James 2:26
James 2:26 (see also James 1:6; 2nd Thessalonians 1:11)
For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
“But he must ask in faith without doubting....” (James 1:6) That’s what James has in mind. He isn’t talking about the works of the Law. The nature of faith is in focus. Compare with 2nd Thessalonians 1:11: “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power.” This is not about what proves faith, but about what produces faith: trials and tribulations. Faith tested equals faith perfected. Faith untested (meaning no trials) just leaves faith blind. “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial....” (James 1:12) Faith without experience is just pretending. Faith is also a way in which God and man can connect on a deeper level. Remember when Abraham met Melchizedek. He found someone with whom He could identify. The reason why he could identify with him is because they shared the same faith, which is something that would otherwise be lost, if faith was sight.
James 2:14-20: “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’ You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”
Question: Does this mean that faith without the “works of the Law” is dead?
Answer: A better question is whether by “works,” James intends the works of the Law, at all. The real contrast that James raises is a pretense to faith vs. actually stepping out in faith, and living by faith, and living in faith. Abraham, whom James cites as his object lesson, performed the latter, and that’s why he is called the father of faith and a friend of God. This passage intends to steer you in the direction of Abraham. This passage is not about the works of the Law, at all. Though faith is often contrasted with works, where works is merely generically cited, such as in Galatians with respect to the Judaizers who were trying to get Christian converts to submit to circumcision, and in Romans where Paul is dealing with Orthodox Jews, the context of those passages makes it plain that the “works” in focus are specifically the works of the Law. Such is not the case in James, when James mentions “works.” The other mistake that people make is in assuming that the works mentioned in James must refer to “good works,” and although such good works are encouraged, such as at James 1:27, in terms of taking care of widows and orphans, and at Galatians 2:10, in terms of taking care of the poor, that’s not inline with James’ primary point concerning works, since he has the works of faith in focus, reinforced by examples that dealt specifically with people who had taken risks and stepped out in faith. Faith, without the works of faith, is principally what is in focus here. He doesn’t want for you to merely think like Abraham, but to actually live like Abraham.
James is pointing out the necessity of why faith must include works, since the one thing, by itself, is useless, just as faith, if it is “by itself,” cannot deliver a man, being then “useless” and “dead.” Faith needs what is “necessary.” And what is necessary? “Works.” What type of “works”? For that, James points to the specific examples of Abraham and Rahab.
James 2:21-24: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works
when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith
was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith
was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And
Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God. You see that
a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
Calvinist, R.C. Sproul: “On the one hand, James says a man is justified by works and not by faith only. On the other, Paul says we are justified by faith apart from work of the law. The problem is exacerbated when we see that both James and Paul appeal to Abraham to prove their points.” (What is Reformed Theology?, p.69, emphasis mine)
James said that Abraham was justified by works. (James 2:21-23)
Paul said that Abraham was not justified by works. (Romans 4:1-5)
But “works” means different things in different contexts. You need to see how it is being used, in order to understand the type of works that is intended.
Sproul’s approach is to say that James and Paul are not talking about the same kind of Justification, in that, “they are not using it in the same sense,” and ultimately gives the explanation of, “True faith always manifests itself in works.” Manifests itself in works? What kind of works does he mean? This raises the question of whether the issue is about a differing usage of Justification or whether it is an issue of a differing usage of works. Perhaps the answer is both.
Question: Did James and Paul have the same type of “works” in mind?
Answer: When Paul discussed “works,” he was dealing with the Judaizers, in terms of their attempt to force all Gentile converts into submission to the Mosaic Law, which notoriously included circumcision, and Paul’s point was, Who was ever justified by the Mosaic Law?, and yet someone was justified, namely Abraham, and that was by faith. Paul didn’t want the Gentiles to fall into the works-trap, because that was what led the Jews to think that they didn’t need Jesus, insomuch that their works under the Mosaic Law was sufficient to justify them. Conversely, James wasn’t dealing with the Judaizer conspiracy, but was instead pointing out the fact that Abraham’s faith grew from his trials, insomuch that without God’s tests of faith, where would his faith be? Again, James wasn’t talking about proving faith, but about producing faith, insomuch that the “testing of your faith produces endurance” (or an enduring faith), all towards a “perfect result” (James 1:2-4), in which “faith was perfected.” (James 2:22) Absent of such trails, the result is a blind faith or mere pretense to faith. Therefore, contrary to Sproul, I would instead conclude of James and Paul, “they are not using [works] in the same sense.” A better reference to the type of works that James had in mind, would be 2nd Thessalonians 1:11.
Take note of James’ primary two examples: Abraham and Rahab. Both preceded the Mosaic Law by hundreds of years, but especially notice the case of Rahab. She was a prostitute. She had literally nothing whatsoever to do with the Mosaic Law. She was simply a woman who risked her life by staking her hopes in the Lord, having disobeyed the king, and made a secret pact with the Israelite spies. She made them swear by the Lord. All of that speaks of faith. So I see two people being called out for their conspicuous acts of faith in order to illustrate James’ intended message: Faith tested is faith perfected. Both took steps of faith and grew as a result of it. Absent of such tests of faith and what do you have?
James 2:25-26: “In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot
also justified by works when she received the messengers
and sent them out by another way? For just as the body
without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is
dead.”
A Canaanite woman took a bold step of faith in risking her
life by disobeying the king and allying herself with the God
of Israel by aiding the Israelite spies. She was a Canaanite
prostitute. So she had nothing to do with the Mosaic Law.
She simply stepped out in faith in the Lord.
God commanded the Israelites to march into Canaan and wipe the idol-worshipers off the face of the land, which included the city of Jericho. And word got around. (Joshua 2:9-11) Rahab, a prostitute in well fortified Jericho, heard and believed the Lord anyway, despite the grasshopper-size of the Israelites. One day, some of those tiny Israelite spies entered into Rahab’s house and lodged there. (Joshua 2:1) But instead of turning the spies in, like the king had commanded its citizens to do (v.2:3), she lied to the king’s men and hid them on her roof-top. (v.2:6) “I know [belief] that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And when we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God (Exodus 9:16) in heaven above and on earth beneath.” (vv.2:9-11) So what did she do? She says, “Please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” (vv.2:12-13) Do you see how she heard the news and believed, and how motivated she was to take a stand on that faith? (James 2:22) And the spies consented. (Joshua 2:14,17-21) And as a result of the exercising of her belief in God through this trial, she became justified in the sight of God, even righteous. (James 2:25) When it was all said and done, the Israelites kept their word, and they let her and her family dwell in safety. In the end, she turned belief into faith by doing the true, non-meritorious work of God (John 6:29), which saved she and her entire family.
Next consider Abraham, the other primary example of James.
Abraham’s work occurred when he offered up his son Isaac on the alter. Genesis 22:1-2 records: “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’” Now what kind of work is that? Was it a work of obedience? Certainly, but that’s not what James is getting at. The work of Abraham hadn’t begun quite yet: “Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ He said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.’ Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.’” (Genesis 22:10-14)
The work of Abraham had begun the instant that he drew his knife to “slay his son.” The result was that God said: “For now I know that you fear God.” What happened? Abraham recalled God’s promise: “Through Isaac your descendants shall be named.” (Genesis 21:12) Yet, Abraham was about to destroy that very promise since he was about to kill Isaac. However, Abraham had concluded in his mind that even though his son was about to die, God’s Word was so sure and strong, that God would bring him back from the dead just to keep that promise. Hebrews 11:17-19 states: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your descendants shall be called.’ He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.” Romans 4:18-25 states: “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore It was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”
The work of Abraham was that “in hope against hope,” he believed in a miracle, and acted upon it. What was the result? It was “credited to him as righteousness,” and was called “the friend of God.” Through this trial, his “faith was perfected,” having grown “strong.” That’s precisely why James states: “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4) What is the lesson? The testing of your faith, grows it, develops it and perfects it. That’s what James meant by “faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” By works, that is, by “trials,” the “testing of your faith,” as difficult as it is, “count it all joy.” (James 1:2, KJV) That’s why Deuteronomy 8:16 states: “In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end.” The purpose of their trial was to build up their faith.
When seeking out God’s will, we don’t simply say, “I have faith,” and that’s the end of it. In the after-math, we don’t simply say, “I just take it on faith that this is what God wanted.” That’s not the purpose of faith. Faith manifests itself. For instance, when the Jews were in captivity to the Egyptians, you don’t say, “Well I just take it on faith that this is where God wants us.” No, it wasn’t, and the very lack of faith manifested itself in 400 years of captivity. The way that faith works is that you believe in God, and then that faith manifests itself into something that God does. As an example, Abraham took it on faith that after obeying God and sacrificing his only son, Isaac, God would raise him back from the dead, in order to keep His promise. Abraham actually reasoned this: “He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.” (Hebrews 11:19) The resulting manifestation of Abraham’s faith was God’s provision of the ram, which Abraham was instructed to sacrifice in Isaac’s place. So if you have faith in God, the resulting manifestation will be something that God does. In other words, you don’t simple have faith for the sake of faith. You have faith for the sake of something that God will do, and the manifestation of God’s provision is what confirms that your faith was genuine, and that it was in God, because God acted upon it. Jesus said as much: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21, KJV) If there is no manifestation, then that could serve as evidence that something is wrong, but at the same time, having a degree of patience is also necessary, because God has His own timing.
Now consider this in terms of Elijah and Elisha:
2nd Kings 2:5-14
The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the LORD is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know [believe],” he replied, “but do not dare to speak of it.” Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the LORD lives and you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit [faith],” Elisha replied. “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me [experience] when I am taken from you, it will be yours--otherwise not.” As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart. He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. [NIV]
Elisha believed that God was going to take Elijah. But he had to experience it, in order to have twice the faith of Elijah that he has asked for. So what is faith? It’s the experiential knowledge that God will do what He said He would do. It is the abode of confidence (Ephesians 3:12) in the unfathomable love that God offers to anyone who is willing to call on His name. (Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13) It’s the devotion to His endless mercy and the complete reliance upon the goodness (1st Peter 2:3) of Him who desires nothing but blessings for us, except that through our foolishness, we like sheep, stray from Him and force the hand of love upon us in discipline. “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23) 1st Peter 1:7 states: “So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” There are literally endless examples of this, whether it be David vs. Goliath, or Hannah, or Job, or Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. On and on, experiential faith by trials turned belief (a claim to faith) into faith.
Belief + no trials = dead faith (vv.14, 17, 26), since faith untested cannot deliver.
Belief + trials = perfect faith. Hence: “my faith by my works” (v.18)
Adrian Rogers: “The faith that can’t be tested, can’t be trusted.” (In Jesus there is so much more: Romans 5:6-9)
Faith, which has no resulting manifestation by God, was never faith to begin with. Otherwise, Christianity would be no different than any other religion.
John Calvin: “James, as we may learn from the context, meant no more than that man is not rendered or proved righteous by a feigned or dead faith, unless he proves his righteousness by his works.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Romans and Thessalonians, p.79, emphasis mine)
No, this isn’t about proving faith, but about perfecting faith. (James 2:22) James writes: The “testing of your faith produces endurance” (or an enduring faith), all towards a “perfect result” (James 1:2-4), in which “faith was perfected.” (James 2:22)
John Calvin: “…when we speak about faith in general, let us realize that there is a certain faith which is perceived by understanding only, and afterwards quickly disappears because it is not fixed in the heart; that is the faith which James calls ‘dead,’ whereas true faith always depends on the Spirit of regeneration (James 2:17, 20, 26).” (John: Calvin, The Crossway Classic Commentaries, p.61, emphasis mine)
- To Calvin: Faith without Irresistible Grace is dead, being mere “faith in general,” perceived by understanding only, which afterwards quickly disappears, being not fixed in the heart.
- To Calvin: What use is faith, without regenerative, Irresistible Grace?, which being by itself, is dead.
- To Calvin: I will show you my faith by my Regenerative Grace.
- To Calvin: Faith works with Irresistible Grace, so that as a result of Regenerative Grace, faith is perfected, and reckoned as righteousness.
- To Calvin: We are justified by Irresistible Grace, and not by faith alone.
This is what Calvinism does to the passage.
One member of The Society of Evangelical Arminians: “The level of seriousness by which people take their faith is proportional to the degree that their faith changes their persons; those who do not take their faith seriously at all, even if genuine, should not be expected to have any change in behavior. Only those that outwardly act on their inward faith will increasingly be transformed by the nature of Christ. Only those who act on the grace they receive by means of faith, will change because sanctification, like justification, is by faith.”
I think that that’s exactly what James was stating: “But someone may well say, ‘You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.’” (James 2:18) Of course, the works were not the works of the Law, but the works of faith, evidenced by the examples of Abraham and Rahab, neither of which who had anything remotely to do with the Law, but were simply cited for their leap of faith.
Acting on one’s beliefs, in a step of faith, transforms the person,
so much so, that faith seems almost like a spiritual muscle.
Charles Stanley: “When we mediate on God and remember the promises He has given us in His Word, our faith grows, and our fears dissolve.”
I would, instead, say that “our faith grows” when we act upon “the promises He has given us in His Word,” in a step of faith. I think that that’s the message that James was trying to convey.
Jesus says: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7)
Acts 17:24-28: “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist , as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’”
It’s evident that God wants for His creation to engage Him in the mystery of faith.
The problem with a works-based salvation is that people pick and choose which works that they choose to obey, and resultingly derive a false sense of self-righteousness from. Paul anticipated this at Romans 10:5: “For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.” More forcefully, Paul adds at Galatians 5:3: “And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.”
