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James 2:26
“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
Two questions began James’ lengthy discourse on faith and works: What good is it if a person says he has faith but has no good works? And: Can that kind of faith save him? (James 2:14). As should be clear by now, James expects us to answer the first question, “No good,” and the second, “No, it cannot save.” Faith is no good to one’s neighbor if it is only a profession and not a true heart trust in Christ that bears fruit in good works. Seeing needs to be met, a person with such “faith” offers only well-wishes. Such faith does no good for one’s relationship to God either; even demons know and mentally assent to truth about the Lord. Saving faith demonstrates itself to others by moving us to obey the Lord, making it evident that we are friends in a right relationship with God. It also leads us to assist those in need, even risking our lives for their sake (vv. 15–25).
In today’s passage, James finishes his discussion of the nature of faith and works by comparing faith apart from works to a body apart from the spirit (v. 26). A body is dead, of course, without its spirit. Likewise, “faith” is dead if no works are present. We have placed the word faith in quotes because in reality, we are talking about something that is not actually faith in any true sense when we are talking about a faith without works. Suppose that we attend a funeral for Joe and see his body lying in the casket. Would we be correct to say that Joe is there? Not really. The body looks like Joe, but it is not the living and breathing person of Joe. So it is with faith. A profession of faith in many respects looks like saving faith, but without works, that professed faith reveals itself not to be saving faith. James’ point is not that good works give life to faith as the spirit animates the body. He only wants us to be able to distinguish real faith from its counterfeit.
Ultimately, faith must bear the fruit of good works to be saving faith, and works that appear to be good are not really good works if they are not done with saving faith. The well-known early church preacher John Chrysostom comments: “Faith without works is dead, and works without faith are dead also. For if we have sound doctrine but fail in living, the doctrine is of no use to us. Likewise if we take pains with life but are careless about doctrine, that will not be any good to us either. It is therefore necessary to shore up the spiritual edifice in both directions.”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Martin Luther writes: “O it is a living, busy active mighty thing this faith. It is impossible for it not to be doing good things incessantly. It does not ask whether good works are to be done, but before the question is asked, it has already done this, and is constantly doing them. Whoever does not do such works, however, is an unbeliever.” Is our claim to saving faith proved true by our looking for and doing good works?
For further study
- Proverbs 11:23
- Ecclesiastes 3:12–13
- Acts 9:36–43
- 3 John 11
The bible in a year
- Leviticus 7–9
- Matthew 26:36–56