James 2:14

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.