2:14 What good is it, my brothers,
if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?
 

2:15 And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,
2:16 and one of you tells them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled;"
and yet you didn't give them the things the body needs, what good is it?
2:17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.

2:18 Yes, a man will say, "You have faith, and I have works."
Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
2:20 But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
 

2:21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works,
in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
2:22 You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;
2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says,
"Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness;" (Gen 15:6)
and he was called the friend of God.

2:24 You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.
 

2:25 In like manner wasn't Rahab the prostitute also justified by works,
in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? (Josh 2,6)

2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead,
even so faith apart from works is dead.

vs 14 What qualities of faith must a person have for it to be acceptable to God for righteousness?

vs 15-16 Is James giving examples of works of faith here, or merely pointing out a general illustration of the emptiness of belief without application?

vs 17 How would your life be any different if you did not believe in Christ?

vs 18 Whereas vs 14 gives the case of a man claiming to have faith, but no deeds, this verse gives the case of the person who claims to have deeds, but no faith. James answers both these positions by pointing out that what we do reveals what we believe. What is the difference between this idea and the idea of making a person's salvation dependent upon his performance?

vs 19 Faith has both an object and a quality. If a person has faith, he believes in something (the object) and he has a certain manner of believing in that thing (the quality). James points out that believing in God's existence itself does not save. So what is is the object of the Christian's faith that saves him? (John 3:14-16; Rom 10:9,10)

vs 21 Why was Abraham's attempt to murder his son considered an act of faith worthy of one who was reckoned righteous?
What is the difference between this "good work" and works that the society considers "good"?

vs 21-23 In Gal 3:5-12, Paul points out that Abraham's faith was not according to the works of the law. What is the different between the emphasis on deeds as described in this section with the works of the law?

vs 25 Why was Rahab's treason considered righteous?
Shouldn't the fact that she was a prostitute have disqualified her from being considered righteous?
Why do you suppose of all people to chose Rahab as an example?

But James is not teaching here that a person must do good works to be saved. One is not saved by providing for the practical needs of others. James is simply using this illustration as an allegory of non-application oriented faith.

By analogy James speaks of simply saying words of love and concern to others, but not doing anything to actually meet their needs is just like saying we believe but not actually believing. Consider also in a marriage. To simply say "I love you" to your spouse may mean nothing. (Or in fact it may mean "I want something from you". Some people often misuse words so as to mislead people into getting something from them.) To say to the needy "be warmed; be filled" may satisfy one's own guilty conscience but does nothing for others. So also in our relationship with the Lord. To be saved, one must reckon Jesus as Lord (Rom 10:9,10). But simply to call Jesus Lord means nothing unless a person actually treats him as Lord. These are examples of saying things vainly.

So also  there are those who believe things vainly. They say they believe but they really don't. They are "believers" in name only - nominal. Notice for example what is written of the group of the circumcision. Luke records what they were called, while Paul writes of what they actually were.

Acts 15:5  Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses." (niv)

Gal 2:4 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. (niv)

vs 18 How can you identify those born of God? By their behavior. (See the 1st John study) Our faith should not be in the things that we do. But rather the things that we do reveal our faith.

vs 19 A mental assent (agreement) to ideas of course is a part of saving faith. But if that's all there is then it may do nothing. There are many ideas that while true have little relevance if not applied. Here we see that at least the demons applied the idea of God being one by shuddering in fear. For they infer judgement from the knowledge of God. The fear of God is an application to believing in His existence. Yet still such knowledge of itself is vain if it doesn't lead one to saving faith.

vs 20-21 Abraham being reckoned righteous for what he did should be viewed in contrast to Romans 4:2-5 "If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-- but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.  However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

How do we resolve this paradox between these verses? Simply that Paul is speaking of the object of faith while James is speaking of the quality of faith. Paul is saying that the faith the saves is one which is faith in Christ and not faith in works. While James is saying that the faith that saves is an application oriented faith as opposed to just saying that you believe. Thus there is no contradiction, but rather they are simply dealing with two aspects of a similar issue.

Now let's consider the work of faith that Abraham performed. First of all we note that Abraham had already by reckoned righteous by faith in Genesis 15:6 many years before the incident with Isaac. So when it speaks of "justified" or "considered righteous", it is speaking not of obtaining, but of affirming or revealing or exhibiting by his works that he was a righteous man.

But what kind of a righteous man did such an act reveal Abraham to be? Abraham attempted to kill his son. Is that the kind of act that is characteristic of righteousness? Wouldn't people today be reckoned unrighteous if they try to murder their children? And is it not written  "that no murderer has eternal life in him." 1John 3:15?  That's one perspective on Abraham's act.  There are people who view the things that Christians do from a similar point of view. Such a perspective is just a fleshly, worldly, unspiritual perspective. And indeed it is not in the eyes of such people that Abraham is considered righteous

But let's consider Abraham's act from another perspective. God had promised Abraham that Isaac would have children. Yet God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. If Abraham truly believed God, then what would he have inferred from these facts?  An unbeliever would say that God is a liar. But Abraham believed that God would bring Isaac back to life, as it is written in Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

So also in the Christian life. Doing the things that God has called us to do is not all that difficult for those born of God. Even though they may be impossible for those without faith. "His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." 1John 5:3,4 Abraham overcame by such faith and so do all who have been born of God. We simply have a different perspective on life that makes it easier to live the life of faith.

But then there are those who view such acts from a purely legalistic standpoint, as if Abraham's salvation was dependent upon whether he obeyed God's command. That's all they see - God's command and not God's promise of Isaac having children. There are those who try and live the Christian life legalistically. They try and legalistically keep aspects of the Law of Moses without viewing them through the promise. They put the promise aside and struggle to live without faith in God's promise. Yes from an external viewpoint they may do similar things as those born of God, but upon more careful examination their unbelief is revealed in their works.

vs 22-23 Though Abraham's actions were inevitable, given his faith, just as the outworkings of faith of those born of God are inevitable, yet the picture of faith is not complete until such faith is applied. In a similar way we speak of having been saved from God's wrath, but we have yet to experience the complete salvation until we are passed over on the judgement day (Not unlike Isaac being passed over for a substitutionary ram), and our innate sinfulness is also removed. Thus as believers though our salvation is inevitable yet it is not compete right now, just as Abraham was reckoned righteous before the incident, but not revealed as such until after.

Abraham's faith is a model of Christian faith. Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. Gal 3:6,7 "The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-- for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." Romans 4:23,24

There are many who presume to be friends with God. Yes God wants us to be his friends. But only if we take on the right attitude. He is rather exclusive when it comes to such relationships. One cannot really be Jesus' friend without submitting to Him as Savior and Lord. Jesus said, "You are my friends if you do what I command." John 15:14 And this is generally the case in many vertical relationships. For one to be God's friend he must submit himself to God in humility.

vs 24 As I mentioned above, here James is speaking of "justified" as a revealing of the person's righteousness, and not as Paul speaks in Romans 4 of "justified" as being the fact of one's sins being forgiven. (See the comment on verse 20-21 above)

vs 25 Rahab believed God long before the Israelite spies came.  She believed God's promise and acted on it. But realize that there were many Canaanites who feared the Lord, but they didn't act on their "faith" and so such faith was not of saving value. Here's what she tells the spies:

"I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.  When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." Joshua 2:9-11

Notice another thing. Abraham and Rahab both had to "reason" to infer an application of their faith. (Heb 11:19) Rahab was not acting on a promise. For God had not promised to spare any of the Canaanites. But her faith was in God's character and ability. And it was not a blind faith, for she had heard of God's acts. But making an agreement with the spies was like taking initiative to approach God to be reconciled and saved from His wrath.

Thus in Abraham and Rahab we see different aspects of saving faith. Abraham operated under a promise and was reckoned God's friend before his act of faith with Isaac in which he was responding to a command. Rahab had no promise to work with. She was not reckoned God's friend but God's enemy. And she was not acting in response to a command. Rather she believed in who God was and in His ability and character. She took intiative to seek reconciliation, seeking to establish a promise or covenant with God.

But both had the same kind of faith. It was just that their circumstanced under which they applied their faith were much different. There are those today who for theological reasons discourage people from having a seeking kind of faith. But Jesus said, "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Lu 11:9 And the author of Hebrews writes, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Heb 11:6 Rahab is an example of those who earnest seek him.

vs 26 If you go to a funeral where the body of the person is in a casket, such a person may be spoken of as having "passed away" or of being in another place. Yet the person is right there in front of you!  That is what James is talking about when he speaks of a non-application oriented faith. It has an outward form but is empty and lifeless. Saving faith is a living faith. It can been seen in one's life and it brings one to life.