Helpful article from Tim Challies:
When it comes to supposed contradictions in the Bible, a classic example is Paul vs. James on the subject of justification. Paul says, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28). James says, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).
The tension between the two seems irreconcilable at first glance: either a person is justified apart from works or they aren’t; either Paul is right or James is. They can’t both be right; that would be irrational, postmodern thinking in which truth is relative and, therefore, meaningless. But not necessarily. We have to remember that a single word can have more than one meaning, depending on the context in which it is used. The same word can even be used in seemingly opposing statements and yet both can still be true. (My favorite example is “cleave,” a word that has two directly opposed meanings.)
