James 2:
What Is a Dead Faith?
Chapter 3 of The Gospel Under Siege
by Zane C. Hodges
Copyright 1992 by Redención Viva
COPYRIGHT/REPRODUCTION LIMITATIONS:
This data file is the sole property of Redención
Viva. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its
entirety for circulation as “freeware,” without charge. All reproduction of this
data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., “Copyright 1992 by Redención Viva”).
This data file may not be used without the permission of Redención Viva for resale
or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content with
the exception of a few brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words.
If you desire to reproduce less than 500 words of this data file for resale or the enhancement of any other product for resale, please give the following source credit: Copyright 1992 by Redención Viva, P.O. Box 141167, Dallas, TX 75214
All Biblical quotations are from the New King James Version copyright in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1985 and used by permission of Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee.
“A discussion of James 2:14-
Contents
Introduction
Dead Faith Is Like A Corpse:It Was Once Alive
James Believed in the Free Gift of Life
Exposition of James 2:14-
(1) Works and Grace Cannot Be Mixed
(2) Salvation for the Believer’s Life
(3) The Development of James’s Thought in 1:21-
(4) “Dead” Faith Cannot Keep A Christian Alive (2:14-
(5) An Objector Speaks (2:18,19)
(6) Justification By Works (2:20-
(7) James's Concluding Words (2:24-
Summary
Endnotes
JAMES 2:
WHAT IS A DEAD FAITH?
Introduction
“Faith without works is dead.” So spoke James in the second chapter of his epistle. His statement has been appealed to many times to support the idea that works are necessary for eternal salvation.
Sometimes the claim is made that unless faith is followed by good works, the believer loses eternal life. At other times, a more subtle approach is taken. If a professing Christian does not manifest good works, he was never a true believer to begin with. Whatever James is saying, however, it can be neither of these ideas.
Dead Faith Is Like A Corpse: It Was Once Alive
The second view, just mentioned, is so forced and artificial that if it were not
maintained by obviously sincere men, it might be called dishonest. According to this
view, a dead faith cannot save. Therefore, if a man lacks the crucial evidence of
good works, it shows that this is all he has ever possessed -
This flies directly into the face of the text. In James 2:26 the writer affirms:
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
No one who encountered a dead body, whose life-
Nor is there anything at all in the entire passage to support some other conclusion. As elsewhere in the epistle, it is Christian brothers who are addressed (2:14; cf. 1:2, 16, 19; 2:1, 5; 3:1, 10, 12; etc.). There is absolutely nothing to suggest James believed that if a man’s faith is pronounced dead, it must therefore always have been dead. The assumption that a dead faith has always been dead cannot be extracted from James’s text. It is nothing more than a theological idea read into the passage.(1) It is also a desperate expedient intended to salvage some form of harmony between James and the doctrine of Paul.
But by distorting the true meaning of the text, this idea has given rise to immense confusion. This confusion has had a harmful impact on men’s comprehension of the Gospel of God’s saving grace.
James Believed in the Free Gift of Life
We should carefully observe that James, like all the inspired writers, believed eternal life was the gracious gift of God. This is made plain in a splendid passage in his first chapter:
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures (James 1:17, 18).
Anyone who is familiar with the words of Jesus, as James certainly was, can surely hear an echo of our Lord in a statement like this. New birth is a sovereign act of God. It is one of His good and perfect gifts which comes down from above.
In fact, in the expression “from above,” James employs exactly the same word that Jesus used when He told Nicodemus, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). The Greek adverb is anothen and means both “again” and “from above.” No doubt our Lord deliberately selected it for His discourse with Nicodemus. The supernatural birth which He was describing is both a rebirth and a birth from above. The play on words which this involves is an effective one.
In James’s statement about our rebirth there is also a strong emphasis on the sovereign will of God. “Of His own will He brought us forth. . .” James insists. This perspective recalls Paul’s statement found in 2 Corinthians 4:6:
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Here, too, the sovereign act of God is stressed.
Neither Paul nor James intends to deny the necessity of faith. But faith, as we see it in the simple, direct statements of the Bible about salvation, is nothing more than a response to a divine initiative. It is the means by which eternal life is received.
Since this is so, it is proper that God Himself should be viewed as the sovereign Actor at the moment of conversion. It is He who wills to regenerate. It is His Word that penetrates our darkness. Salvation, we may say, occurs when the sufficiency of Christ for my eternal need dawns on my darkened heart. At this moment of believing illumination, I become a Christian.
So there is no reason to doubt that James and Paul were in harmony about the way eternal life is received. For both of them it is the gift of God, graciously and sovereignly bestowed. Only when we take this unity for granted can we really begin to understand the meaning of James’s instruction about works.
Exposition of James 2:14-
(1) Works and Grace Cannot Be Mixed
The place to start is where James starts. In James 2:14 his famous discussion is opened with the words:
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Faith cannot save him, can it? (Greek.)
The translation just given is based on the original Greek and is crucial to a correct interpretation. The form of the question which James asks in the last part of the verse is one which expects a negative response. The expected answer, from James’s point of view, would be: “No, faith cannot save him.”
Anyone who holds that faith and works are both conditions for reaching heaven will find no problem with a question like this. In that case the question simply means that faith by itself is not enough. In fact, this is precisely what James says in verse 17: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
But the problem comes when we try to harmonize this idea with the Apostle Paul’s clear denial that works are a condition for salvation.
For Paul, the inclusion of works would be a denial of grace. He is emphatic on this point:
And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work (Rom. 11:6).
It is hard to quarrel with this point of view! In fact it is impossible to do so. Paul’s point is that once works are made a condition for attaining some goal, that goal can no longer be said to be attained by grace.
But in James 2, James plainly makes works a condition for salvation. The failure to admit this is the chief source of the problems supposedly arising from this passage for most evangelicals. We ought to start by admitting it. And we ought then to admit that James cannot be talking about salvation BY GRACE!
But instead of admitting these points, many interpreters dodge them. This is frequently done by trying to translate the question, “Can faith save him?” (2:14), by “Can that [or, such] faith save him?” But the introduction of words like “that” or “such” as qualifiers for “faith” is really an evasion of the text. The Greek does not at all verify this sort of translation.(2)
Support for the renderings “such faith” or “that faith” is usually said to be found in the presence of the Greek definite article with the word “faith.” But in this very passage, the definite article also occurs with “faith” in verses 17, 18, 20, 22 and 26. (In verse 22, the reference is to Abraham’s faith!) In none of these places are the words “such” or “that” proposed as natural translations.
As is well known, the Greek language often employed the definite article with abstract nouns (like faith, love, hope, etc.) where English cannot do so. In such cases we leave the Greek article untranslated.
The attempt to single out 2:14 for specialized treatment carries its own refutation on its face. It must be classed as a truly desperate effort to support an insupportable interpretation.
James’s point is really quite plain: faith alone cannot save!(3)
(2) Salvation for the Believer’s Life
But what are we left with? A contradiction between James and Paul? This is what many have candidly thought, and it is easy to see why.(4) If James and Paul are talking about the same thing, they do contradict each other.
But are they talking about the same thing?
In the opening chapter of the epistle, shortly after declaring his readers to be the offspring of God’s regenerating activity (1:18), James writes:
Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (Jam. 1:21, 22).
That this passage is analogous to 2:14 is easy to see. Here, too, James is affirming the necessity of doing something, and he clearly means that only if his readers do God’s Word will it be able to “save their souls.”
At first glance, this seems only to repeat the problem already encountered. But in fact it offers us the solution. The reason we do not see it immediately is due to the fact that we are English speakers with a long history of theological indoctrination. To us, the expression “save your souls” can scarcely mean anything else than “to be delivered from hell.”
But this is the meaning least likely to occur to a Greek reader of the same text. In fact the expression “to save the soul” represents a Greek phrase whose most common meaning in English would be “to save the life.” In the New Testament it occurs in this sense in parallel passages Mark 3:4 and Luke 6:9 (see also Luke 9:56). Among the numerous places where it is used with this meaning in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the following references would be especially clear to the English reader: Genesis 19:17 and 32:30; 1 Samuel 19:11; and Jeremiah 48:6. Perhaps even more to the point, the phrase occurs again in James 5:20, and here the words “from death” are added.
By contrast, the expression is never found in any New Testament text which describes the conversion experience!
The natural sense of the Greek phrase (“to save your lives”) fits perfectly into
the larger context of James 1. Earlier, James was discussing the consequences of
sin. He has said, “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin,
when it is full-
This understanding of James 1:21 agrees completely with 5:19, 20, where James says to his fellow Christians:
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
On this attractive note of mutual spiritual concern among the brethren, James closes his letter. But in doing so, he manages to emphasize once again that sin can lead to death.(5)
It has been observed that the Epistle of James is the New Testament writing which most clearly reflects the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. The theme of death as the consequence of sin is an extremely frequent one in the book of Proverbs. A few illustrative texts can be mentioned:
The fear of the Lord prolongs days,
But the years of the wicked will be shortened
(Prov. 10:27).
As righteousness leads to life,
So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death
(Prov. 11:19).
In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death (Prov. 12:28).
The law of the wise is a fountain of life,
To turn one away from the snares of death
(Prov. 13:14).
He who keeps the commandment keeps his own soul [i.e., his life!],
But he who is careless
of his ways will die (Prov. 19:16).
It is clear that this is the Old Testament concept which furnishes the background for James’s thought. A recognition of this fact clarifies a great deal. “To save the soul” (=“life”) is to preserve the physical life from an untimely death due to sin.
(3) The Development of James’s Thought in 1:21-
It is best to regard James 1:21-
There follows in 1:26-
Instead of partiality, therefore, there should be true obedience to “the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (2:8). In fact, love and its handmaiden, mercy, are standards by which the lives of believers will be assessed at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2:13). They should therefore “so speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty” (2:12). The reference back to 1:25 is obvious in the phrase “law of liberty.”
In referring to judgment, of course, James does not contradict the declaration of John 5:24 that the believer does not come into judgment. There is no judgment for the regenerate person if by that term is meant a weighing of his merits in terms of heaven or hell. There is not even any charge that can be brought against the redeemed believer. He is justified before the bar of eternal justice, as Paul so plainly states (Rom. 8:33, 34). Thus there cannot be any trial at all to determine the believer’s eternal destiny. God declares that a settled matter when He justifies.
But the New Testament does teach an assessment of the believer’s earthly experience
in connection with rewards, or the loss of these. (See 1 Cor. 3:12-
James 2:14-
(4) “Dead” Faith Cannot Keep A Christian Alive (2:14-
Keeping in mind the concept of “saving the life by obedience,” we can now look
more closely at James 2:14-
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have
works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily
food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled”, but you
do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus
also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (Jam. 2:14-
Can the fact that a man holds correct beliefs and is orthodox “save” him from the
deadly consequences of sin? Of course not! The very thought is absurd. That is like
giving your best wishes to a destitute brother or sister when what they really need
is food and clothing (2:15-
As a matter of fact, this kind of callous conduct on the part of one Christian toward
another is precisely what James has been warning against (see 1:27; 2:2-
It needs to be carefully considered why James chose the term “dead” to describe a faith that is not working. But the moment we relate this term to the controlling theme of “saving the life,” everything becomes plain. The issue that concerns James is an issue of life or death. (He is not discussing salvation from hell!) The truth which he has in mind is that of Proverbs: “As righteousness leads to life, so he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death” (Prov. 11:19).
Can a dead faith save the Christian from death? The question answers itself. The
choice of the adjective “dead” is perfectly suited to James’s argument. Just as the
idle words of some ungenerous believer cannot save his brother from death in the
absence of life’s necessities, no more can a non-
(5) An Objector Speaks (2:18,19)
In 2:18-
The literary format James uses here was familiar in ancient times from the Greek diatribe. The diatribe was a learned and argumentative form of communication. The two phrases (“But someone will say” [verse 18], and “But do you want to know, O foolish man” [verse 20]) clearly show that the diatribe format is being employed. These two phrases bracket the words of the objector in verses 18, 19. Elsewhere in the New Testament, this same format appears in 1 Corinthians 15:35, 36.(8)
Since the statements in verse 19 about the belief of men and demons are the words
of the objector -
But someone will say: “You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith from your works, and I will show you, from my works, my faith. You believe that there is one God; you do well. The demons also believe, and tremble” (Jam. 2:18, 19, Greek).
The argument which these words express appears to be a reductio ad absurdum (a reduction to absurdity). It is heavy with irony.(10)
“It is absurd,” says the objector, “to see a close connection between faith and works. For the sake of argument, let’s say you have faith and I have works. Let’s start there. You can no more start with what you believe and show it to me in your works, than I can start with my works and demonstrate what it is that I believe.” The objector is confident that both tasks are impossible.
The impossibility of showing one’s faith from one’s works is now demonstrated (so
the objector thinks) by this illustration: “Men and demons both believe the same
truth (that there is one God), but their faith does not produce the same response.
Although this article of faith may move a man to ‘do well,’(11) it never moves the
demons to ‘do well.’ All they can do is tremble. Faith and works, therefore, have
no built-
No doubt James and his readers had heard this argument before. It was precisely the kind of defensive approach a man might take when his orthodoxy was not supported by good deeds. “Faith and works are not really related to each other in the way you say they are, James. So don’t criticize the vitality of my faith because I don’t do such and such a thing.”
James’s reply (2:20) may be paraphrased: “What a senseless argument! How foolish you are to make it! I still say that without works your faith is dead. Would you like to know why?”
Verses 21-
(6) Justification By Works (2:20-
In refuting the objection he has cited, James selects the most prestigious name in Jewish history, the patriarch Abraham. He selects also his most honored act of obedience to God, the offering of his own son Isaac. Since in Christian circles it was well known that Abraham was justified by faith, James now adds a highly original touch. He was also justified by works!
James writes:
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was
made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God
(Jam. 2:20-
Earlier in this discussion we said that we can best understand James’s point of view by recognizing his harmony with Paul. That is extremely relevant here. James does not wish to deny that Abraham, or anyone else, could be justified by faith alone. He merely wishes to insist that there is also another justification, and it is by works.
Of course there is no such thing as a single justification by faith plus works. Nothing James says suggests that idea. Rather, there are two kinds of justification.
This point is confirmed by a careful reading of the Greek text of verse 24. When he returns to his readers generally, James says, “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not only [justified] by faith.” The key to this understanding is the Greek adverb “only,” which does not simply qualify the word “faith” but the whole idea of the second clause. James is saying: Justification by faith is not the only kind of justification there is. There is also the kind which is by works.(12)
Somewhat surprisingly, to most people, the Apostle Paul agrees with this. Writing at what was no doubt a later time than James, Paul states in Romans 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something of which to boast, but not before God.” The form of this statement does not deny the truth of the point under consideration. The phrase, “but not before God,” strongly suggests that the Apostle can conceive of a sense in which men are justified by works. But, he insists, that is not the way men are justified before God. That is, it does not establish their legal standing before Him.(13)
In responding, therefore, to the kind of person who tried to divorce faith and works in Christian experience, James takes a skillful approach. “Wait a moment, you foolish man,” he is saying, “you make much of justification by faith, but can’t you see how Abraham was also justified by works when he offered his son Isaac to God?” (2:21). “Is it not obvious how his faith was cooperating with his works and, in fact, by works his faith was made mature?” (2:22). “In this way, too, the full significance of the Scripture about his justification by faith was brought to light, for now he could be called the friend of God” (2:23).
The content of this passage is rich indeed. It is a pity that it has been so widely
misunderstood. The faith which justifies -
It would hardly be possible to find a better illustration of James’s point anywhere in the Bible. The faith by which Abraham was justified was basically faith in a God of resurrection. Referring to the occasion when that faith was first exercised, Paul wrote:
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since
he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver
at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory
to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform
(Rom. 4:19-
Abraham had confidence that the God he believed in could overcome the “deadness” of his own body and of Sarah’s womb. But it was only through the testing with Isaac that this faith becomes a specific conviction that God could literally raise a person from the dead to fulfill His oath. Accordingly, the author of Hebrews declares:
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up his only begotten son, of whom it
was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise
him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense
(Heb. 11:17-
Thus the faith of Abraham was strengthened and matured by works! From a conviction that God could overcome a “deadness” in his own body (=inability to beget children), he moved to the assurance that God could actually resurrect his son’s body from literal, physical death. In the process of carrying out the divine command to sacrifice his beloved boy, his faith grew and reached new heights of confidence in God.
In this way, too, the Scripture that spoke of his original justification “was fulfilled.” That statement (Gen. 15:6) was not a prophecy, of course. But its implications were richly developed and exposed by the subsequent record of Abraham’s obedience. Abraham’s works “filled it full” of meaning, so to speak, by showing the extent to which that faith could develop and undergird a life of obedience. Simple and uncomplicated though it was at first, Abraham’s justifying faith had potential ramifications which only his works, built on it, could disclose.(15)
And now he could be called the “friend of God,” not only by God Himself, but also by men (cf. Isa. 41:8; 2 Chr. 20:7). This is in fact the name by which Abraham has been known down through the centuries in many lands and by at least three religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam). Had Abraham not obeyed God in the greatest test of his life, he would still have been justified by the faith he exercised in Genesis 15:6. But by allowing that faith to be alive in his works, he attained an enviable title among men. In this way he was also justified by works!
When a man is justified by faith he finds an unqualified acceptance before God. As Paul puts it, such a man is one “to whom God imputes righteousness without works” (Rom. 4:6). But only God can see this spiritual transaction. When, however, a man is justified by works he achieves an intimacy with God that is manifest to men. He can then be called “the friend of God,” even as Jesus said, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14).(16)
(7) James's Concluding Words (2:24-
Leaving the imagined objector behind, James returns in verses 24-
You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. Likewise, was
not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she received the messengers and sent
them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without
works is dead also (Jam. 2:24-
It should be carefully observed that he does not say, “Was not Rahab justified by faith and works”! As already mentioned, such an idea is foreign to James. He is talking about exactly what he says he is talking about: justification by works!
Rahab, however, is superbly suited to tie his thoughts together. The passage had begun, as we have seen, with a reference to his theme of “saving the life” (2:14; 1:21). Not surprisingly, Rahab is selected as a striking example of a person whose physical life was “saved” precisely because she had works.
With James’s words the statement of the writer of Hebrews can be profitably compared. In 11:31, that author writes of her:
By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.
Notice that the author of Hebrews points to her faith and lays the stress on the fact that she “received” the spies. James, on the other hand, points also to the fact that “she sent them out another way.” This has considerable significance for James’s argument.
Although Rahab’s faith began to operate the moment she “received the messengers,” she could not really be justified by works until she had “sent them out another way.” The reason for this is obvious when the story in Joshua 2 is carefully considered. Up until the last moment, she could still have betrayed the spies. Had she so desired, she could have sent their pursuers after them.
That the spies had lingering doubts about her loyalty is suggested by their words in Joshua 2:20, “And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath ...” But the spies’ successful escape demonstrated that Rahab was truly a “friend of God” because she was also their friend. In this way, Rahab was justified by works.(17)
And in the process, she saved her own life and her family’s! Her faith, therefore,
was very much alive because it was an active, working faith. Though she was a harlot
-
James therefore wishes his readers to know that works are in fact the vitalizing “spirit” which keeps one’s faith alive in the same way that the human spirit keeps the human body alive (2:26). Whenever a Christian ceases to act on his faith, that faith atrophies and becomes little more than a creedal corpse. “Dead orthodoxy” is a danger that has always confronted Christian people and they do well to take heed to this danger.(18) But the antidote is a simple one: faith remains vital and alive as long as it is being translated into real works of living obedience.
Summary
Does James contradict Paul’s doctrine of free grace, or John’s insistence on faith
as the single condition of eternal life? Far from it. But neither does he offer support
to the widespread notion that a “dead faith” cannot exist in the life of a Christian.
Ironically, that is exactly what he is warning against. Thus, a misunderstanding
of his words has not only promoted confusion about the terms for eternal life, but
it has also deprived the Church of a much-
The dangers of a dead faith are real. But these dangers do not include hell.(20) Nothing James writes suggests this. Nevertheless, sin remains a deadly enemy to Christian experience which can prematurely end our physical lives. The wisdom of the Old Testament and James are agreed about this. So, if Christians are to be “saved” from that result, they will need more than faith.
They will also need works.(21)
ENDNOTES
ABBREVIATIONS
AB The Anchor Bible
BGD A Greek-
BNTC Black's New Testament Commentaries
BSC Bible Study Commentary
CGNT Cambridge Greek New Testament
Comm. Stands exclusively for the commentaries of John Calvin which are always quoted from the series Calvin's Commentaries, ed. David W. Torrance and Thomas F. Torrance (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, various dates).
Herm Hermeneia -
HNTC Harper's New Testament Commentaries
ICC International Critical Commentary
Institutes John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, always quoted from the 2 vol. translation by John Allen (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1935).
MNTC Moffatt New Testament Commentary
NIC New International Commentary
NIGNTC New International Greek New Testament Commentary
TNTC Tyndale New Testament Commentaries
WBC Word Biblical Commentaries
WC Westminster Commentaries
(1). Gerstner (p. 229) seeks to counter this point when he writes: “James 2:26 makes
the point of the passage perfectly clear. All that James says is that, just as you
cannot have a man without a body and spirit together, so you cannot have a Christian
without works and faith together.”
But what impartial reader would ever get this
idea out of James’s text? In no way does James say that one does not “have a man”
simply because his spirit has left his body. What we have in fact is a dead man -
Surely Gerstner would admit that if
a physical body is dead, it was clearly once alive. But he wishes not to draw any
theological comparison with faith at this point because that would contradict his
theological premises. My point still stands: The idea that a dead faith can never
have been alive cannot be extracted from the text of 2:26 or of 2:14-
(2). A. T. Robertson, Studies in the Epistle of James (Nashville: Broadman, n.d.), p. 94 n. 2, assigns to the article “almost the original demonstrative force.” But this is extremely unlikely here when it is not even true later in the passage where the article appears with faith at 2:17, 20, 22(twice), and 26. Any student of the original language can examine James’s text and see for himself that the article occurs with faith only when faith is a subject or has a possessive word qualifying it (as in verse 18). Otherwise there is no article. There is no subtle significance to the article in 2:14! Quite rightly Dibelius rejects the special stress on the article: “Here Jas uses the article before ‘faith’. . ., but this is not to be read ‘this faith’, as many interpreters from Bede to Mayor have argued. Jas is not speaking of any particular brand of faith. . . The only attributive which is expressed. . . is this: faith which ‘has’ no works. But this is still the Christian faith and not an ‘alleged, false faith.’ ” So much for building theology on an undetectable grammatical nuance! See Martin Dibelius, James, rev. Heinrich Greeven, trans. Michael A. Williams, ed. Helmut Koester, Herm (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, Eng. ed. 1976), p. 152.
(3). Lorenzen writes: “The original Greek makes it clear . . . that the rhetorical
question calls for a negative answer: No! Faith without works cannot save! Works
are necessary for salvation.” Thorwald Lorenzen, “Faith without Works does not count
before God! James 2:14-
(4). Lorenzen, p. 234, holds that Paul and James cannot be reconciled. He is not alone in this view.
(5). This point is also made by Ropes, who writes of 5:20: “Note how here, as in 1:15, death is the result of sin.” See James Hardy Ropes, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle of St. James, ICC (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1916), p. 315.
(6). The importance of a correct view of these verses is hard to overstate. Sanguine
indeed is the opinion of Cantinat that, though verses 18-
(7). The evident unity of verses 18-
(8). Note this same format also in Romans 9:19, 20: (Objector) “You will say to me
then, ‘Why does. . . ?’ ” (Response): “But indeed. O man, who are you to reply against
God? Will the thing formed . . . ?” The use of such structural markers as “but someone
will say” and sharp-
(9). See also the author’s “Light on James Two from Textual Criticism,” Bibliotheca
Sacra 120(1963):341-
(10).The use of the challenge to “show me” in an ironical sense is well documented
by Dibelius, pp. 154-
(11). The Greek phrase (kalos poieis) is taken by us in the sense of “do good,” “do right,” which seems the most appropriate sense in Matthew 5:44; 12:12; Luke 6:27. It is also viable in Acts 10:33 (“you did the right thing to come”) and even in James 2:8 (“If you keep the royal law . . . you are doing what’s right”). Attention should be given also to the secular examples cited by Mayor, p. 101. In Hellenistic Greek one would be unwise to insist pedantically on the good/well differentiation so dear to strict English grammarians!
(12). The word “alone,” or “only,” in Greek is adverbial in form and ought not to be taken as a modifier of “faith” in the sense of “by faith alone.” This point is often ignored by writers. However, Lange grants that the Greek word for “alone” might be connected with the word “justified” in the sense, “ ‘not only by faith but by works a man is justified’,” but he argues that in fact it ought to be joined “adjectively” with the word “faith.” But in the New Testament, when the word monos (“alone”) modifies a noun it normally has formal concord with the noun. The adverbial use is the only natural one here, i.e., “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not only (justified) by faith.” See J. P. Lange, The Epistle General of James in his A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Critical, Doctrinal and Homiletical, with Special Reference to Ministers and Students (New York: Charles Scribner, 1869). p. 87.
(13). Some have indeed sought a reconciliation between James and Paul in terms of
differing concepts of works. Some time ago Lenski expressed a distinction that has
often been asserted in one form or another. He states: “Paul and James deal with
different kinds of works. Paul deals with law-
(14). About the statement in verse 22 (“by works faith was made perfect”), Adamson aptly observes: “The force of the statement seems to be that faith is fulfilled, strengthened, and matured by exercise.” James B. Adamson, The Epistle of James, NIC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976), p. 130.
(15). Hort explains “the Scripture was fulfilled” (verse 23) as follows: “The Divine
word spoken is conceived of as receiving a completion so to speak in acts or events
which are done or come to pass in accordance with it. The idea of filling, or giving
fullness to, is always contained in the biblical use of fulfilling, though not always
in the same sense.” See Fenton John Anthony Hort, Expository and Exegetical Studies:
Compendium of Works Formerly Published Separately: The Epistle of James (reprint
ed., Minneapolis: Klock and Klock, 1980), p. 64. See also the stimulating discussion
of Adamson, pp. 130-
(16). One must note Darby’s comment on this passage: “James remark, never says that
works justify us before God [italics his]; for God can see the faith without its
works. He knows that life is there. It is in exercise with regard to Him, towards
Him, by trust in His word, in Himself, by receiving His testimony in spite of everything
within and without. This God sees and knows. But when our fellow creatures are in
question, when it must be said ‘shew,’ then faith, life, shows itself in works.”
J. N. Darby, Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: Colossians -
(17). An indirect testimony to the depth of Rahab’s vindication before men is to
be found in the significant role Rahab played in Jewish legend. For specifics, see
Sophie Laws, A Commentary on the Epistle of James HNTC (New York: Harper and Row,
1980), p. 137. Thanks to James, her name lives on in Christianity as a challenging
role-
(18). The view that James is talking about a false, spurious faith has nothing to
commend it. Even though he holds that final salvation is in view in James 2, Nicol
is absolutely correct when he writes: “James’s point is not that faith without works
is not faith; as faith he does not criticize it, but merely stresses that faith does
not fulfill its purpose when it is not accompanied by works.” See W. Nicol, “Faith
and Works in the Letter of James,” in Essays on the General Epistles of the New Testament,
Neotestamentica 9 (Pretoria: The New Testament Society of South Africa, c1975), p.
16. See his whole discussion here, especially the statement (pp. 16, 17): “Our conclusion
is that in this pericope James is not discussing different kinds of faith -
See also Plummer, who writes: “But St. James nowhere throws doubt
on the truth of the unprofitable believer’s professions, or on the possibility of
believing much and doing nothing.” Alfred Plummer,
(19).Strikingly on target are the remarks of Dibelius (p. 178) who writes: “But in all of the instances [in James] which have been examined thus far what is involved is the faith which the Christian has, never the faith of the sinner which first brings him to God . . . The faith which is mentioned in this section can be presupposed in every Christian . . . [James’s] intention is not dogmatically oriented, but practically oriented: he wishes to admonish the Christians to practice their faith, i.e., their Christianity, by works” (italics his). As far as it goes a better statement cannot be found in the literature on James
(20). James 2:14-
(21). A word should be said about John Calvin’s own treatment of James 2:14-
Calvin
says these things plainly: “So when the sophists set James against Paul, they are
deceived by the double meaning of the term ‘justification’. When Paul says we are
justified by faith, he means precisely that we have won a verdict of righteousness
in the sight of God. James has quite another intention, that the man who professes
himself to be faithful should demonstrate the truth of his fidelity by works. James
did not mean to teach us where the confidence of our salvation should rest -
Neither
does Calvin fall into the hopeless quagmire of talking about a “spurious” faith which
simulates the real thing so that true faith can only be recognized by works (see
quotation from Dabney in chapter 2 n. 1.) Calvin will not give the name of faith
to those whom he considers James to be attacking. He writes, for example: “He [James]
is speaking of false profession, and his words make this certain. He does not start,
‘If a man has faith’, but ‘If a man says he has faith . . . ’ Plainly he implies
that there are hypocrites who make an empty boast of the word, when they have no
real claim on it.” A few sentences later, he says. “Just remember, he is not speaking
out of his own understanding of the word when he calls it ‘faith’, but is disputing
with those who pretend insincerely to faith, but are entirely without it” (on 2:14;
italics added).
Although I might quarrel with Calvin’s exegesis here, at least he
is consistent with the fundamental premises of his own theology. Since, for Calvin,
assurance was of the essence of saving faith, he does not ascribe this “false profession”
to any who have found that assurance, but describes those without works as insincere
pretenders who make a false claim to faith. Thus he will also ascribe to such people
only “an indifferent and formal understanding of God” (on 2:14) or “a certain uninformed
opinion of God” (on 2:19) or “a bare and empty awareness of God” (on 2:23). This
is a far cry from his own definition of faith as “a steady and certain knowledge
of the divine benevolence toward us” which is “founded on the truth of the gratuitous
promise in Christ” (Institutes III.ii.7; quoted in full in chapter 2 n.5). Calvin
does not hold that faith must be subjectively verified to ourselves by works, but
objectively verified before men.
To be sure, Calvin expected good works to be produced
in the life of the justified, but so do I.
Back Index Home Forward
Testimony |
Contact Us |
Good News |
Spanish-Am I Going to Heaven? |
French-Am I Going to Heaven? |
Russian-Am I Going to Heaven? |
Chinese-Am I Going to Heaven? |
By Verse |
By Topic |
Free Books |
Galatians |
ToughTexts |
James 2:14 |
Romans 10:9 |
Revelation 3:20 |
Luke 13:3 |
Dead Faith |
Dead Faith GUS |
Living Lord |
Likewise Perish |
Various |
Personal Evangelism |
Lordship Salvation |
Divorce and Remarriage |
Holy Spirit-Tongues |
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Part 3 |
Part 4 |
Part 5 |
Part 6 |
Part 7 |
Part 8 |
Part 9 |
Part10 |
Part 11 |
Part 12 |
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Part 3 |
Part 4 |
Part 5 |
Part 6 |
Part 7 |
Part 8 |
Part 9 |
Part 10 |
Part 11 |
Part 12 |
Part 13 |
Part 14 |
Sin 1 |
Sin 2 |
Sin 3 |
Sin 4 |
Sin 5 |
Sin 6 |
Sin 7 |
Sin 8 |
Sin 9 |
Sin 10 |
Sin 11 |
Sin 12 |
Appendix A |
Appendix B |
4 Soils End Notes |
Revelation Church Chart |
Telling the Gift of God |
Spirit Filled |
1 Corinthians 12 |
1 Corinthians 13:8 |
Pentecostal Movement |
Books |
Handbook of Personal Evangelism |
Chinese PE Book |
Spanish PE Book |
Funnies |
OT Commentaries |