thus they actually believe nothing which is to be believed, and perish without Faith, without obedience toward God, while still in their great works, which are so similar to the real ones. And so [many] also truly believe things similar to what the Church truly believes. But one thing only does the thinking of their proud heart oppose; namely, Christ, and thus they perish in thir unbelief. So also every proud man in his own mind always opposes either precept or the council of him who is correctly guiding him to salvation. Since he does not believe this council, he believes nothing, and his entire faith perishes because of the tenacity of one thought. We must always humbly therefore, give way in our thinking, for since in our nature we are all liars, the Truth can never come to us except by apparent adversity to what we think with our own minds, for we naturally presume that we think the truth, and we wish to see and hear as truth only that which agrees with us and applauds us. But this cannot be.
"The works of such as these ones are but the works of the Law and not of Faith or of Grace, indeed they are opposed to and in conflict with Faith. Thus Justification not only can, but must take place without them, and with the apostle must be counted, 'refuse for the Sake of Christ' (Philippians 3:8)
...the Righteousness of God through Faith. Romans 3:22
"Thus they plainly divide Christ when they say it is one thing to "believe in Christ" and another to believe in the things which pertain to Christ; the reason they always err is because Christ is actually 'not divided'. (I Corinthians 1:13), as the apostle says; and as we have said above, Faith in Christ is similarly Indivisible, just as Christ and the things which pertain to Him are One and The Same Thing.[5]
"Thus the heretics confess and brag that they "believe in Christ" (or "on Christ") according to what the Gospels say of Him, that He was born, suffered, died, etc. But they do not believe those things which pertain to Him. And what are these things? His Church of course, and every word which proceeds from the mouth of a true authority of the Church or from the mouth of a good and holy man is the Word of Christ, for He has Said:
FOOTNOTES
[1
We are warned against false shepherds among us. Examining a teachers' teaching on James Chapter 2 will always very quickly and very easily serve to reveal and identify these false shepherds and false organizations.
[2
[3
[4
[5
He finishes off the opposition handily and decisively throughout his teaching by demonstrating vis-a-vis the writings of the early Church. Luthers' teaching conformed at all points to the main teachings of the early Church; Anselm, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory of Nissa and all the others.
ibid. Contra Julian.
ibid. Contra Pelagius.
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. 1559.
The Council of Orange. 529 A.D.
Graetz, H. History of the Jews. Jewish Publication Society of America. 1956.
Lex Rex, or The Law and the Prince. 1644.
The London Confessions of Faith of 1644.
Luther, Martin. The Bondage of the Will. 1525.
ibid. Luther's Works. The Gospel of John. Saint Louis, Missouri. Concordia Publishing House. 1957.
ibid. Lectures on Romans.
The Westminister Confession of Faith. 1646.
Thank you for visiting my page at Angelfire. Please come back and visit again!
Translations: 
