*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?
The creed itself is right
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.
Real conviction, no link with God
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.
Out-felt by demons
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.
Why they tremble
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.
Believing about God, or believing God
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.
Not a contradiction of Paul
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.
The verse as a wake-up call
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.
Summary
- 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.