BIG IDEA:
OBEDIENT DEEDS (GOOD WORKS) = THE TEST OF GENUINE FAITH
I. (:14) FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION = THEME OF THE BOOK
WHAT USE IS FAITH ALONE?
Simple Equation: Professing Faith – Works Not = Saving Faith
“What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”
II. (:15-17) SIMPLE ILLUSTRATION = HELPING A NEEDY BROTHER
FAITH ALONE NEVER FED ANYONE / FAITH ALONE IS WORTHLESS
A. Immediate Pressing Need
1. Involves a Close Family Member
“If a brother or sister”
not talking about the masses in China here
2. Involves Basic Daily Needs for Existence
a. “is without clothing”
b. “and in need of daily food”
Not talking about wants or desires, but basic needs; the things which
God says He will provide and with which we should be content
B. Empty Words Without Practical Help Are Worthless
1. Empty Words
“and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled'”
2. Without Practical Help
“and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body”
3. Worthless
“what use is that?”
C. Obvious Conclusion / Refrain
“Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”
John Calvin: “It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies can never be alone.”
Mitton: “A profession of sympathy which is no more than polite talk, and which does not lead to helpful action, when such action is in our power, is mere sentimentalism.”
III. (:18-20) SHOW AND TELL — FAITH ALONE SHOULD NOT EVEN IMPRESS DEMONS OR FOOLS / FAITH ALONE IS WORTHLESS
Barclay: “Here James is meeting a possible objection. He is thinking of an objector who says, ‘Faith is a fine thing; and works are fine things. They are both perfectly real and genuine manifestations of real religion. But the one man does not necessarily possess both. One man will have faith and another man will have works….”
A. (:18) Show is Necessary — Only Works Make Faith Visible
“But someone may well say, ‘You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
B. (:19) Tell is Not Sufficient — Even Demons Agree Intellectually with the Truth
“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
Barclay: “What James is arguing against is, in fact, the first kind of belief, the acceptance of a fact without allowing the fact to have any influence upon life. The devils are intellectually convinced of the existence of God; they, in fact, tremble before God; for all that they are none the less devils; their belief has not in the least altered them.”
“But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow”:
C. (:20) Conclusion / Refrain
“faith without works is useless”
IV. (:21-26) TWO OT PROOF CASES — WORKS VINDICATE THE REALITY OF OUR FAITH / FAITH ALONE IS WORTHLESS
A. (:21-24) Case of Abraham
1. (:21) Sacrifice of Isaac Vindicated the Faith of Abraham
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?”
2. (:22) Works Complement and Perfect our Faith
“You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected”
3. (:23) Role of Faith in Justification
“and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God.”
4. (:24) Conclusion / Refrain
“You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.”
B. (:25-26) Case of Rahab
1. (:25) Rahab also was Justified by Works
“And in the same way was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works, when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?”
2. (:26) Conclusion / Refrain
“For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”
Wiersbe: “You could not find two more different persons! Abraham was a Jew; Rahab was a Gentile. Abraham was a godly man, but Rahab was a sinful woman, a harlot. Abraham was the friend of God, while Rahab belonged to the enemies of God. What did they have in common? Both exercised saving faith in God.”
Ross: “James concludes his argument here by making use of this figure of the body and the soul. When body and spirit are separated, death and putrefaction result: so, if faith be separated from works, it is a dead faith; it is ‘dead in itself’ (v. 17). Faith of that kind indicates the absence of all real spiritual life, and shows that spiritual death and corruption still reign.”