The Bible, being the word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17) cannot contradict itself (2 Timothy 2:13). If the Bible teaches one doctrine, it isn't going to teach another doctrine in another place. In Christianity, there is no concept of "abrogation". No verse overrules or replaces another. With all this in mind, it is high time people stopped playing the Bible off against itself.
An excellent example is the concept of Sola Fide. Sola Fide is the belief that salvation is acquired by faith alone. You do not have to, and indeed simply could not, work to earn salvation, neither can you lose salvation by failing to work, or even doing bad works. Your faith is what saves you, most specifically your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; that He became incarnate as a man, that He died on a cross, and that on the third day, He rose bodily. If you confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
There is no shortage of Scriptures that say this. Ephesians 2:8-10, for example, tells us "for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." This leaves no room for interpretation. We are saved by grace, through faith, not of works. Verse 10 (which we often neglect, and I repent of that dismal failure) shows us that works are actually a result of salvation. When we are saved, we start working out that salvation.
To further bolster this point, Paul tells us in Romans 11:6 "And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work." We see here that grace and works have a negative relationship. They are like dark and light, empty and full, on and off etc. They are opposites that cannot coexist. If you are saved by grace, you cannot be saved by works. If you are saved by works, that is not salvation by grace.
Of course, I could go on. If you're a well-read Christian, you probably already know more verses on Sola Fide. But opponents of Sola Fide know at least one Bible verse that, in their mind, says otherwise: James 2:24. This verse says "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only."
Now, if this was the only verse in the entire Bible, salvation by faith and works would be a valid understanding. And if it is the only verse you've ever read on the topic, it's understandable why you might draw that conclusion. But as we've already shown, this is not the case. If you've read this whole article this far, you already know that the Bible quite clearly teaches salvation by grace through faith, not of works. Thus, we appear to have a conflict. What do we do with it?
There are a few possibilities. We could say the Bible is contradictory, or incoherent, or even that some parts of it do not come from God. But the best solution here is to say that at least one of these verses cannot mean what someone thinks it means. Now, it is the consistent testimony of Scripture that salvation is by grace through faith, not of works. It tells us that our righteous works are filthy rags because of our sin (Isaiah 64:6), it tells us we fall from grace if we attempt to be justified by law (Galatians 5:4), it tells us that he who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Romans 4:5). The Bible is utterly flooded with verses that clearly tells us that faith is literally the only way to be saved. Works serve only to condemn.
So what are we to make of James 2:24? If James is preaching salvation by faith plus works, he is contradicting the Gospel itself, and thus not only is he a heretic, but Paul says he is anathema (Galatians 1:8). This is an intolerable conclusion. James is a witness of Christ, being both His brother and His servant. He was a leader in the early Church, even being martyred for his faith, and everything else he taught was totally biblical. So what do we do with this seemingly strange statement?
As always, context matters. Never read a Bible verse on its own, because the chances are there are more besides. In this case, there definitely are more verses. The entire context of James 2 is not that works are required for salvation, but that real faith naturally produces works. The key word in this verse is "justified". Justification and salvation are not the same thing. You can be justified by works while not being saved by works. If you need proof of that, look no further than Luke 7:29, which tells us that tax collectors justified God. Did the tax collectors save God? Was God on the path to Hell before the tax collectors died in His place, granting Him an eternal inheritance in their kingdom? This would be absurd! And yet, there it is, "even the tax collectors justified God". So, clearly, to be justified by works is not the same as being saved by works.
The context, then, is not salvation by works on top of faith, but the type of faith that leads to salvation. See, there are two different kinds of faith. There is living faith, and there is intellectual assent. Intellectual assent is something anyone can do. Even the Pharisees knew God existed. But their faith was fruitless. Knowing He existed did not cause them to honor Him as God. Rather, they became puffed up, they added their own traditions to His law, and they trusted in their own works, even though their works were abominable. But living faith is always accompanied by the desire to do good works, just for the sake of pleasing God. You may be saved by faith alone, but if your faith is the type of faith that saves, it won't be alone.
Think of it this way: As a human being, you can live alone. If you lived on an island somewhere with no other humans, you could survive. But you'd go slightly crazy. You'd crave social contact. You might try to tame a pet, you might talk to yourself, you might even invent friends for yourself out of objects around you. You're not designed to be alone. Neither is faith. Faith brings with it the desire to produce good works, and so if it's real, it will at least attempt.
And that is just one big example. We could spend hours giving examples of times when two or more verses are played against each other, but good Bible study insists that they not be. As Christians, it is essential that we understand the Bible in its context. Failure to do so damages our faith, and thus hinders our relationship with God. Let us avoid such a tragedy.