James 2.14-26

Think Heavenly about Faith (James 2.14-26)

First, we began this book by looking at wisdom for trials occurring outside the community (James 1.2-18); then we moved to learn wisdom for trials occurring inside the community. There were four specific trials that were going on that James was trying to eliminate by encouraging his readers to “think heavenly” about these areas. The four are: first, think heavenly about religion; Second, think heavenly about people; Third, think heavenly about faith; Fourth, think heavenly about our tongue. Last lesson, we looked at how James encouraged us to think heavenly about people, how not show favoritism. Now, we are moving on to the third thing that is causing trials that we must think heavenly about...namely faith. 

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

   Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Faith without works is dead...a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 

What bold and controversial statements. It seems to contradict what Paul says in Ephesians 2:

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 

These two verses seem mutual exclusive from each other. There has been so much controversy over the differences between these two passages that Martin Luther did not think James should be a part of the Bible. He wanted to kick it out. Yet, here it is, still in our Bibles today. So how do we reconcile being saved by grace through faith, but faith also includes works? That is a good question. The first thing we need to realize is that James is not approaching the idea of faith as if he is arguing for faith with works versus faith without works. Rather, James is trying to help his audience understand what true faith really is. This is how he starts:

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The question that is answered is simply this, “does faith without deeds still save you?” James is wondering if faith has to do with just holding a set of beliefs about God, or responding to Jesus’ grace with a faith-filled life of actions. The example he uses is that of helping the poor. He shows that when we speak and say things, and maybe even believe that we want to help this person, but our lives do not ACT that way, then it does not even matter. James’ conclusion is that faith, without deeds, actions, is dead. It will NOT save you. Next, James shows that faith cannot be separated from works. Look at what he says:

 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

   Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

James seems to be acting as if he is engaging in a conversations with an imaginary person. He says, “some say, ‘you have faith...’”. Who is James referring to as having said this? Most likely, James is speaking as if this was a real objection that was being raised among the churches to whom he was writing. This guy is arguing that faith and works are an either or thing. You can have either faith or works, but you do not need both. James is arguing that this is completely wrong, that faith and works are a both and deal. His reasoning is that even the demons believe these facts about God, but what matters is what these beliefs produce, good or bad works. Ephesians 2.10 says, 

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

We are not saved BY works, but we are saved FOR works. And if that faith does not manifest itself with works, then it is no faith at all. James gives two Biblical examples to show that this is how God has always defined faith. The examples are Abraham and Sarah. He illustrates this as follows:

19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

The key with the example of Abraham, the forefather of faith, is that this story of sacrificing his son on the altar came AFTER he was already made right with God. In Genesis 15.6, God said to Abraham: “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Yet, his faith was “made complete” by what he did in Genesis 22, when he obeyed in faithfulness. The same thing occurred with Rahab. Hebrews 11.31 says, “by faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” And then James says, “In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” These two passages side by side show that faith has to do with works. It is always manifested by good works. We can not earn our salvation, but a life that is saved is a life that does good works. 

We tend to always emphasize one side of this spectrum over the other. Some of us talk about faith alone, and that all works are evil, we are only saved by belief. This ignores the Biblical definition that ties faith with works. Others are so focused on what we do, Christianity turns into a form of legalism that looks too much like Buddhism or Hinduism. The key is to conflate faith and works in to one idea. We are saved because we are faith working people, devoted and serving God because of who we believe he is. For, as James concludes: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.