What Is Saving Faith? James 2:14-26
James engages those unengaged in real faith here in James 2:14-26. He demonstrates that saving faith is active and committed to acting according to a complete trust in God. James shows that one’s faith works, and that works show one’s quality of faith. In twelve short verses he draws the line between the demons and the redeemed – namely, what one does with one’s beliefs. Does one nominally acknowledge the existence of God, or does one treat God with the respect, honor, love and loyalty which He so richly deserves? All the aforementioned qualities are first demonstrated before they are recognized as genuine. Nonetheless, as will always be the case, there are those who will take issue with the necessity for a commitment that requires effort, either falsely on the basis that “works” are somehow works of law or merit, or on the basis of a belief that because God loves everyone, He therefore will save everyone without qualification.
Martin Luther thought that James had it all wrong and was in direct contradiction with Paul’s teaching about being saved by faith [1]. Luther’s desire to break free of the legalistic, anti-intellectual political power structure of the Catholic Church influenced much of his thinking[2]. He thought of biblical faith as a contrast to the faith of Catholicism and of the old law, and therefore ignored the many examples Paul used which defined faith as an action word. Paul simply was contrasting justification by faith with justification by law, showing the latter to be contrary to the purpose of the giving of the law originally (Galatians 3, Romans 7). Abraham was a man of faith and obeyed God because he believed Him able to do anything, even raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:19).
Calvin recognized that it wasn’t necessary for every epistle to deal with the same arguments even though he thought James to be “sparing” concerning the grace of Christ. He believed James could be harmonized with the rest of scripture. [3] Fred Howard writes that the difference in emphasis between Paul and James was due to their historical situation. Paul, writing to those becoming Christians needed to quash the Judaizers’ claim that circumcision and following the law were necessary for salvation, and to them he emphasized salvation only through faith in Christ. James, however, was writing to those who were already Christians, some of whom were living as though in Christ they weren’t a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). [4]
With the wealth of historical information today, it may seem difficult to understand why anyone wouldn’t know that each epistle dealt with different issues. Earlier scholars obviously had neither all contemporaneously available resources nor the benefit of future theologians’ work found in libraries of 300,000-plus volumes to develop a clearer picture of the circumstances and needs of the epistles’ recipients. As Douglas Moo writes, distance from Luther’s battles and an awareness of the Jewish background of James’ initial recipients allows one to see how its distinctive and harmonious message re-defines saving faith for a new set of misapprehensions. [5]
It has been said that reading an epistle is much like hearing only one end of a telephone conversation. Unless the other information is provided, either by direct hearing or explanation by one of the participants, the listener is left to deduce the full context from other sources. We need an historical backdrop in order to see how the same themes or principles were reiterated throughout the Bible to address different audiences with different deceptions, distortions and darts of Satan attacking their understanding.
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?
E. C. Blackman writes that he thought of the “man” James refers to in verse 14, who says he has faith but not works, as a type of “Christian introvert” who either thought works unnecessary, or to be left to the “simpler members of the brotherhood.”[6] R. V. G. Tasker notes that James begins here to demonstrate where “loving action” is absent, there is “irrefutable evidence that real faith is lacking.”[7] Also in verse 14 of chapter 2, we first notice James posing a most important question: Is a non-working faith also a saving faith? Jesus’ command for us to love one another necessitates action, for in his account of the judgment, those who visited the sick or imprisoned, or clothe the needy were told “Well done,” and entered into heaven. They were reckoned as having ministered to Christ personally. James uses both Abraham and Rahab as examples. Abraham was a highly esteemed father figure to the Jews, whereas Rahab was a female of initially reprehensible origin, therefore of questionable character. Both acted in faith, evincing their trust by placing everything they held dear in hands of the faithful Almighty God. Moo writes, “Only where works are seen is genuine, saving faith present.”[8]
15 If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit?
In verse 15 and 16 James explains the loving, practical nature of Christianity. How are the poor being helped, and how am I laying up treasure in heaven if I don’t help brothers and sisters in need? “What does it profit,” indeed? Perhaps he uses this hypothetical example because these very things may happen to them, making it not so hypothetical after all. In James 2:6-7 James reminds his audience of the way the rich are treating some of them; dragging them into court, blaspheming the Holy Name for which they stand. So this example may carry the most weight in convincing them that simple well-wishing is meaningless; only real help will suffice. True faith, that which saves, results in loving actions toward those in need. The phrase, “Go in peace,” according to Adamson, is still used in Jerusalem streets, with beggars. It tells the beggar the conversation has ended. “The speaker does nothing…” for the poor person, “leaving the beggar still cold and hungry, with the law of love unfulfilled,” notes Adamson.[9] Dibelius writes that James is attempting “to compare faith without works to an example of goodwill without works.”[10]
17 So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
The conclusion James reaches in verse 17 is obvious for anyone with the ability to reason. The connections between action and life, inaction and death, are clear enough. The dead have no ability to move, and cannot participate in the joy of living. The living are always active; those “full of life” are considered to abound with action. Jesus taught that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). The Greek words for “faith, by itself,” are “pistis [faith]” and ”kath heauteen (how-tane)” [being alone]. This is much like saying, “I love you,” without demonstrating it in action. Love, therefore is not genuine if it is not attended by outward expression.[11] The son who told his father he would do the work he was asked to do, and then did not do it, is a similar example (Matthew 21:28-32). We bear fruit as genuine believers, for to believe in Christ is to place all our trust in Him, and by so doing change our entire world view and motivation. R. Kent Hughes refers to the Philippian jailer’s conversion in Acts 16, noting that Paul’s response was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Hughes writes that the word “in” is epi, which indicates “motion toward and rest upon its object,” which in this case would be the Lord Jesus, explaining further that “this means to rest everything on him.”[12] As a television with no power source and a car with no engine are of no use, so is faith that doesn’t work. They help no one.
18 But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
This interlocutor James refers to when he writes, “But some one will say,” is perhaps a person who rationalizes that others in the church will do the work; namely, the servants, not him. This style of writing is that of the diatribe, the introduction and use of an imaginary opponent.[13] This was a common writing technique in James’ and Paul’s day. Paul used it in his letter to the Romans in several places (chaps. 2-4, 6); most notably, perhaps, is Romans 6:1-2, where he asks the interlocutor whether Christians should continue in sin that grace may abound. Paul uses a form quite similar to James’ in 1 Corinthians 15:35-41.
19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder. 20 Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren?
Dibelius notes that James’ reference to the demons believing and shuddering is an allusion to Jewish and “syncretistic” literature, where demons, principalities and powers shudder before God. Dibelius also observes that the important point for the reader of James is not that the demons shudder, but that the reader notices how James leads from one convincing point to another; and since it is evident that the demons will be destroyed in the Day of Judgment, theirs is certainly not a saving faith.[14] Fred D. Howard writes that Paul never condoned a “barren faith,” and both Dibelius[15] and Howard noted that James seemed to be using a play on the words “works” and “barren.”[16] The Greek words used here for works and barren are ergwn and argeh, respectively. Dibelius defines the words’ placement in relation to each other as an “artistic device,” and quotes the phrase, “without works, faith does not work.”[17] The foregoing phrase perhaps illustrates how the reader perceived ergwn and argeh, used together such as this. James handily makes the case for an active faith, and his use of the Greek language emphasizes it in a way the reader will remember, much like we remember ad slogans from radio and television. For instance, a gecko is used to reinforce the memory of GEICO, an acronym for an insurance company, a clever play on the similarity in sounds between the two. James makes his case solidly once again, and drives it home to stay in the memory of the reader through this play on words.
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, 23 and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God.
In Galatians 3, Paul writes of Abraham as the father of the faithful, and here James shows the reader how Abraham’s faith was borne out in his complete trust in and obedience to God. “You see that faith was active along with his works,” where Dibelius notes that “faith assists works,” and “faith was completed by works,” Dibelius observing that “works perfect faith,” or make it complete.[18] The Greek word that James uses and that is used many times throughout the New Testament writings is from teleios, which means to be complete, of full age, or finished. Then James goes on to mention how the scripture was fulfilled, referring to Genesis 15:6, how righteousness was granted to Abraham as a result of how Abraham believed God. Douglas Moo[19] notes, as does O.S. Hawkins,[20] that God’s crediting (logizomai) Abraham clearly indicates a righteousness not “inherently” belonging to Abraham.
24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.
Verse 24 is seen as a transition from the dialogue to the style of a missive.[21] James drives his point home once again, and in verse 25, he adds one final example. In contrast to the great patriarch and father of the faithful, Abraham, we read of Rahab, of all people. She, of course, was a prostitute, and initially on the wrong side of the conflict. However, she had developed a faith and trust in God from simply viewing His handiwork, and she knew that God was powerful enough to save her and her family. She is commended, not for lying, as some would attempt to claim, but for her faith, which moved her to change everything about her life, to “rest everything on Him,” in order to be saved. She sent the messengers out another way, but she did not need to lie to protect the spies. She could simply have directed them to go another way. Also, God did not need the help of a person lying in order to accomplish His will. Her faith in God as the only true and living God is what saved her, evidenced by putting herself in harm’s way to send the messengers on a different path.
Lastly, James reiterates the truth of his current argument, in a way that simultaneously summarizes and emphasizes his point about saving faith, begun in verse 14: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead,” so is faith without works. No works can be done by the dead, and a faith that doesn’t work is dead, and it therefore cannot save. James has successfully and succinctly stipulated the definition of true, or saving, faith: a faith that works. His point is now clearer than ever to this student author.
Bibliography
1. James B. Adamson, The Epistle of James. Ed. F.F. Bruce, “The New International Commentary on the New Testament.” Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1976.
2. E. C. (Edwin Cyril) Blackman, the Epistle of James: Introduction and Commentary Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1957.
3. Martin Dibelius, James: A Commentary on the Epistle of James. Revised by Heinrich Greeven, translated by Michael A. Williams, edited by Helmut Koester. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975.
4. O. S. Hawkins, Getting Down to Brass Tacks: Advice from James for Real World Christians. Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Bros., 1993.
5. Fred D. Howard, James: Epistle of Action. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969.
6. R. Kent Hughes, James: Faith That Works. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, a Division of Good News Publishers, 1991.
7. Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James. Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Wm B. Eerdmans/Apollos, 2000.
8. R. V. G. (Randolph Vincent Greenwood) Tasker, The General Epistle of James, an Introduction and Commentary. London: The Tyndale Press, 1956.
[1] Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Wm B. Eerdmans/Apollos, 2000), 1.
[4] Fred D. Howard, James: Epistle of Action (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969)26.
[6] E. C. (Edwin Cyril) Blackman, The Epistle of James: Introduction and Commentary (Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1957), 91.
[7] R. V. G. (Randolph Vincent Greenwood) Tasker, The General Epistle of James, an Introduction and Commentary (London: The Tyndale Press, 1956), 63.
[9] James B. Adamson, the Epistle of James. Ed. F.F. Bruce, “The New International Commentary on the New Testament” (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1976) 123.
[10]Martin Dibelius, James : A Commentary on the Epistle of James, revised by Heinrich Greeven, translated by Michael A. Williams, edited by Helmut Koester (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), 152.
[11]O. S. Hawkins, Getting Down to Brass Tacks: Advice from James for Real World Christians (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Bros., 1993), 81.
[12] R. Kent Hughes, James: Faith That Works (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, a Division of Good News Publishers, 1991), 112.
[13] Martin Dibelius, James : A Commentary on the Epistle of James, revised by Heinrich Greeven, translated by Michael A. Williams, edited by Helmut Koester (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), 150.
[14] Martin Dibelius, James : A Commentary on the Epistle of James, revised by Heinrich Greeven, translated by Michael A. Williams, edited by Helmut Koester (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), 160.
[16] Fred D. Howard, James: Epistle of Action (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969)26, 28.
[18]Dibelius, 163.
[19] Moo, 138.
[20] Hawkins, 87.
[21] Dibelius, 166.
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