James 2:14-21 has caused lots of problems in the church over the centuries. With our preoccupation with how to get to heaven when we die, we think that when James says, “Faith alone cannot save him, can it?” James is talking about eternal life and how to get to heaven when we die.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
The Book of James
The letter of James is one of the most practical books in the entire New Testament. It is not an evangelistic tract telling people how to get to heaven when they die. Instead, it is a book about how to love and serve one another in the church. It is practical book about money, favoritism, gossip, and meeting each other’s needs. Nowhere in the entire book is James concerned about trying to determine who has eternal life and who does not. This includes James 2.
James 2:14-21
When we read James 2 with this in mind, we see immediately what James is concerned about. There are brothers and sisters in the church who have need of food and daily clothes. There are others within the church who could meet those needs by providing food and clothes, but instead, they tell these needy brethren, “I have faith that God will provide for you.” In modern church lingo, we say, “I’ll pray for you.”
James blasts this sort of thinking. He says, “What good is that? Faith isn’t going to help in this situation! That’s what God put you there for! Don’t believe in God to provide for them; you provide for them. Don’t ask God to give them food; you give them some food. Don’t pray for God to give them clothes; you give them some clothes.
Faith Alone is Useless
Faith is wonderful. Prayer is good. And a person can genuinely have both without the accompanying works.
But the point of James is that the reason God gave us faith is not so that we can sit back and do nothing, waiting on God to act, but so that we can pray and have faith, and then step out in faith to love and serve others.
Faith can exist by itself, but what’s the point? We can pray, and do nothing to answer our prayers, but why?
Faith, by itself, is worthless. Prayer alone accomplishes nothing. For faith to truly be energized, for faith to truly move mountains, for faith to accomplish much, we must join our faith with our actions, and seek to meet the needs for which we pray.
Yes, “faith” and “works” seem to go hand-in-hand. When one is missing, then it would appear that we have only “religion” or social activism.
When I use the term “religion” I am referring to a system that is concerned with “right belief”, thinking the right things, as defined by the person or group. But love is absent, love for neighbor, which James refers to as “works”. In reality this is something other than following Jesus.
Love for neighbor is more than a feeling. It is shown in tangible ways. It may include giving money or goods to people, but also includes respecting them, honoring them, really listening to them, spending time with them, learning about them, caring about them, praying with and for them, celebrating with them.
Loving our neighbor turns the spotlight on THEM, not us. We go to THEM and focus on THEM. We love THEM. We try to meet THEIR needs, not ours. Of course, the secret here is that this changes US. In the process we become more like Jesus.
Sam,
Great points.
Yes, so much of the way we do things in church is to get others to come to US and join with US and what WE are doing.
I have always loved the book of James for a couple of reasons, first because we are told he was one of Jesus brothers and because he was a straight talker. I think the fact that he was Jesus brother, shows in the way he thinks and in spite of the fact that the Bible tells us that Jesus family thought he was mad, (Jesus not James,) James became a follower.
Maybe he was a closeted follower as his family might have had a go at him for being so. Maybe at the beginning James may have not been sure of his brothers claim of being the one the Jews had been waiting for, The Messiah, but there is no doubt that he believed in the end.
I enjoy trying to get into the minds of the Bible characters as to the reasons they said what they said and did what they did. I find it fascinating when writers and directors and even producers of films about real people in the Bible read into what the people were like and how they fill in the gaps of the dialog, some I like, others I disagree with, but it allows me to put flesh and blood on their bones.
I know some people don’t like Film makers who try to tease out and expand the Bible, but I don’t have a problem with that, and I certainly would not call it blasphemous. I sometimes think that those who chase around trying to protect Gods reputation and our faith, do not realise that God needs no protection and faith is strengthened when we use our God given brains to reach our own conclusions, so I ask these champions of conscience to allow others to come to their own conclusions.
God loves thinkers and searchers, He had no time for the religious as they tried to tie Him up in knots as they did with their earthly kings. God was not very popular when He gave them rules, Jesus was even more unpopular when He said “I say even if you look at someone with lust you have committed adultery in your heart”.
Belief like faith is something that is forever growing and developing as we become more aware and more intimate with God, If we are not growing we are dying.
Love Clive
Oh O forgot to say that in England in the UK we have a great evangelist called Eric Delve who made a CD called a Fisherman Remembers, every time I listen to it I cry as the dialog sounds like the two people it represents, that of Jesus and Peter. Most of the dialog is not in the Bible, but you just know that it’s what might have been said.
To me it brings the whole James and Jesus encounters to life, including the challengers it brings to the listener, it’s almost voyeuristic (secret watcher) in a positive way, You know what I mean, we have all done it when we have sat in the Coffee shop and someone behind is talking about us or someone we know, we know we ought to move but we don’t.
OK so I’m not perfect after all, get over it. Ha Ha love Clive
I love it when artists and actors try to imagine conversations between biblical characters as well. We recognize that they may be wrong in how things worked out, but it can also help us see biblical texts in a different way, and help us relate better to some of the struggles and questions of the biblical characters. That CD sounds great.
I don’t know if faith is useless, but I will say that when we have accepted Christ as our Savior, in came love, joy and peace.
And love is an action word.
So saying that you will just pray for someone if you can meet their need is going against scripture.
Proverbs 3: 28 says:
Do not say to your neighbor, Go, and come again; and tomorrow I will give it–when you have it with you.
OI,
That is a great reference from Proverbs, and so true.
I used the phrase “faith alone is useless” because that is what I think James meant when he wrote, “Faith by itself is dead.”
I used only the book of James when I counseled people. And usually chapter 1! I read it to them as they were sitting there. Why? That’s what my mentor in the faith did. He told me we don’t have the power to counsel anyone, so let God do it.
James was rejected by Luther and he denied it’s canonability. <–as that a word? 😉
It is an amazing and practical book.
I don’t think he meant that faith is useless. I see it like this. Actions is the engine that makes faith operative, for a lack of a better word. I believe that faith is walking in obedience to God’s word. When I obey God I am walking in faith. That’s why the bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God. There can be no obedience apart from faith.
I agree that there can be no obedience apart from faith, but I get concerned when people start to erase distinctions between faith and works. I think I might be fine saying that faith energizes our works, but I would not be comfortable saying that if there are no works, then this means there is no faith.