James ended chapter 1 transitioning from trials to pure religion. He mentioned specifically three elements to pure religion – guarding your speech, exhibiting care for others, and abstaining from worldliness. Entirely devoted to a continuation of the second point, exhibiting care for others, this chapter is famous for the declaration that “faith without deeds is dead” (v26). Let’s take a look.
1) V1-6a – 1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him? 6But you have insulted the poor.
James has mentioned a number of characteristics that true Christians begin to exhibit more and more in their lives. And he elaborates on that here, beginning with the topic of favoritism. Christians should not show favoritism, because “God does not show favoritism” (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11). James gives an example of a wealthy person getting a better seat in church compared to a poor person. It’s practically instinctive to care more about the opinions of a wealthy person than those of a poor person. By merely having this attitude, James says, “You have insulted the poor” (v6a). We must not forget Paul’s teaching from 1 Corinthians 1:27-30, which aligns precisely with James’ teaching in v5 – “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus.” And that last part is to remind us not to boast, not to show favoritism, because not only would we be insulting the poor, but the God of the poor as well.
2) V6b-13 – Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of Him to whom you belong? 8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ [Leviticus 19:18], you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, ‘Do not commit adultery’ [Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18], also said, ‘Do not murder’ [Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17]. If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. 12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
Continuing the favoritism theme, James asks his believing audience to really think hard about what they are doing when they give preferential treatment to the wealthy. It might be instinctive, and we might think we’re benefiting somehow, but James says we’re being exploited when we show favoritism (v6). God’s name is even being slandered by those to whom we give preferential treatment (v7) – perhaps because they can tell that we are in fact showing favoritism, and they know that we should not be doing that. It comes as no surprise, then, that the hypocrisy of churchgoers is the number one reason people refuse to attend church.
If we still think it’s no big deal to discriminate on occasion, especially when we perceive a benefit for ourselves, James reminds us that we’re breaking the command to “love your neighbor as yourself”(v8-9). Furthermore, James says that breaking the law in just one area – even if we deem that one area to be relatively minor and insignificant – means that we are “guilty of breaking all” of the law (v10). So the solution, according to James, is to “speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law.” It’s a command to live in fear, to let judgment motive right behavior, to show mercy for the sake of compassion. We who are justified are constantly being sanctified, but it doesn’t often happen smoothly or across the board at the same time. When we are progressing in one area, we need to avoid slacking off in other areas.
3) V14-26 – 14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless [or dead]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” [Genesis 15:6], and he was called God’s friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
We come to the ultimate question now for James. He asks, “What good is it…if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” What good is it? It is no good. “Can such faith save him?” Absolutely not! Although salvation comes by faith alone, there is no salvation in a faith that is alone; for saving faith is fruitful faith. James gives an example where you, as a believer, meet another believer who happens to be struggling with poverty, lacking proper food and clothing. If you merely say a prayer, if you merely offer your condolences and sympathy, it’s no good. You need to take action. And James would say, “If you are really a Christian, saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, by the word of God alone and to the glory of God alone, then you will provide physical assistance and not just issue a spiritual blessing.” Christians, when presented with a need, ought to meet that need. When you see a hole, fill it in; because “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (v17).
In v18, James raises a hypothetical rebuttal to what he has said. “Someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’” There’s a temptation to boast when we do “good deeds,” and there’s a temptation to value the deeds more highly than the faith. We must realize that the deeds are worthless apart from faith; they are phony. Good works are the fruit of faith, a symptom of the faith, and “everything that does not come from faith is sin… Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” (Romans 14:23; Hebrews 11:6). With that said, however, we cannot prove our faith or reveal our faith to others, and even to ourselves, without deeds. Our faith is seen by what we do (v18). Though a good first step, it is not enough to merely “believe in one God” (v19). James invites us to consider the demons, which believe in God, but have no hope of salvation. Their judgment is in store, despite their “faith,” which is no “saving faith,” because of their failure to do good deeds. They may have intellectual assent to the truth, but it hasn’t transformed them into the image of Christ, which is the very thing that true, pure, genuine saving faith does.
In v20, James uses Abraham as an example of his claim that “faith without deeds is dead” (v26). He says that Abraham’s faith was proven in his actions, his willingness to take his only son, Isaac, up to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him there on an altar to God (v21-23). And James makes the occasionally controversial statement in v24 that “a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” This is ironic, because Paul uses the same example of Abraham, who “believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Galatians 3:6; Genesis 15:6), to say, “A man is justified by faith apart from observing the law… A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified… Clearly no one is justified before God by the law… the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith” (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16; 3:11,24).
We might conclude that James and Paul are at odds, but they are speaking with different intentions. Ligon Duncan says, “Paul is talking about how a man is accepted before God. He is attempting to establish the universal need of the gospel. Both Jews and Gentiles need the gospel of grace because they do not measure up to the standards of God’s holiness. And Paul argues that the way the gospel is received rules out any kind of boasting on our part. And in that context he speaks of justification as God’s act of declaring us righteousness because of Christ, because of what He has done. And so justification, as Paul uses it, is a judicial pronouncement about your standing before God. It is God declaring you to be accepted and to be right with Him. On the other hand, James is talking about a very different thing; James is writing in the context of dealing with hypocrisy in the church. There are some people who claim to believe, but their lives do not bear out what they are claiming with their lips. How do you sort that out? How do you tell the difference between real faith and false faith, living faith, and dead faith? That’s the issue that James is getting at. How do you know whether a person really believes? What demonstrates their Christianity? Faith with holiness, he says. For James, to be justified means to be vindicated in your faith; to demonstrate the reality of your faith.”
Paul pointed to the timing of Abraham’s justification (Genesis 15), whereas James pointed to the proof of it (Genesis 22); Paul showed the reality (justification by faith alone), whereas James displayed the evidence of the reality (justification by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone; the kind of faith that saves is a living, working faith – not a dead faith). And James gives one more illustration of living faith, of saving faith, of faith in action – Rahab the prostitute (v25), who proved her faith by risking her life. Rahab was willing to give up her life for the chance to have it saved (Matthew 10:39; 16:25). Her deeds proved her faith, and she was saved (Joshua 2:8-21; 6:17-25). On the day Jesus returns (Matthew 25:31-46), He will separate the sheep from the goats, and many be confused as to how the process is done fairly. Both the sheep and the goats will ask questions, “When did we serve You, Lord?” and “Lord we never saw You, so when did we fail to serve You?” And Jesus will point to the evidence of faith. They will know we are Christians by our love. Jesus, like James, comes very close to what could be perceived as works righteousness, but He’s pointing to the evidence of genuine faith. The apostle John says, “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17). Do the will of God! Show your faith to be living by letting fruit flow from it.
Footnotes
- 2:8 Lev. 19:18
- 2:11 Exodus 20:14; Deut. 5:18
- 2:11 Exodus 20:13; Deut. 5:17
- 2:20 Some early manuscripts dead
- 2:23 Gen. 15:6
Bible text from Gospelcom.net. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.