James 2:26 in Context

Faith Without Works

James 2:14–26

L. A. Mott (lamottjax@comcast.net

or www.thinkingthrough.com

Through most of 2011 I have been reading and refining a manuscript on James. It took me a while to realize that James 2:26 does not just repeat verse 14. I will return to this point at the end.

James is not answering or even complementing Paul. He wrote earlier, when the church was mostly if not altogether Jewish, and before the influx of Gentiles became the occasion of Paul’s controversy with Judaizers over justification by works of law. James deals with the same problem addressed by Jesus, the failure to apply profession to life (e. g. Matt. 7:21–23, 23:1–4, and Luke 6:46). James first addressed the problem in Chapter One. He returns to it in James 2:14–26.

Consider the power that is felt when we study verses in context rather than treating them as isolated statements.

Issue Raised (14)

The question raised is:  What is the use of a faith that does not have the works that faith would seem to call for? In particular:  Can that faith save him? Faith in the question is preceded by the definite article. So the question is not whether there is a faith that can save him, but whether the particular faith described here can save.

Faith Without Works Powerless to Save (15–17)

James’ first response is a hypothetical illustration of something that is entirely useless, wishing a needy person well, but without doing anything to supply his need. Such behavior is useless. And so it is with faith that is not matched by appropriate behavior. It cannot save. It is dead, and so entirely without power. Verse 26 returns to the thought and illuminates the meaning of “dead,” as if to say: I meant what I said.

The Existence of Faith Not Demonstrable Without Works (18)

Commentaries have introduced unnecessary difficulty by debating the identity of the two persons. James’ point is: The man who claims to have faith, but who does not manifest the behavior consistent with what he believes cannot even prove he has faith. He is vulnerable to a challenge from anyone who demands that he prove his claim.  He cannot. He appears like someone who makes empty claims without substance.

The Faith of Demons (19)

James is willing to credit the man’s claim.  You have faith. Great! But if faith does not affect the way one lives his life, it is no more than the faith of demons. It certainly has no power to save.

Works Necessary to Justification as Proved by the Case of Abraham (20–24)

“But wilt thou know?” James asks. Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? If so, James can help him, and does so by pointing to the example of Abraham. He clearly was justified by works, as Genesis 22 proves (esp. vv. 12 and 15–18). His was a faith that cooperated with works, and so was rendered complete by works, “lacking in nothing” (1:4). Without the obedience faith  would have been missing something, incomplete. The conclusion is plain to see:  “You see that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith” (24). 

In fact, even without Genesis 22, the context of Genesis 15:6 proves that Abraham’s faith required action. Abraham certainly would not have descendants like the stars, or even one, without taking action.

Rahab Also Justified by Works (25–26)

After adding the confirming example of Rahab, James concludes the argument the way it began (v. 17), but with an additional clause that leaves no room for doubt about the meaning of “dead.” Faith without works is like a body without the spirit. Dead means dead!

James' Conclusion (5:19–20)

I recently completed my latest book Thinking Through James. The final word (James 5:19–20) sets forth the great accomplishment of one who succeeds in turning a straying brother back to the truth. I am always excited about gaining an insight that had previously escaped me, and I was delighted finally to realize that the end of this epistle had not been merely "chopped off" without an appropriate conclusion. In fact it does have a conclusion that could hardly be improved. The following excerpt from Thinking Through James provides my thought about James' conclusion.  (LAM)

I think I have tended to see James as sort of “chopped off” at the end without any concern for a suitable conclusion; the letter presenting one exhortation after another, and when the last one has been given a period is simply put at the end without rounding off the letter with an appropriate conclusion or application. Suffice it to say, however, that all the reading and reflection on the letter I have done in the last few months is bringing me to a change of view. Perhaps all the elements are beginning to stick together in my mind. I think I had not previously perceived the significance of the last passage, and the way it relates to the whole.

In fact time and again throughout the epistle we see how anxious James has been either to prevent his beloved brothers from being misled by false reasoning or, in case some may already have been victimized, to turn them back to the truth of the gospel. The wise man started out wanting them to understand their troubles in the light of divine wisdom rather than misinterpreting them (1:2–4). He did not want them to think that a person of divided mind, without wholehearted faith, could expect to receive anything from the Lord (1:5–8). He did not want them to be deceived about the sources of temptation (1:13–18, esp. 16). Nor did he want them to delude themselves about the value of hearing the word without the appropriate response (1:19–25); or deceived about the sort of religion that has value (1:26–27).

James did not want them to think the faith of the Lord of glory could be coupled with favoritism toward the rich (2:1–7), deceiving themselves into thinking they were keeping the law by their treatment of the rich (2:8–13). He did not want them to imagine that faith without the behavior that completes it is of any value at all (2:14–26). He did not want them to think the talkers among them were necessarily the “wise and understanding” (3:1–18). He wanted to disabuse their minds if they did not understand “that the friendship of the world is enmity with God” (4:1–10). He did not want them to think more of themselves than they ought to, and thus usurp the role of God by judging their brothers (4:11–12); or by means of an independent spirit that did not consider God and divine providence with regard to business plans (4:13–17). He did not want them to make too much of earthly wealth, but rather to behave appropriately in view of the judgment soon to fall upon the ungodly rich (ch. 5).

In every single one of these units we see James either trying to prevent incorrect thinking or to rescue those who may already have fallen victim to it. How could James have concluded an epistle in which he has been out to turn people from self-deception and incorrect thinking any better than to try to persuade his readers to join him in this great work? And how could he have offered greater motivation to them than simply to point out just how great that work is, what a great accomplishment they will have if they succeed in turning an erring brother back to the way of truth? 

So I am changing my mind about James’ conclusion. I do not see how he could have written a more effective conclusion than he did.

The Eight Cow Wife (1 Pet. 3:7)

The Eight Cow Wife

I first saw this story, a longer version, in the Reader’s Digest many years ago. I was impressed by it and would have used it many times in lessons on family life, but I misplaced my copy and did not see it again till this condensed version was seen in a church bulletin.  It seems to have been copied from one bulletin to another many times and and attributed to no special author.  As I recall, the principals in the Reader’s Digest version were Korean.    LAM

The custom on an isolated Pacific island was for a young man to announce his intention of marriage to the entire village.  After the announcement the young man and the whole community went to the young woman’s home.  Her father would come outside and then the father and the suitor would barter, the whole community acting as witnesses.  

The main item of value on the island was the cow. Therefore a suitor would offer the father a certain number of cows for his daughter. The average bride was worth two cows, perhaps three if she was unusually bright or attractive. The all-time record was four cows. 

The most eligible bachelor on the island was Johnny Lingo, who was both handsome and wealthy. The women of the island were extremely excited when Johnny announced that he had selected a wife. But everyone was shocked when he announced that his choice was a girl named Lisa. Not even in the top ten of young women who might have been selected, Lisa was regarded as plain and frightfully shy. Jokers in the crowd suggested that Lisa’s father might offer Johnny a cow or two to take her.

But when the community gathered at Lisa’s house for the bartering an even greater shock came over the crowd when they heard Johnny’s opening bid for Lisa. Eight cows! Her father almost fainted, but managed to accept. That evening Johnny and Lisa were married, and then departed for their home on an adjacent island.

No one saw the couple for a full year. On their first anniversary Johnny and Lisa returned to visit their parents. From the moment they arrived at the dock, the news spread. “Come and see Johnny and Lisa!” someone exclaimed. “You won’t believe it!”

Everyone came, but no one noticed Johnny. All eyes were on Lisa. She had been transformed! She was poised, warm, friendly, and confident. When someone inquired of Johnny with regard to the amazing transformation in Lisa, Johnny had a ready answer: “I will explain it. From the time Lisa was born she had been treated as though she was not worth much. She had begun to believe it about herself. But I announced to the community that she was an eight cow wife, and I have treated her that way ever since. She has become that vision of herself that she sees in my eyes every day.”

The moral of the story is:  If you want an eight cow wife, treat your wife like one. Give it a year and see what happens.

“Husbands, ... giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being joint heirs of he grace of life ...” (First Peter 3:7).

Book of Job, Issues and Analysis

Thinking Through Job

Will a person serve Jehovah without reward? when afflicted so severely that nothing worse could be done and even death to be preferred? That is the issue raised in the first three chapters of Job. Is Jehovah that great?

This book provides the answer. Not that of “everyman,” but that of the best man on earth according to Jehovah’s own testimony.

The patience of Job did not preserve him from all sin, but Job did hold on to God through all his trials. His friends and their ignorant attempts at comfort are dismissed, but God never is.

In the debate, however, which concludes with an evaluation, judging man a failure in the search for wisdom (ch. 28), Job committed terrible sins, accusing God of injustice. Job defended his own integrity, but felt God was treating him as a sinner, manifesting hostility toward him. Thus the trial did not lead Job to abandon God, but it did uncover defects of character that needed to be dealt with in order that Job might be even better.

Job had to be humbled and put in his place. But more was required than a show of superior power to bully him into silence, perhaps with resentment at not having a fair chance to make his case. The resolution has two essential parts. Elihu, a man of clay like Job himself, answers Job’s charges against God, particularly presenting a different view of the suffering in which God is seen not as an enemy, but as a friend. The reasoning of an equal satisfies Job’s mind and prepares him to be put in his place by God, howbeit without the resentment he might have felt had he merely been forced into silence by superior power.

Thinking Through Job guides a student through the complexities of Job’s case to a final resolution which makes us shout Hallelujah! to a God worthy to be worshipped even without reward and despite undeserved suffering. Satan is exposed as a slanderer and the magnificence of Jehovah declared. The suffering of Job provided him with his best opportunity to bring glory to God; and so with many another sufferer whose faithfulness manifests just how great Jehovah is.