James 2:18-23: I Will Shew Thee My Faith
2024-07-13
James 2:18
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2:18)
This begins a section of a hypothetical discussion between two men. Possibly it really happened. We see “Yea, a man may say...” followed by several verses where the pronouns change from “ye” to “thou.” In other words, previously the voice was James speaking to the audience, a plurality of men. Now we are dealing with a man speaking to another singular man. This is a man with “works” instructing a man with “faith.” The one with “works” will convince the one with “faith only” that faith without works is unprofitable.
Consider “shew me thy faith without thy works.” This is a rhetorical usage. How do you show a person your faith? It is not like you have a physical object, like a driver’s license, that can prove your faith’s authenticity. Nobody can see faith. This is why Paul, when discussing faith in Hebrews 11, he shows what people of faith have done.
Just like the driver’s license shows others that you have passed your driving test, are of age, and are in good standing with the state, good works can show others that you are a person of faith.
James 2:19
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19)
By faith, any Christian believes that there is one God. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4). “As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Corinthians 8:4-6).
This is good and right. Anything else called “God” other than the Creator is not the real God. It is either an idol or a demon putting himself up as a god. When you believe in the one true God, “thou doest well.”
However, the “works” man also says that the devils believe in that one true God, and they fear Him. Consider Luke 8:26-33. We see these demons are powerful. They cause the possessed man to break the chains that bound him. However, these demons were afraid of being tormented by Jesus by being sent into the “deep” or abyss. Jesus had power over them; these demons had to ask permission to go into the herd of swine. They feared the one true God. They tremble when they think about what will happen to them when they are judged.
You can see that belief in one God makes us like the demons. They believe and know by any shadow of doubt that God exists and the implications of that.
Now there is something very important to bring up. This is belief in one God, not trusting Christ for salvation. There is a big difference. Jews, Muslims, and Jehovah’s Witnesses all believe in one God, and they are not saved. Being a monotheist does not make you saved. This is not a salvation verse. What we are to learn here is that our beliefs without corresponding works are not helpful. The demons believe, but they do not do the good works that the Lord requires. On the contrary, they ruin lives.
One other thing to point out is that the devils’ knowledge of God causes them to fear. Our faith, which is true trust in Christ for salvation, should also cause us to fear and tremble, because of “the terror of the Lord.” “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” (James 4:12).
James 2:20
But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:20)
When many think about the book of James, they think of this phrase: “faith without works is dead.” We have already determined that the phrase means that faith without works is unprofitable. Let us look at the rest of the verse.
The word “wilt” is not a tense word, it means “desire” or “want to.” Don’t you want to know that faith without works is unprofitable and unhelpful? It is like the one who claims faith without works does not want to know that his faith is not profiting anyone.
Moreover, we see the one with works calls the one with only faith “vain man.” The word “vain” is translated elsewhere as “empty.” Jesus tells us in the parable of the wicked tenants that the tenants mistreated the servants of the vineyard owner that were there to collect of the harvest. In one case, we read, “And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty” (Mark 12:3). The word “empty” here is the same word for “vain.” They did not receive what was rightfully theirs.
A person of faith without works is “empty.” Note that such a man was the one to send the poor away without food or clothes. The poor brother or sister was sent away empty. The vain and empty one will not make someone else full.
Here is a sample of other usages of this word “vain”:
“Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?” (Acts 4:25). Here in Acts, quoting Psalm 2:1, those who fought against Jesus were doing a vain thing. It had no purpose; Jesus is the all-powerful King, and the world will submit no matter what.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). When the grace of God is not lavished on someone in vain, there is a return on investment. Paul was saved, and he worked far more than any of his contemporaries in the faith. (Note how also that works from faith is the grace of God working through you.)
“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). Without the resurrection of the dead, preaching and faith are vain. They are empty. They have no purpose.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Any work done in the power of the Lord is never in vain. His work is never empty; it is full.
The one who professes without working out his faith is empty and imparts nothing.
James 2:21
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? (James 2:21)
The Word “Justify” in This Context
The man of faith and works posits Abraham as an example of faith and works together. Before we get into the example, let us consider the phrase “justified by works.” Consider Romans 4:1-5.
We read, “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God” (Romans 4:2). We see that Abraham could not be justified by works before God. From this, we prove that Abraham being “justified by works” in James 2:21 is not being used in a theological sense. Nobody is “justified by works” before God.
In Romans 4:3, we see the same quotation of Genesis 15:6 as we see in James 2:23, which we will discuss in a bit. This is used to demonstrate to support justification before God, or salvation, by faith alone. In Romans 4:4, we see that if works contribute to salvation, it is not grace, but rather debt before God.
Now consider Romans 4:5. “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Again, it is faith, not works, that justifies the sinner before God. Works are irrelevant; “faith is counted for righteousness.”
So when we return to James 2:21, how was Abraham justified by works? Or, the better question, before whom was Abraham justified? Abraham was justified by faith before God, but he was justified by works in the eyes of the world and those looking on. Recall that the faith and works man was challenging the other to show him his faith without works. Nobody can demonstrate faith without works. To justify one’s faith, he must show him his faith by his works. His works justify him to other people.
This is not a strange usage of the word “justify.” The word is just being used in a non-theological way. We use this word this way. For example: “I was justified in speaking up because of how important the issue was.” In everyday speech, we use the word this way.
Abraham’s Justification
We considered this event recently. Consider how God had told Abraham that his son Isaac would be his promised son that would be his heir. “...for in Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Genesis 21:12). He waited a century for this son. He loved him. It was on hearing the news of the promised son he believed: “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:5-6).
After all the excitement and hype and realizing the birth of his son, Abraham was then told heartbreaking news. “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Genesis 22:2).
But Abraham had faith that God could fulfill both sayings. He could sacrifice his son and have him be his heir that would bless the nations, “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Hebrews 11:19). He could have believed the promise but never have gotten around to getting to Moriah. But what message does that send to the world? We could speculate how it all would turn out if he had stayed home, but we don’t have to. He believed, and therefore, he arose and went to Moriah with Isaac.
James 2:22
Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? (James 2:22)
From Abraham’s work, we can see his faith. We would not be able to see his faith otherwise: “Seest thou...” If Abraham had not gone to Moriah, he would have faith, but it would not have been “perfect” or complete.
Works without faith is another danger. His “faith wrought with his works.” Through faith, the Lord directed Abraham’s works. Again, we see that faith working with our works is “from above.” Our faith cannot abide alone, and our works must come from faith. They must go together, or something is wrong somewhere.
James 2:23
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. (James 2:23)
James used the same Scripture that Paul used in Romans 4:3. Paul used it to defend salvation by grace through faith. “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). James used it to show that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). Is there a contradiction? If the same Spirit who inspired all Scripture spoke both these verses, then what is going on? The Spirit confirms both. In the Pauline account He is demonstrating salvation by faith. In the Jacobine account, He is saying that Genesis 15:6 is “fulfilled” when he went to Moriah. The account of that event is in Genesis 22.
So what can we say? Righteousness was imputed to Abraham at the announcement of his countless seed and his belief in that promise. However, it was not “fulfilled” until seven chapters later in the book of Genesis. His faith was finally made perfect when he believed the impossible.
Consider the discussion of how and when Abraham was called God’s friend here.
Abraham being God’s friend showed absolute trust in the Lord. With friendship comes perfect trust and a perfect bond; where one goes, so goes the other.