James 2:14–17

There is a little word in verse 14 which gives the key to the whole passage. The apostle asks, "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith?" Suppose he had said, "What good is it if a man has faith?" Then the difficulty would be impossible to get past, and the confusion hopeless. But the important word "say" removes all difficulty, and unfolds in the simplest possible way the point the apostle has in mind. We might ask, "What good is it if a man says he has ten thousand a year, when he does not have it?"

There is no use in a man merely saying he has faith. But if he really has it, it "profits" him for time and eternity. That is because it connects him with Christ. It puts him in full and permanent possession of all that Christ has done, and all that He is for us before God.

The Holy Spirit through James shows that true faith, which justifies before God, must be evidenced by works. What kind of faith does James mean? It is a faith that agrees with certain teachings. It is a mental, intellectual agreement, but it is not living faith. A living faith shows itself in works. In their synagogue were people who claimed to believe. But their actions did not show that they had the faith God gives. They only said they had faith.

It is plain that it is a hidden principle in the heart, a simple profession without any reality. Yet we need not always connect this with hypocrisy. That is because education, the influences around us, and outward evidence may produce belief in Christianity and its basic doctrines as a habit of mind. But in that kind of faith there is no link with Christ, no source of eternal life. A man may not be openly unbelieving, he honours the name of Christ, but such faith produces nothing in the heart: Christ cannot trust it.

It is clear that faith is a principle hidden in the heart, and no one can see it. In the same way, no one sees the root that makes the plant grow and bear fruit, though it draws nourishment from the soil, as faith draws from Christ. As the plant cannot bear fruit without the root, so without faith no one can produce good works. Much may be given, much may be done, without true love, without faith. But a life of love that follows Christ and does His will because it is His will, seeking nothing else, cannot exist without faith.

Paul is occupied with the justification of the ungodly, while James speaks of the justification of the godly. The one is before God and the other is before men. God justifies the ungodly on the principle of faith. It is of grace alone, and works are completely excluded. The godly justify themselves — that is, their confession — before men by their good works. A life full of good works is the natural result of a living faith. When the works are missing, we may well doubt the profession of the lips.

What is the profit for a man to profess faith and have no works as its witness? Can faith save him? Think of the heartlessness of sending a naked and hungry brother or sister away with the words, Be warmed and filled, and giving no gift to help them. Does Christ own a faith that does not work through love? The tongue may be active, the heart cold, the walk selfish as before.

The word, besides its ordinary meaning, was often used of a man who was without his outer cloak (1 Samuel 19:24; Isaiah 20:2; John 21:7). It also stands for natural destitution, as in James 2:15; for spiritual destitution (2 Corinthians 5:3; Revelation 3:17; Revelation 16:15); and for being stripped bare (Revelation 17:16).

The last half of chapter 2 shows us the kind of works that come out of faith. Works of mercy are only normal and indeed elementary, as verses 15 and 16 show. Even unbelievers often feel some duty to help those who suffer poverty and hunger. Should I then tell suffering believers that I have faith God will provide for them, while I myself give them nothing? In these very things my faith is to be proven.

Some people will give the poor good words, and that is all. Good words are only a cold kind of charity. Your words may be as smooth as oil, but they will not heal the wounded. They may drop like honey, but they will not feed the hungry.

There is a danger of being satisfied with words alone. The apostle John warns the whole family of God about this. "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18). Nor is he alone in this, for James asks the same question here. Such conduct is only a veiled form of apathy, so utterly distasteful to the Lord.

We may profess faith in God's care for His people in the things of this life. But that faith must make us ready to be the channel His care flows through. If it does not, our faith is of no profit to the needy brother or sister, nor indeed to ourselves. Our faith on that particular point is dead, and so it does nothing, as verse 17 tells us. We must not be surprised if others challenge it.

A faith that is unproductive has no living link with God. What good is a faith that is only agreement with a list of doctrines, and so shows it came from man? The faith that is given us of God saves; not that which is the fruit of man's nature.

Remember, James never says that works justify us before God; for God can see the faith without its works. He knows that life is there. That life is active towards Him. It trusts His word and Himself, and it receives His testimony despite everything inside him and around him. This God sees and knows. But when our fellow-creatures are in question, when it must be said "show me," then faith, life, shows itself in works.

The Scripture before us does not answer the question of how a sinner is cleansed before God. It answers what conduct suits those who have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

No one would imagine it does the slightest good just to say to a needy person, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled", and yet do nothing to meet the need. However fair the words, they bring no profit unless deeds go with them.

Works of mercy are only normal, and indeed basic, as verses 15 and 16 show. Even unbelievers often admit some duty to help those who suffer poverty and hunger. Should I then tell suffering believers that I have faith that they will be provided for, while I give them nothing myself? These are the very things that must prove my faith. If good works do not accompany it, then such faith is dead. It bears no fruit. It is alone, solitary, cut off from reality.

There are some who perhaps will give the poor good words, and that is all. Good words are only a cold kind of charity. Let your words be as smooth as oil; they will not heal the wounded. Let them drop like honeycomb; they will not feed the hungry.

This is a real test of the heart. To say, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, and then not give them the things the body needs, is to cheat ourselves quite as much as them.

There is a danger of settling for what is only of the tongue... Such conduct is only a veiled form of apathy, or Laodiceanism, so utterly distasteful to the Lord.

The principle that love must show itself in deeds and not in words brings in the question of works. James is practical. He deals with the evil of professing Christianity without a practical life to match that profession... Faith is a powerful principle. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. It is a spring that moves all the wheels of the heart, a principle that lifts the heart above selfishness and all the low motives of the world.

Does Christ own a faith that does not work through love?... The tongue may be active, the heart cold, the walk selfish as before. But are these the ways of a nature brought to birth by the Father of lights through the word of truth?

Any difficulty the reader finds disappears as soon as he grasps this fact: Paul deals... with the justification of the ungodly, while James (in James 2) speaks of the justification of the godly. The one is before God and the other is before men. God justifies the ungodly on the principle of faith. It is by grace alone, and works have no part at all... A life full of good works flows from a living faith. When the works are missing, we may well doubt what the lips profess.

He did not say to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," where you can. In the fullness of His love as of His power, He provided the fire and the food, "needed for the body," and refreshing to the soul.

The principle is stated concisely in verse 17: "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." If it were divinely given, it would show its mighty and gracious effects. Such faith is dead in itself, and any works done that way are just as dead in themselves.

We may profess faith in God's care for His people in everyday things. But our faith in that care must make us ready to be the channel through which it flows. If it does not, our faith is of no profit to the needy brother or sister — nor indeed to ourselves. Our faith on that point is dead, and so it does nothing, as verse 17 tells us. We must not be surprised if others challenge it.

The demons also believe that God is one, and their belief makes them tremble, but it does not put them in relationship with God. So a man may believe what is true about God and yet have no faith in God. Faith is the outcome of a new nature that trusts in God and proves its existence by its works. The man who says he has faith and yet has no works is a vain man, and his faith is merely a dead profession.

Verse 19 shows that a person may be genuinely certain the thing is true. But the life that the word gives is entirely missing — the life that forms a relationship between the soul and God. Because this comes through the word, it is faith; being born of God, we have a new life. This life acts — that is, faith acts — in keeping with that relationship with God. Its works flow from it and bear witness to the faith that produced them.

I could not have apples without an apple tree, for apples do not grow on thorn bushes. If there are apples, everybody knows there must be apple trees somewhere. The tree is the faith, the apples are the works. Living faith brings forth living works. But the faith must be there before the works can appear. The works are the outward and visible evidence of the inward and unseen faith.

The works James is talking about are works of faith. They are not always the ones people call good works. Abraham offered up his own son, and Rahab hid the spies in her home. Normally no one would call either action a good work. One would count as murder and the other as treason. But these works revealed their faith in God.

Whatever difficulty the reader finds disappears as soon as he grasps one thing. Paul is occupied with the justification of the ungodly, while James speaks of the justification of the godly. The one is before God and the other is before men. God justifies the ungodly on the principle of faith. It is by grace alone, and works are shut out completely. The godly justify their confession before men by their good works.

He does not aim this severe language at a troubled soul. The Spirit would not describe such a person as a "vain man"; the word means an empty, hollow, foolish person. He is just someone who says he believes, as thousands do when reciting a creed, and yet nothing at all follows in his conduct.