James 2:14-26

James points out key principles that should challenge our theological perspective....

Recap

James 1:2 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Change your perspective about your “IT”

James 1:3 ESV

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

The testing of your faith produces steadfastness!

James 1:8 ESV

he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

The reason why a person is double -minded is because they don’t ask for Wisdom in faith.

James 1:25 ESV

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

James 1:26 ESV

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

James 2:9 ESV

But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

James is teaching about spirituality in action.

As believers we should not profess one thing and act another way.

James 2:14 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:14

The emphasis is not on the true nature of faith but on the false claim of faith.

trust (faith) n. — strong confidence in, and reliance upon, someone or something; often with the object of trust understood.

James is dealing with the boastful attitude of a person claiming to have faith.

Can that faith save him?

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:14

A negative answer is anticipated in the Greek. Merely claiming to have faith is not enough. Genuine faith is evidenced by works.

James 2:15–16 ESV

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

James 2:17 ESV

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

duty n. — work that a person is obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

dead ⇔ useless adjs. — having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully; conceived of as being without life.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:17

The vain boast, faith by itself, or faith in and of itself with no evidence of action, is dead. Workless faith is worthless faith; it is unproductive, sterile, barren, dead! Great claims may be made about a corpse that is supposed to have come to life, but if it does not move, if there are no vital signs, no heartbeat, no perceptible pulse, it is still dead. The false claims are silenced by the evidence.

James 2:18 ESV

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

James 2:19–20 ESV

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:19

In other words the respondent is saying, “Faith is not the key; what counts is works.” Thus the respondent has gone too far. James did not say that works are essential to faith, or that faith is unimportant. His argument was that works are evidence of faith.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:20

Flimsy faith is dead; so are empty, faithless works. James’ argument is not pro-works/anti-faith or pro-faith/anti-works. He has simply said that genuine faith is accompanied by good works. Spiritual works are the evidence, not the energizer, of sincere faith

James 2:21 ESV

Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?

to be justified v. — to be or become judicially vindicated as having complied with the requirements of the law (of God).]

it simply declares him to be not guilty before God

Genesis 22:9 ESV

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

Genesis 22:12 ESV

He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

James 2:22 ESV

You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;

Active: to collaborate v. — to work together on a common enterprise or project.

Completed: to perfect v. — to make complete of its kind and without defect or blemish.

James said steadfastness must have its full effect so our faith can be perfect and complete.

James 1:4 ESV

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 2:23 ESV

and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.

James 2:24 ESV

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

My works should match my verdict!

James 2:25 ESV

And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

Rahab the prostitute

Joshua 2:6 ESV

But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.

James 2:26 ESV

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:26

The conclusion is most clear. Faith and deeds are as essential to each other as the body and the spirit. Apart from (chōris) the spirit, or the “breath” (pneumatos) of life, the body is dead. Apart from (chōris) the evidence of works, faith may be deemed dead. It is not the real thing. True faith continually contributes to spiritual growth and development.

Not only is a believer to stand confidently on God’s Word even in the midst of trials and temptations (chap. 1), but also he must serve his brothers and sisters in Christ (chap. 2). He is to accept all members of God’s family without favoritism (vv. 1–13) and to aid the family with a working faith (vv. 14–26). To gain spiritual maturity a believer must be what God wants him to be and do what God wants him to do.