After considering the role of the law in salvation-related concerns in the preceding article (The Law and Salvation), Eshema posed this question. What does James mean when he says that “faith without actions is dead” (James 2:17, 20)?
The question comes from the context of the role of works in the salvation of a sinner. James has been a key text to those who teach FAITH PLUS WORKS to be saved (James 2:18-20, 26) and those who teach FAITH THEN WORKS to confirm one’s salvation (James 2:21-24, Ephesians 2:10).
Both schools of thought that use James contend that in order for faith to be considered a faith that saves, there must be works involved, either at the time of belief or after belief. In my little experience in these subjects, I have seen that the majority of us who use James in support of ourselves do not do the book justice. Every time you quote scripture, you should question yourself, “Where is this verse I’m referring to?” in order to avoid biblical proofreading. then let’s ask:
Where is James 2:17?
As a lifelong student of the Bible, I have discovered (and continue to discover) that, among many other things, the Bible is always three things:
- It is a work of literature
- It is a library of books
- It is the word of God in human language
Because the Bible is a piece of writing (literature) it should therefore be handled in that respect to ensure we understand what it says for what it says before our deductions and supplements. The word Bible is derived from the Greek word ‘biblos’ (transliteration) which means ‘Books’ so what we have as the Bible is a book that contains a group of books that tell different stories, in different contexts, through different ways and addressing different situations concerning God and his creation, especially humanity.
The Bible is the word of God through the words of men. What is meant by this is that what we have in the Bible is not God being quoted verbatim but rather God speaking through the natural attributes, experiences and talents of human beings (2Peter 1:20-21; Acts 1:16; Luke 1:70; 2Samuel 23:2; 2Timothy 3:16-17).
The importance of this information is emphasized by the question we asked: where is James 2:14 that we normally reference to defend our positions? James 2:17 is in the epistle of James and the literary genre of this book is wisdom literature. Such a genre is a collection of wise sayings meant to shape the moral and ethical lives of their readers.
The book of James is the Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes of the New Testament. When you read the five chapters of the book you will notice that James jumps from one subject to another, he presents his points mostly in question form (2:14,16, 22,25; 4:13) and his advice is in form of Dos and DON’Ts. In just 5 chapters there are over 53 imperatives and no wonder he references the Jewish Old Testament religion (James 4:6; 1:11; 2:8, 11, 23)
This is the book and genre where we find our verse James 2:17 which says: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Am sure at this point this conclusion, is informative.
Who is James?
James is the man who wrote this epistle (James 1:1) and he was the half-brother of Jesus (one of four sons of Mary and Joseph (Mathew 13:55; Mark 6:3). He was the leader of the Jerusalem Church (Acts 12:17; 15:13-21; 21:18; 1 Cor. 15:7; Gal. 1:19; 2:12). He exercised the religion of piety (not faith-based but hands-on and outward show= James 1:21-27) like that of John the Baptist and other Jewish religious leaders (Mathew 23:28; Mathew 6:5-7; Acts 10:2). Because James exercised the religion of piety, he was called ‘James the Just’ and because of his religious behaviour he was nicknamed; nicknamed “camel knees” because he constantly prayed on his knees for almost 9hrs each day of the week. Not until the resurrection, James was neither a disciple nor a believer in Jesus Christ (John 7:5; 1 Corinthians 15:7). In Bible study who says/writes what, contributes to our faithful interpretation of their content.
ITS PRIMARY AUDIENCE
According to James 1:1, we are told the epistle is addressed to “the twelve tribes that are scattered over the world”. The primary audience of this epistle, therefore, are Jews, but because of the recurrent use of the terms; ‘Lord’ and ‘Brethren/brother’ (1:2,16,19; 2:1,5,14; 3:1,10,12; 4:11; 5:7,9,10,12,19, Lord= 1:1,7,12; 2:1; 4:10,15; 5:4,7,8,10,11,14,15) communicates that it is not addressed to every Jew/Israelites but those who have believed the resurrected Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
ITS OUTLINE
The Epistle can be broken down as follows:
- Greeting (1:1)
- Trials as the proof of Faith (1:2–18)
- Hearing and Doing the Word (1:19–27)
- The Sin of Preferentialism (2:1–13)
- Faith without Works Is Dead (2:14–26)
- The Sin of Dissension in the Community (3:1–4:12)
- The Sins of the Wealthy (4:13–5:12)
- The Prayer of Faith (5:13–18)
- Concluding Admonition (5:19–20)
This outline is based on what each passage in principle is about not necessarily the details per verse.
Is James 2:17 about Salvific Faith?
With the information provided above it is not too complicated to understand that James 2:17: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Is contextually not about how we are saved but how people should behave (saved or not saved). In case one still has a challenge let us look at it from this angle. James 2:17 is placed within the passage concerning works and faith in James 2:14-24. Within that passage, he references the salvific reckoned righteousness of God upon the Patriarch Abraham. Paul does the same when he is addressing the issue of how we are saved for eternal purposes (Justification by Grace through Faith). Let the Bible speak for itself so that we understand whether James has anything to do with salvation by works.
JAMES
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone 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. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe — and shudder. Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “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. (James 2:14-24 RSV)
PAUL
What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. (Romans 4:1-5 RSV)
Both of them are referring to the Old Testament passage. Let us look at the Abrahamic event itself to confirm who gets the text right as far as Justification through faith is concerned.
ABRAHAM
After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, thou hast given me no offspring, and a slave born in my house will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the LORD, and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:1-6 RSV)
Proponents of righteousness by grace through faith plus works or that works use James 2:14-24 as the key text of their argument. Those from my school of thought, who believe the righteousness is of God by Grace through his faith, use Paul as our key text. Now both schools of thought use the ABRAHAMIC THEOPHANY in Genesis 15:1-6 as the reference and we both quote the same event. Now can we faithfully read the passage and conclude James is talking about how we are saved? The answer is no. Clearly, James says Abraham was justified by works which from the text is not true (Genesis 15:6). James was addressing the issue of welfare among Christians. He was reminding Christians all over the importance of materialistically supporting those in need. For that is or ought to be the character of those who profess faith in Jesus and such a character saves others (the needy) and demonstrates you are a believer in a God who cares for others (James 1:26-27).
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, WISDOM and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest Isaiah White
The Gospel Hawker
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
Questioning to Believe, Believing to Live
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