05 - James 2:14-26 Series

James 2:14-17

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 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? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

After addressing the issue of partiality to the rich and discrimination against the poor, James then turns his attention to another very important aspect – one that is being misunderstood in The Church even today – it’s the aspect of faith. When the word, ‘faith,’ is used, there can be different understandings of the word that spring to mind. Some understand faith to refer to one’s level of belief in God, to the point of seeing miracles happen – more faith means more miracles; no faith means no miracles. To others, faith would refer to one’s belief and trust in Jesus as Lord. To another it would mean believing all of God’s promises and commands. While there’s an element of truth in all the above, let’s look at what James is trying to teach about faith in this passage.

He starts off with a question to make his readers (or hearers) think. He asks what one would gain if he professed a faith in God that did not demonstrate itself in action. I’d like us to imagine a painter who wants to prove to everyone that he’s a great painter, but never sets out to paining. Of what use would all his talk be, if it was not followed up by action? Likewise, James asks of what use faith would be that does not demonstrate itself in action. He goes on to ask if such faith could save a person. Mere talk, not followed up by walk is no faith at all.

He then goes on to give a real-life scenario to help demonstrate his point. Imagine a fellow-believer lacking both clothing and food and coming to you for help, and you, instead of helping him with clothing and food say to him – “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled.” Of what use would that be to the person in need? Likewise, talking the faith without walking it, is of no use – in fact, James refers to it as dead faith.

If we believe in a loving God who loves us, and meets our needs, should we not also love others and help meet their needs as well? But if all we do is talk, and tell people that we will pray for them, without helping them in any way, we are not being real followers of Jesus, and all that we profess concerning our faith in Jesus, is futile.

James 2:18-20

18 “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

Understanding how people might try to find a loop-hole around actively demonstrating their faith, He says that some people may argue that it’s alright if one person demonstrates faith, while another demonstrates the works that the faith talks about. He says that he would respond to such a person like this, “Show me your faith alone that is not followed up by action, and I’ll show you my faith through my actions.” What he means to say is that faith cannot exist in isolation without a practical demonstration of it, through love – it needs to be followed up by action. In fact, faith that is not followed up by action is not faith at all – it’s mere talk.

James then goes on to address the concept of faith that is merely intellectual and that has no connection with one’s life in any way. So often we hear people talking about believing in Jesus, and without a proper understanding of what believing in Jesus really means. One can easily understand faith to mean giving intellectual assent to the teachings of Jesus without changing anything about the way we live our lives. He gives another scenario. He says that if we believe that there is one God, we are on the right track, and we do well, but he hastens to add that even the demons, not only believe that there is one God, but they even tremble before God – something most of us don’t do ourselves. So it seems that if our faith is only at an intellectual level, and has no connection with the way we live our lives, then demons do a better job at faith than we do. This means that there’s something missing from such faith. He goes on to say that such thinking is foolish, and such faith is dead.