“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 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? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 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.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 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. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 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? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
WHAT ARE ‘WORKS’?
Have you ever wondered just where the parameters sit in the Biblical definition of works? I think about these things, which I suppose is a good propensity for a preacher to have, and I wonder if other people do also.
What exactly constitutes ‘works’? Am I performing Biblical works in the act of praying? Is mental ascent to Biblical truth a work of sorts? Are works defined only within the context of performance of religious ritual or do they include something as mundane and simple as volunteering to wash the dinner dishes?
In your moments of contemplation have you ever pondered these things? Or are you sitting there thinking that I have way too much time on my hands?
I believe that it is an important question to ask. I think that we always have to be on our guard against the tendencies of the fallen nature, to excuse bad behavior or lack of proper action by saying this or that is not covered in some Biblical mandate or admonition. We have to be on guard against ourselves as much as against the outward things that come against us to impede our spiritual walk and growth.
So what I’m getting at here, is that if we find and confront a precise definition of the term ‘works’ as the Bible writers have used it, then we will be forced in our day to day activities to recognize the opportunities that are set before us and the potential for Godliness in our lifestyle that is always present.
Now the Greek word itself, which is used exclusively in every case that the New Testament writers discuss good works or good deeds, means very simply, toil, labor, an act or deed done.
We needn’t take that farther; the implication is that there is some physical thing going on. It can mean building a structure or offering a glass of water; serving communion or changing out the paper towels in the church restroom.
Instead of going on about it, let me attempt to offer you as concise yet complete definition of ‘works’ in the Biblical sense of relating to faith as I can.
Works, good deeds, are the physical response and demonstration of an inner set of beliefs and system of values based upon those beliefs, that are both stimulated into being by those beliefs and are also the seen and experienced evidence of those unseen beliefs and values.
Now I may at some later time be able to sharpen the focus of that definition – for now I only hope that I have been complete if not brief.
In short, what I am saying and what James is teaching is that faith manifests in physical action of some kind, and that action will complement rather than contradict that faith.
So I hope that helps you. You may not have needed it; you may have understood all this very clearly for a long time. But on the chance there might be some to whom the definition has never been clear, I hope this helps somewhat, In any case, with all this in mind, let’s go in to see what James has taught us in these verses.
WHAT GOOD IS IT?
James begins with a question that on the surface seems to fly in the face of Paul’s doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone. But taking a closer look we will see that it does not.
In the NASB we have ‘What use is it’. In several other translations we have ‘What good is it’, and in a couple of the older translations it begins, ‘What profit is there’.
What good is your faith, that belief system you say you hold to, if there is no practical demonstration of it? That’s what James wants to know.
He was writing to Jews who had become followers of Christ. We know this because in chapter 1 verse 1 he calls his readers ‘the twelve tribes who have been disbursed abroad’, and in verse 2 he calls them ‘my brethren’. So they are of the tribes of Israel, and they are Christian brethren. They are of the church.
So there must have been some confusion existing among them, having come out of a religious system that was based entirely on religious ritual, sacrifice, ordinances, the keeping of feasts and so on. They had been taught that their salvation was through faith alone in the finished work of Messiah on the cross of Golgotha. They were told that Jesus was risen from the dead and that He brought eternal life to all who believe.
Therefore many of them must have been saying, ‘Well, if salvation is by faith alone and not of works, then works are not necessary. I am sustained by my faith and now I am going to Heaven and it doesn’t matter what I do or do not do. There are no more sacrifices, no more food restrictions, and I am now under grace not works’.
James is writing to correct this error. But where Paul wrote to explain how to be saved and where salvation comes from, James wrote to explain that faith that results in salvation is evidenced in life-change and life-action. It’s why he says in chapter 1 verse 22 that they are to prove themselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
What good is it? You have faith? You believe in the Gospel? You believe Jesus died for your sins and came up from the grave in glorious life just as He said He would? You believe that now you are a part of God’s family and heaven-bound by His work and grace alone? Big deal! Big deal! So why don’t you just go home to Heaven then? Why doesn’t God just take you there now? Because we can’t see your faith; that’s invisible to us. It’s something in your head and we can’t see your faith anymore than we can see your headache. So tell us what good it is.
You believe in Jesus? He is your Savior and your Lord? Alright then, what do we know of Him?
When sent by God to the house of the gentile Cornelius, Peter preached to them saying, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we were witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem.” Acts 10:38-39a
That’s in Acts 10. Let’s go back to the beginning of Acts and see what Luke wrote to Theophilus in his greeting.
“The first account I composed, Theophilus (that would be the Gospel of Luke), about all that Jesus began to do and teach…” (parenthesis and italics mine)
You say you are saved by faith in Jesus and He is your leader? Then wouldn’t that faith lead you to follow His example for living as well as following Him to Heaven?
Jesus entered upon His earthly ministry following His baptism in the Jordan and from that moment until He was taken up was so active in doing good and teaching about God that John was inspired to suppose that the world could not hold the books if everything was written down.
So what good is your faith, if you’re just going to sit there with a silly grin on your face thinking about how nice it is to be a Christian?
In verse 20 of our text James rewords his question. “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works useless?”
Remember Simon and Garfunkle’s song, “I Am A Rock”? One stanza goes,
“I have my books and my poetry to protect me,
I am shielded in my armor.
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me”
That’s what faith without works is, Christ-followers. It is all about ‘I’; what I have, where I am going, the benefits I receive. There is no giving, there is no God-glorifying, there is no Christ-following – it is useless – it is no good!
Someone said lonely faith is dead faith. Lonely faith is dead faith. It is knowledge without application; like a fully loaded computer that never gets booted up. It is worse than that though. An unplugged computer is not dangerous. Head knowledge of God and Christ only, no matter how extensive and complete, is dangerous. Let’s talk about that.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR BEING A DEMON
It’s the next verse that I think is the tell-all, when James makes the shocking statement that demons believe in God. Well, should it be shocking? They originally were in Heaven and were cast out with their master, so why would we be surprised that they believe?
Mental assent to the existence of God and the content of the Bible means nothing by itself. Fear of God and His wrath and the coming judgment mean absolutely nothing as just an emotional reaction to revealed truth.
The demons believe and tremble. Big deal. Do you believe and tremble? Are you emotionally stirred when you hear the word preached and you are confronted with messages regarding righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come? Big deal. That sort of preaching frightened Felix also, as recorded for us in Acts 24:25 and he even called Paul back often to listen to him. But in the end it did him no good, being rejected by him time and again until Paul was no longer available and his message was no longer available and Felix’s heart was hardened against the gospel forever.
Listen to MacArthur on this:
“As far as factual doctrine is concerned demons are monotheists, all of whom know and believe there is one true God. … They know quite well that there is a literal heaven and a literal hell... But all of that orthodox knowledge, divinely and eternally significant as it is, cannot save them. They know the truth about God, Christ and the Spirit, but hate it and them.” The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – James – Moody Press 1998 pg 131
Head knowledge of God and things pertaining to God only qualifies you to be a demon! And I submit to you friend, that if your faith is not demonstrated in works then all you have is a head knowledge.
“But it’s also in my heart” you object? No, it is not. Because when true saving faith exists in the heart, good works will follow; irresistible, unstoppable.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” Eph 2:10
Head knowledge alone is deadly and demonic. Don’t deceive yourself and don’t be deceived. There are many religious people who have only a head knowledge of God and things pertaining to God and their life shows it.
“All knowledge that begins not, and ends not with His glory, is but a giddy, but a vertiginous circle, but an elaborate and exquisite ignorance.” – John Donne
Let’s look at the testimonies of two people that James gives as examples of what he is teaching.
ABRAHAM’S TESTIMONY – Our Forefather (Genesis 15:6, 22:12, Rom 4:3)
Was Abraham justified by faith alone? Yes! Romans 4:13-16
“For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
But while justification is by faith alone, faith that justifies is never alone. It issues in good works!
It was faith that brought Abraham and his son to the mountain.
It was faith that caused Abraham to tell his attendants that both he and his son would return.
It was faith that tied his son’s hands and laid him on the altar.
It was faith that raised the knife; and if God had not intervened, beloved, faith would have plunged the knife into the heart of Isaac.
Because Abraham believed God, and he believed the promises, and he believed that God is able to raise the dead and bring into being that which does not exist!
Faith was working with his works, and because of the works faith was completed. Faith without works is incomplete, but the works that issue from faith complete it.
I want to call to your attention that Abraham was reckoned right with God, back in Genesis 15:6 when he believed the promise that God gave him concerning a son and a heritage.
So in Genesis 22, when God sends Abraham to the mountain to sacrifice his only son, Abraham is already justified – he is already right with God through faith. But I want you to notice that in Genesis 22:12 when God stops the patriarch and spares Isaac, He says, “now I know that you fear God”. “Now I know”!
Did God learn just then? Was it at that moment that God received some information concerning Abraham that He did not previously possess? Absolutely not! But the faith that Abraham had was fleshed out. His faith was demonstrated in action; in works. His faith manifested in that moment, in costly obedience to the command of God.
I want you to remember that as he and Isaac began up the mountain, just the two of them, Abraham told his servants ‘we will return’. WE will return. That alone was an expression of faith in that his words indicate he believed God would raise his son back to life. But it was when the knife was ready to descend that God said, “Now I know”. What He really said was, Abraham, you have passed the test in that by an outward expression of an inward conviction you have held nothing back from Me.
RAHAB’S TESTIMONY – Gentile prostitute (Joshua 2)
What about Rahab? We’ve talked about the father of the faith, Abraham – the first Jew, the one who received the promise of the Redeemer coming from his loins – who received the sign of circumcision as a pledge.
How it must have rocked James’ Jewish readers back on their heels when he said, now let’s look at the testimony of a gentile prostitute.
It’s all in Joshua 2, you can read it there. Rahab, a citizen of Jericho, living in an apartment built into the city wall. When the spies came to her house she hid them from the authorities and then helped them to escape after the gates were closed for the night.
Well, you might be thinking, that sounds like an act of civil disobedience. Spies among her own people, and she hid them and helped them escape? That’s giving aid and comfort to the enemy. How is that a good work?
Well, the answer is in her words. “The Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”
News of all the things God had done to deliver His nation and protect and preserve them in the wilderness had reached the ears of all the people of Jericho and all the land. She told the spies “the terror of you has fallen on us, and … all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you” and in Joshua 2: 11, “our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you”.
But where everyone else melted away in faithless fear, Rahab declared the truth that only could have been divinely revealed to her receptive heart. “The Lord is God in heaven above and on earth beneath”.
So “By faith Rahab the harlot, did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace” Heb 11:31
And Rahab the harlot was justified by her faith, when her faith manifested itself in good deeds that gave glory to God.
And Rahab the believer found herself in the lineage of Messiah, being the great grandmother of King David according to the flesh, and heir and joint-heir with Christ according to the Spirit.
Now there may have been many in that city who said, “These Israelites must be protected by the God who is God of heaven and God of the earth beneath, for look at how He preserves them”.
But big deal. The demons also believe and shudder. But when faith in that same truth is faith that changes the heart it manifests in behavior – and God says, ‘Now I know’.
As the body needs the spirit to live, James tells us in verse 26, so faith separated from works is empty and lifeless.
Now I want to point out here that men and women who have no hope and are without God in the world also do good deeds. Good deeds do not save and they make no one right with God. But the writer to the Hebrews declares that without faith it will be impossible to please God, then he goes on to document the physical actions of the patriarchs that demonstrated their faith and by so doing gained God’s approval.
As the body needs the spirit to live, so faith separate from works is empty and lifeless. Lonely faith is dead faith.
People look for evidences of the faith we proclaim, fellow Christ-followers. They may have no interest in God or desire to know Him, but they watch us nonetheless.
And God looks for evidence also. If people don’t see works they doubt the presence and validity of faith.
God knows what is in our heart, but remember it was when the knife was raised and ready to descend that He said, ‘Now I know’. It was when she helped the people of God because of who He is that Rahab was spared and entered into the lineage of Messiah.
Is your faith working with your works, believer? Works are physical and visible to the eye and audible to the ear and when they glorify God they are seen to be works of true faith. Faith is perfected in them; faith is completed.
I love the scene in the movie “Chariots of Fire”, about the 1924 Olympics, where Eric Liddell is trying to convince his sister Jenny that he agrees with her that he is called to the mission field but that first he must run in the Olympics. He says, “I know, Jenny, God has made me for China. But He also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure”. Well, he did run, and he won, and then he returned to China where he served the Lord as a missionary and died there twenty one years later. But he ran.
Are you running? Are you sensing His pleasure?
How would your faith be defined before God? Are you a rock, hiding in your room, safe within your womb, untouched and un-touching, heaven-bound but empty?
Or is your faith working with your works, testifying to the world that your God is the God of heaven and God on the earth and thereby gaining His approval?
