So also faith, if it have not works, is dead by itself.
James has just described a hungry brother sent away with warm words and nothing else. His verdict raises two old questions: what sort of "faith" is he condemning, and how does it fit with God justifying people by faith alone?
The word "dead" describes what such faith is by nature. One writer traces the verdict back to where real faith comes from.
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.
James tests a claim with a case. A man says he trusts God to care for His people. Then a needy believer stands in front of him and he does nothing.
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.
James is not describing someone who is lying about what he believes.
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.
What is missing in such a person is not effort but life.
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.
The order matters, and one writer makes it plain with a picture from an orchard.
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 examples James chooses also show what he means by "works."
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.
Many readers feel a clash here with justification by faith. One writer answers with two questions: who is justified, and before whom?
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.
One question remains. Should a worried believer read this verse as a threat?
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.
- Life first. Faith is the tree, works are the apples. The tree must be there before any fruit appears.
- Life shows. Faith that God gives shows its effects. Where nothing follows, that faith is dead by its own nature.
- Life tested. James tests faith with a hungry brother and an empty hand. Faith that leaves real need untouched does nothing.
- Life, not opinion. Demons believe true things about God and tremble. Being sure of the facts is not the relationship with God that His word creates.
- Life seen. God justifies the ungodly by faith alone. Before people, works justify a believer's confession. The hard words here are for the empty talker, not the anxious seeker.
But some one will say, *Thou* hast faith and *I* have works. Shew me thy faith without works, and *I* from my works will shew thee my faith.
In this verse two speakers argue about proof: one claims faith, the other points to works. James answers with a challenge only one side can meet: if faith alone saves, why does he insist on seeing works?
The objector splits faith and works between two people, one for each. One writer sees that arrangement as an attack on how God Himself has joined the two.
"But someone will say, You have faith and I have works" — an idea that separates what God has joined together. It plainly fights against His word, His nature and His will… Those who cut works off from faith have no living link with God. They are only deceiving themselves.
Another writer weighs the same claim and rejects it.
One person may casually say that he has faith, and another that he has works, as though these were just different gifts given by God. But that idea is false and sinful. God can certainly see whether a man's faith is real. But men can see it only in his works.
Faith sits inside a person. Nobody can look at it. That simple fact controls the whole argument.
A man says he has faith. It is not a thing that we can see. So I have good reason to say, "Show it to me." This is the proof of faith that man needs. We make faith clear to others only by its fruits, because faith itself cannot be seen. But if I produce that fruit, then I certainly have the root. Without the root there could be no fruit.
One writer draws a picture to explain why.
Faith is like the soul. It needs works as its body before anyone can see it. So showing faith apart from works is impossible.
The two halves of the verse are not evenly matched. One is a dare that cannot be taken up; the other is a demonstration anyone with real faith can give.
"Show me your faith without works" — which is impossible. How can I show my faith to somebody without works of faith? "…and I from my works will show you my faith," because that is the way to show faith before men.
Some readers think this verse contradicts the teaching that faith alone puts a person right with God. Commentators answer that the two writers are describing two different courtrooms.
Any difficulty the reader finds disappears as soon as he grasps one fact. Paul is dealing… with the justification of the ungodly, while James… speaks of the justification of the godly. The one is before God, the other 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 themselves — that is, their confession — before men by their good works. So James says what he says in this verse.
The order between the two matters.
The one (in Rom. 4) is justification before God, the root of all; the other is the resulting fruit "shown" before man. Each is indispensable in its place; both united in their season in every true believer. Practical righteousness is the effect, in no way the cause, of justification by faith.
Saying works prove faith is not the same as saying works buy anything. One writer states the balance in a single line.
Faith alone justifies, but justifying faith is not alone. Good works are not the causes of salvation, but they are the evidence of it. Do not build faith on works; build works on faith.
Belief that changes nothing is not belief at all. One writer makes the point with an everyday scene.
We believe a thing only as far as it affects how we act… A man shows me a Bank of England note and asks me if I believe it is genuine. I say, "Yes." He then offers it to me to pay a debt, and I refuse it. Did I believe the note was genuine? No. My action proved that I did not… It is easy to agree with doctrines. But the test of faith is our readiness to act on the truths we profess as though they were real.
And the demand is not a museum piece. It presses on anyone who claims the name of Christ today.
Christians in these days ought to give a more distinct witness to whom they belong — I mean practically, as devoted to Him — by their profession, and the fruits which make it good. "Show us your faith" (James 2:18) has all its force now.
- Root — Faith is the root, works are the fruit. Show the fruit and the root is certain.
- Invisible — Nobody can see faith, so James says, "Show me." No one can meet that challenge without works.
- Two courts — God justifies the ungodly by faith alone. Before men, the godly justify themselves by works. Different courtrooms, not different gospels.
- Order — Practical righteousness is the effect of justification by faith, never its cause. Build works on faith, never faith on works.
- Test — You believe a truth only as far as you act on it. Faith that never moves you is no faith at all.
*Thou* believest that God is one. Thou doest well. The demons even believe, and tremble.
James is answering someone who claims to have faith but produces nothing. He names the most unwelcome company imaginable: the demons hold the correct doctrine too. So every reader who can recite a creed faces a question. What separates my belief from theirs?
James does not mock the confession. He grants it, and only then shows how far it falls short.
But the refutation goes further. "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder!" It was right to own that God is one. It was wicked to hold many gods, which were no better than demons. Even these were not so insensible as those who boasted of their faith but had no works to show for it.
The demons are not offered as doubters or half-believers. Their certainty is the whole point of the comparison.
What follows shows that he is speaking of a professed doctrine, perhaps true in itself — of certain truths being confessed. The faith in view is real: the devils have certain knowledge and conviction that God is one. They do not doubt it; but there is no link at all between their heart and God by means of a new nature — far from it.
The shudder is the sting. A belief that leaves a person unmoved is measured here against beings who at least react.
In verse 19 the very foundational point of faith in the existence of the one true God is raised. "Oh, yes," we each exclaim, "I believe in Him!" That is good; but such faith, if real, is bound to affect us. We shall at least tremble, for even demons, who know perfectly well that He exists and hate Him, go that far. The crowds accept the idea of His existence in a lazy way and stay completely unmoved by it. Their faith is dead.
James asks for works, so a reader may wonder whether a shudder counts as one.
"What!" someone may say, "Is such a thing as trembling counted as a work?" It certainly is. And this leads us to note that James speaks simply of works, and not of good works. The point is not that every true believer must do a number of kind and charitable actions — though it is of course good and right for him to do so — but that his works must display his faith in action, if men are to see that his faith is real.
They shudder because they can see what is coming. Their belief is informed, and that is precisely what makes it terrible.
Satan knows his doom, he has read the Bible better than men, he is no unbeliever. The demons "believe — and shudder!"
Their faith is accurate and hopeless at once, because it produces nothing God can accept.
None believe more decidedly than they; none anticipate their doom more surely or more keenly. But such faith has no link with a new nature from God, and it does not result in works that please Him.
Holding a true statement about God is not the same as trusting Him.
The Jew believed that God is one. This is right. The devils also believe it, 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 God and proves it exists by its works. So the man who says he has faith and yet is "without works" is an empty man, and his faith is merely a dead profession.
Commentators are careful to say that James is not competing with the letters that teach justification by faith. The two are answering different questions.
Does it need to be pointed out that Romans 3 and 4 explain how the ungodly is justified before God? Here it is the fruitless confessor condemned before man. The point here is, Show me. The demons believe; but there is no life, only ruin.
One writer described what this verse did to him.
What do you suppose was the scripture used by God for my conversion? It was this: "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder!" Someone quoted that scripture to me thirty-five years ago. I saw the truth: I had no more real faith than a damned devil in hell. I am not ashamed to say that I saw my company, and fled.
- Correct — Believing God is one is true doctrine, and James says so; the problem is never that the creed is wrong.
- Certain — Demons hold that creed without a doubt, so conviction alone proves nothing.
- Shuddering — They even feel it, because they know their doom. Anyone unmoved by God's existence stands below them.
- Lifeless — What they lack is a new nature; faith that saves springs from that new life and shows itself in works.
- Exposed — Romans explains how God justifies the ungodly. James says "show me," and condemns the fruitless confessor before men. Let this verse send you fleeing from that company.