This morning we find ourselves in James 2:14-26. Let's start by just reading James 2:14:
(14) What is the benefit, my brothers,
if faith, someone says he has; ["faith" is focused in Greek]
now, works, he doesn't have. ["works" is focused]
That faith isn't able to save him, right?
If you're like me, your immediate reaction to this verse, is to misread it. We see this cluster of words that sounds like Paul-- we hear "salvation," and "faith," and "works." We find ourselves immediately wrestling with passages like Ephesians 2:8-9. We think that James is about to answer the question, "How do I become a Christian? What kind of faith does God want from me, that will make me a Christian?"
This natural tendency is inevitable. We can't help ourselves here. Many of us have spent our entire Christian lives in churches hearing about faith, and works, and salvation. But James is actually talking about something different.
(And James and Paul are talking past each other, using similar words, but with very different meanings.)
James isn't starting a new, unrelated section in his letter, where he explains how you become a Christian. What he's doing, is extending the same argument he's been making since the beginning of the letter, and especially from James 1:22 forward.
It's really hard to force ourselves to take James seriously, on his own terms. The only way we can do that, really, is by jumping back to James 1:22, and letting ourselves get sucked back into his argument. So let's do that. James 1:22:
(22) Now, become doers of the word,
and not hearers only,
deceiving yourselves,
(23) because if anyone, a hearer of the word, he is, and not a doer-- this one is like a man staring at his own face in a mirror.
(24) For he stared at himself,
and he departed,
and immediately he forgot what sort of person he was.
(25) Now, the one studying the perfect law-- the one of freedom-- and staying in it--
not a forgetful hearer being,
but a doer of work--
this one, blessed/happy, in all he does, he will be. ["blessed" is focused]
(26) If anyone thinks, religious, he is-- ["religious" is focused]
(while) not bridling his tongue,
but deceiving his heart--
worthless, this one's religion is. ["worthless" is focused]
(27) Religion pure/clean and uncontaminated in the sight of our God and Father is this:
(A) To help/look after orphans and widows in their affliction;
(B) Blameless/spotless, to keep oneself from the world.
The first thing we need to remind ourselves of in these verses, for today's passage to make sense, is the nature of "religion." We tend to think of "religion" as a dirty word. But James doesn't view it that way. And neither does God. The key, is that we have the type of religion God desires.
True religion-- the type of religion God wants-- has two main parts. First, that we look after people on the margins of the church-- people who are vulnerable, who don't have an advocate or a helper. Children should have parents, who protect them, and provide for them. Orphans lack that, and need the church's help. And widows, in a male-dominated (patriarchal) society at least, need a husband, who will protect them, and provide for them. [Even today, with all our technology, companies aren't lining up to give 80 year old widows a job]. Widows who lack that, need the church's help.
The second mark of true religion is that we keep ourselves blameless, and spotless, from the world. We are in the world, but we don't let ourselves be polluted by it. We live in the midst of the dirt, but we aren't dirty.
The second thing we need to remind ourselves about, for today's passage to make sense, is in James 1:22. There is a difference between "hearing" and "doing." Our natural tendency is to assume that hearing is doing. We hear someone teach from the Bible, or we read our Bibles, and we tell ourselves, "I'm doing this." We read about being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, and we say, "That's me." We act like we are obeying because we heard it.
And this may or may not be true, right?
But James says, if we "do," and not merely "hear," we will be blessed in every single thing we do in life. The key to God's blessing, is obedience.
If we can remember these two ideas-- the nature of religion, and the difference between hearing and doing-- we will be halfway to reading James 2:14-26 the way James wanted.
Now, let's reread last week's passage, James 2:1-13.
(1) My brothers, don't with partiality hold the faith of our glorious Lord, Jesus Christ.
(2) For suppose someone should enter your assembly with a gold ring on his finger, with fine clothing.
Now, also a poor person enters with filthy clothing.
Now, you look favorably upon the one wearing the fine clothing, and you say,
"You sit here rightly/fitly,"
and to the poor one you say,
"You stand, or be seated there by my footstool"--
(4) haven't you become waverers among yourselves,
and judges with evil thoughts?
(5) Listen, my beloved brothers: didn't God choose the poor in the world [to be] rich with respect to faith, and heirs of the kingdom that He promised to the ones loving him?
(6) Now, you dishonor the poor.
Isn't it the rich who are oppressing you,
and aren't they dragging you to (court) judgment?
(7) Aren't they blaspheming the good name of the one to whom you belong?
(8) However, if the royal/kingly law, you accomplish in accordance with the Scripture:
"You will love your neighbor as yourself,"
rightly you act.
(9) Now, if you show partiality, sin, you work/produce,
being convicted by the law as transgressors.
(10) For whoever the whole law keeps, now stumbles/falls into error in one thing, has become guilty of all of it.
(11) For The One saying, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder."
Now, if you don't commit adultery-- now, you murder-- you have become a transgressor of the law.
(12) For this reason speak, and for this reason act, as the ones who by the law of freedom are going to be judged.
(13) For the judgment is merciless to the one not doing mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
So what James 2:1-13 does, is illustrate what it looks like to be doers of the word, and not just hearers. It also illustrates what it looks like to practice true religion. The type of religion God wants, is the type that looks after people on the margins of the church, and on the margins of society.
Now, as we get to verses 12-13, we maybe notice something else. This passage has some serious bite.
What happens if you decide you'd rather favor the rich, and mistreat the poor? What happens if you want to keep showing favoritism?
Maybe you tell yourself, "I'm obeying 99% of the Bible's commands. Everyone is allowed a single weakness, right? And mine just happens to be, that I don't want to show mercy to people in need. I want to give special treatment to the people who can help me-- people who have power in society, who can find me a job if I lose mine, who could be valuable customers."
James says, you can't do this. If you fail to show mercy to the poor, you're not just disobeying the kingly law. You are disobeying God (James 2:11). You are transgressing, against God. And this is a big deal, because there is a day of judgment coming. And the basis for that judgment, for you, will be... what?
Verse 12. James says you will be judged by "the law of freedom." Probably, James here means the Old Testament law, as it was interpreted, and applied, by Jesus. The easiest way to think about "the law of freedom," is that it looks a lot like the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, or Matthew 25:31-46.
James then strengthens his point in verse 13, giving us a little more explanation about how this judgment works:
(13) For the judgment is merciless to the one not doing mercy.
Mercy triumphs over judgment.
When you refuse to show favoritism toward people, but instead love your neighbor as yourself, you are showing mercy to them. And verse 13 says that when you show mercy to people, the end result is that God will show mercy to you. The idea is very much in line with the Lord's prayer, with Jesus' teaching on forgiveness. If you forgive others, God will forgive you. If you don't forgive others, God won't forgive you. Showing mercy works the same way. If you show mercy to people, God will show mercy to you. And if you refuse to show mercy, you should expect God to show no mercy to you.
As we move into today's verses, keep this idea of judgment, and loving your neighbor, and mercy in mind. We need this, for it to make sense. So. James 2:14:
(14) What is the benefit, my brothers,
if faith, someone says he has;
now, works, he doesn't have.
That faith isn't able to save him, right?
James is not introducing a new idea here. James is continuing his argument. So let's say you've resisted, successfully, his entire letter. Let's say, you've decided you'll show favoritism, and neglect the poor. You'll keep viewing people for what they can do for you, and bless those who can bless you. Let's say, you've accepted that there will always be a disconnect between what you say about your faith (James 2:1) and your good works.
Does that work? Can you hold partiality together, with the faith of our Lord Jesus (James 2:1)?
James asks that question in a way that assumes the answer is obvious (the Greek assumes a negative answer). The answer is "no." If you take this path, your faith isn't able to "save" you.
Now, what does James mean by "save"?
James here is not talking about becoming a Christian. When James is talking about being saved here, he's talking about being saved on the day of judgment.
We've already seen James talk about salvation this way, but it's been a couple weeks. Let's turn back to James 1:19-21 (so apparently I didn't go back quite far enough; NRSV no reason):
19 You must understand this, my beloved:[g] let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.
James here is talking about what you have to do, to be saved on the day of judgment (so also in James 4:12; James 5:20-- this is the best example really).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Include this?:
And as far as I can tell, there is a total scholarly consensus (among NT scholars at least) that James is referring to salvation on the day of judgment. All six commentaries I looked at on this, across denominational lines, said the same thing:
Sophie Laws puts it nicely (James, pg. 119): "[His faith] could not save him, presumably, from the judgment of vv. 12-13, for he has no deeds of mercy to boast in the face of judgment."
Peter Davids, The Epistle of James: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982), 120:
"What James is asking is whether a certain faith will help one in the final judgment (the ???s?? of 2:13). The implied “no” fits with the “no” expected in the final clause of this passage: “can such a faith [i.e. a faith lacking works] save him?” The eschatological ring of such a question is unmistakable (cf. 4:12; 1:21; 5:20 and W. Foerster, TDNT VII, 990–998, especially 996)."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thinking about salvation as a future event, on the day of judgment, is maybe a struggle for us. We tend to start from Ephesians 2:8-9, where we have been saved, past tense. But being saved in the NT is often (=usually) about being saved on the day of judgment (Romans 5:9; 1 Corinthians 3:15; 2 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 4:18: "He will save me into his kingdom"; "saved" is also talked about as something that's presently happening: 1 Corinthians 1:18; 15:2-- a great verse for understanding Paul; 2 Corinthians 2:15).
At this point, let's reread James 2:14. I'm hoping you'll hear it a little differently now:
(14) What is the benefit, my brothers,
if faith, someone says he has;
now, works, he doesn't have.
That faith isn't able to save him, right?
If you're hearing James right, you should maybe be a little freaked out. If you don't have works, you won't be saved on the day of judgment. Your faith will be of no benefit to you.
Starting in verse 15, James gives us an example, to prove his point:
(15) Suppose a brother or sister, poorly/inadequately dressed, he/she is, and lacking in daily food;
(16) Now, someone should say to them from you (plural),
"Go in peace.
Be warm and filled."
Now, he doesn't give them what is necessary for the body.
What is the benefit?
I'm not even sure how to unpack this. The answer is obvious, right? There's no benefit to this. The poor person receives no benefit from your words. And neither do you. Your "words" of mercy, are not "acts" of mercy. Offering a prayer for someone's needs, when you could be helping them, does nothing for them, and it will do nothing for you, when the day of judgment comes.
The other thing we need to remind ourselves about here, is what James means by "works." We are still focused on favoritism, and showing mercy to the people on the margins of society. Specifically, here, on showing mercy to people within the church. Mercy doesn't end with the people within the walls of this building. But it starts here.
So we leave verse 16 thinking, it's not about what you "say." It's about what you "do." It's about acts of mercy. But how does James's example help us? What are we supposed to learn? James tells us, in verses 17-18:
(17) Thus also faith, if it doesn't have works, dead, it is by itself,
A faith that is only faith, without works, is dead. It's a corpse. And a corpse is really limited in what it can do. It can't help others. It can't itself. A corpse can't bring benefit to anyone, in any way (2 Kings 13:21 would be the exception to the rule). And again, don't lose focus on what James means by works. Faith that doesn't have good works toward the poor, and orphans, and widows, is dead.
Is this true? James seems to think we might struggle with this. So in verse 18, James raises a possible objection:
(18) but someone will say,
"You, faith, you have,
and I, works, I have."
What exactly James means here is debated, but I think the idea behind the objection is this: Can't you separate out faith from works? Can't you have faith, without works?
James will now go on to attack this objection with four arguments. The first is found in the last half of verse 18:
Show me your faith apart from your/the works,
and I, to you, I will show by/from my works, my/the faith. [I have no idea what's focused here].
(1) Faith is something that has to be shown. It has to be demonstrated. When you're helping orphans and widows, your faith is obvious.
In verse 19, James pushes back against separating faith and works, in a second way:
(19) You believe ("have faith"= based off same Greek root) that one, God is.
Rightly you do,
and the demons believe,
and they shudder.
It's maybe tempting to define "faith" in terms of belief, and theology. You could argue that believing in God, or Jesus, means believing that certain things are true-- that God is one, that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. [You can even quote verses to that effect: John 3:16; 5:24; 20:30-31). And you could say that as long as you believe the right things, you have true faith, and you will be saved on the day of judgment.
But faith is not just about "belief." And the demons are proof of this. Demons have this kind of belief. They know exactly who God is, and what He wants. Demons have perfect theology. But what they don't have, is works. [And their fate, is the lake of fire.]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Sophie Laws, James, 126, explains this differently, and she might be right. Her explanation accounts for the "shudder" better than mine, possibly:
"The demons' assent is by no means merely intellectual: in believing that God is one they believe something about him that evokes a response: that as one he is wholly and consistently their enemy, and they shudder."
The idea is that their "faith" has a response. Faith is never alone. She's followed by Patrick Hartin.
--------------------------------------------------------
Starting in verse 20, James attacks this inadequate view of faith from Scripture. So this would be a third counter-argument. Let's read through verse 24, and then go back and break it down:
(20) Now, do you want to know, O foolish person, that faith apart from the works, useless, it is?
(21) Abraham, our father, was it not from/by works [that] he was shown right(eous),
offering up Isaac his son upon the altar?
(22) You see that faith was working together with his works,
and from the/his works, the faith was completed/perfected,
(23) and the Scripture was fulfilled/completed-- the one saying,
"Now, Abraham 'believed in' God,
and it was calculated/credited to him for righteousness,
and a friend of God, he was called.
(24) You see that from/by works, a person is shown right(eous),
and not from/by faith alone.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Verses 20-21:
(20) Now, do you want to know, O foolish person, that faith apart from the works, useless, it is?
(21) Abraham, our father, was it not from/by works [that] he was shown right(eous),
offering up Isaac his son upon the altar?
The key word here, for understanding the example of Abraham, is "shown right(eous)." Most English Bibles woodenly translate the verb here as "justified"-- that Abraham was "justified" by works. And if you read one of those Bibles, you find yourself asking this: "How can James say that we are justified by works, when Paul says we are justified by faith apart from works of the law? (Romans 3:28)."
And, even more basically, we could ask, "What does it mean to be 'justified'?" Big words are hard words.
Here, we find ourselves right at the edge of a centuries-old debate between Catholics and Protestants. I can't explain the whole debate here. All I'm going to try to do, is introduce you to it, and then try to point you in the right direction.
When Paul uses the verb, Protestants (historically) have wanted to say he means, "declared righteous." They want to say that Paul is using judicial language, to talk about how we are "declared" righteous in God's sight through faith in Jesus. They want to say the verb is about a change in status. We were sinners, and now we are declared holy through Jesus. Catholics, on the other hand, have wanted to translate the verb, "made righteous." They've wanted to say the verb is about a change in who you are-- in being. We were sinners, and now we are made holy-- made righteous. [I would say both are true, fwiw.]
When I'm reading Paul, my own preference, normally, is to translate it "make right" (following J. Louis Martyn, among others), because it puts the stress on fixing the relationship. The idea with the verb, in Paul, is that we are made right with God, through Jesus, through faith.
Now, is that how James uses it here?
Is James saying, James 2:21, that we are made right with God through works?
When we translate it as "justified," we find ourselves hopelessly stuck, wrestling with how James and Paul are related.
But there's a simple way out of this mess.
The first thing we should know, is that what James means by "works," and what Paul means by "works of the law," are not the same thing. For James, "works" is very obviously in context "good works." For Paul, "works of the law" are "works of the Mosaic covenant, done in obedience to Moses, in order to put oneself under the Mosaic covenant-- specifically, food laws, the Sabbath, and circumcision.
So James and Paul are talking past each other, when they use the same word "works." [We can maybe think about James here, as answering the question, "What happens if I don't do the good works God prepared ahead of time for me to do in Ephesians 2:10?"]
The second thing we should know is that the verb translated as "justify" can also have the sense of "to show right; to vindicate." [Read Luke 10:29, "wishing to show himself right/vindicate himself."] Other good examples: 1 Corinthians 4:4: "I am not vindicated/shown right by this." Or Psalms of Solomon 8:27: "God was justified/vindicated in his judgments among the nations of the earth" (also Ps. Solomon 2:15; 3:15; 8:7; 9:2; Romans 3:4; Christ was vindicated in 1 Timothy 3:16).
And what James is saying here, is that we are shown to be righteous through good works.
If we switch translations, to the NLT, for James 2:20-21, we find that we don't have any problems at all. [Sometimes, a Bible translation using dynamic equivalency is far more "accurate" than one using formal/wooden equivalency]. Let's read it (put on screen):
20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
21 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
The NLT does a nice job here. Abraham was "shown to be right with God by his actions."
In James 2, James isn't talking about how Abraham was initially made right with God. He's not talking about the relationship between faith and works in initial salvation. The whole argument is focused whether or not righteousness has to be "shown." And if we look at Abraham's life, we see that it does: righteousness has to be shown by good works.
In James 2:22-24, James tells us four things we are supposed to see from Abraham offering his son Isaac (if we keep the "and"s in, and translate it woodenly, it's easier to see):
Thing #1 is in verse 22:
(22) You see that faith was working together with his works,
Faith and works were not two separate things for Abraham. Faith and works were co-partners, co-laborers.
Thing #2 is also in verse 22:
and from the/his works, the faith was completed/perfected,
Evangelicals like to say that works are the result of faith. First, we have faith, and then we have works. We talk about it as a clear progression. But what James says here, is that works actually do something to faith. When you do good works, your faith is "completed," or "perfected." Your works fundamentally change the quality, and character, of your faith for the better. They make your faith into what it was designed to be.
------------------
Slide:
Faith----->Faith + Works------->Completed Faith.
--------------------------------
Thing #3 is in verse 23:
(23) and the Scripture was fulfilled/completed-- the one saying,
"Now, Abraham 'believed in' God,
and it was calculated/reckoned to him for righteousness,
and a friend of God, he was called.
Verse 23 is maybe the most important in the whole section. It's also, maybe, the most complicated.
In Genesis 15, Abraham "believes in God"-- he trusts God-- when God promises him descendants. And God considers Abraham's belief, or "trust," as righteousness (in the LXX), and God calls Abraham, at that point, his friend.
Seven chapters later, in Genesis 22, God tests Abraham's faith, by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar. And Abraham passes the test (we are supposed to hear a link to James 1:2-4, where we consider "testings" to be pure joy). He shows his righteousness by his works.
So when he does this, he "fulfills/completes" the Scripture. He shows that the way God talked about him was true.
The idea here, is that righteousness is something that has to be demonstrated. And Abraham proved/showed that the way God talked about him was right-- Abraham was righteous, and God's friend, not just in theory, or in words, but in reality.
------------------------------
Slide:
"Reckoned" righteous----------> Works added-----------> "Shown/Proven" Righteous.
------------------------------------
And James says exactly this in verse 24. This is thing #4:
(24) You see that from/by works, a person is shown right(eous),
and not from/by faith alone.
Again. Righteousness is something that has to be shown. [This is maybe the most important point James makes.] I can't demonstrate my righteousness by my faith. Faith doesn't do that. It wasn't designed to do that. Righteousness is demonstrated by good works.
In verse 25, James attacks the objection from verse 18 one last time:
(25) Now, likewise, also Rahab the prostitute-- was it not from/by works [that] she was shown right(eous),
welcoming the messengers,
and by another road sending them out?
(26) For just as the body apart from the spirit, dead, it is, thus also faith without works, dead, it is.
When we look at Rahab's life, we see the same relationship between faith and works. Rahab believed that Jericho was doomed. She placed her trust in God. And, acting out of that faith, she welcomed the messengers (showing hospitality), and got them safely back to the Israelites. Rahab's faith was shown by her works.
Then in verse 26, we find James wrapping up his argument. James had started by asking, is there any benefit to a faith without works? And now he says, a faith without works is dead.
------------------------------------------------------------
If we've managed to follow James's argument, and take him seriously, our application this morning is really straightforward.
When James looks at the church, he sees people who claim to be Christians (and they are), who claim to have "saving" faith, but who don't show faith in the areas God most cares about. They don't care about their brothers and sisters in need. They show favoritism. They go through life using worldly wisdom, living as friends to the world, instead of as friends to God. They don't practice true religion.
In most ways, they aren't bad people. In most ways, they obey God. But they don't show mercy. They don't look after the people on the margins. And what's the end result?
God views them as lawbreakers. God views them, as disobedient toward himself. And these people are setting themselves up for a terrible day of judgment.
In many ways, the whole section is an elaboration of Jesus' words in Matthew 7:21:
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
So what needs to change?
James doesn't tell people that they prayed the sinner's prayer wrong. He doesn't tell people they need to get rebaptized. He's not giving an altar call. He's writing to "beloved brothers."
What he's saying, is that if you want your faith to have benefit on the day of judgment, you have to add works to your faith. The mercy that you show to others, will result in God showing you mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Good works also do something else: they bring your faith to maturity/perfection/completion. They change the quality of faith, and make your faith into something better. Christians talk all the time about growing in their faith. James says that your faith grows, by doing.
If we take this seriously, it really simplifies how we talk about spiritual growth. I can measure the growth in my faith by how I treat the people around me.
If I'm actively looking for opportunities to do good, and then I "do" them, my faith will grow.
Let's not be a church that gets almost everything right, but thinks it can ignore something at the heart of true religion. You can claim whatever you want about your faith. You can tell yourself that you are growing spiritually because you're reading your Bibles, and spending time in prayer and fasting, and worshipping God at church. You can tell yourself that spiritual growth is a matter of private spirituality. You can tell yourself that you are righteous, through faith in Jesus. James is really clear-- you can "say" whatever you want. Right?
But if you want to grow in your faith, and have a faith that benefits you, and others, what do you need to do? You need to show your righteousness. You have to look at people on the margins of society/the church. Look for the vulnerable. Look for people who need help. And then you practice the royal law-- you love you neighbor as yourself. You help.
Now, how do we do this? Where do we start?
The key, is that we are talking about your neighbor-- about the people standing right in front of you, as you go through your day.
There's a million ways that you can show mercy to your neighbor. Every neighbor needs something different.
I have fairy regular contact with a few people who are disabled to different degrees. And all three of them get food delivered to their houses/apartments by a large shipping company because cooking a real meal, from scratch, is beyond them.
The boxes the food gets delivered in are heavy. Too heavy for any of the three to lift up, or carry, or bring to their kitchen. Ideally, those three people will have a delivery driver who views them as his neighbors, who loves them like himself, and will take the extra 30 seconds to put it on a chair inside their home. But if those three people lack that, what do they need? They need a neighbor who will view them with compassion, and help. And maybe, at some point, their neighbor can offer them something even greater.
But what I want you to see from that example, is that acts of mercy aren't always very big, or very costly. My guess is that acts of mercy are usually a small thing to you, but a big thing to others.
How do we become merciful people?
I think three things are required:
(1) Open your eyes to the people right in front of you,
(2) Open your hearts, so that you have compassion,
(3) Open your hands, so that you actually "do" something.
So as you leave today, I encourage you, make this your focus. Learn to see the people right in front of you, the way that God does. Instead of hardening your hearts to need, let your hearts melt. And then, most importantly, add good works to your faith. Show mercy to the vulnerable, and the needy. If we do this, things are going to get really cool around here-- we will get to watch each other's faith grow.
Translation:
(14) What is the benefit, my brothers,
if faith, someone says he has;
now, works, he doesn't have.
That faith isn't able to save him, right?
(15) Suppose a brother or sister, poorly/inadequately dressed, he/she is, and lacking in daily food;
(16) Now, someone should say to them from you (plural),
"Go in peace.
Be warm and filled."
Now, he doesn't give them what is necessary for the body.
What is the benefit?
(17) Thus also faith, if it doesn't have works, dead, it is by itself,
(18) but someone will say,
"You, faith, you have,
and I, works, I have."
Show me your faith apart from your/the works,
and I, to you, I will show from my words, my/the faith.
(19) You believe that one, God is.
Rightly you do,
and the demons believe,
and they shudder.
(20) Now, do you want to know, O foolish person, that faith apart from the works, useless, it is?
(21) Abraham-- our faith-- was it not from/by works [that] he was made right,
offering up Isaac his son upon the altar?
(22) You see that faith was working together with his works,
and from the/his works, the faith was completed/perfected,
(23) and the Scripture was fulfilled-- the one saying,
"Now, Abraham 'believed in' God,
and it was calculated/credited to him for righteousness,
and a friend of God, he was called.
(24) You see that from/by works, a person is made right,
and not from/by faith alone.
(25) Now, likewise, also Rahab the prostitute-- was it not from/by works [that] she was made right,
welcoming the messengers,
and by another road sending them out?
(26) For just as the body apart from the spirit, dead, it is, thus also faith without works, dead, it is.
