Faith Without Works Does Not Exist

Faith without Works… Does it exist?

Let me answer that question emphatically: NO! Faith without works, as James says in James 2:26, is dead. This passage of scripture has been misinterpreted so many times. To fully understand this passage, we must first understand the background of the letter. The author was most likely James, the bother of Jesus and the leader of the Jerusalem Council. James was probably the oldest of Jesus’ bothers. At first he did not believe in Jesus (John 7:2-5), but later he became a believer and a leader in the early church (Acts 15:13). James was writing to a predominately Jewish Christian audience (James 1:1). James was writing to these early Christians to instruct them in the basics of Christianity. He emphasizes the living out of the Christian faith. That is why in chapter 2:14, James asked the question: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” James is not referring to a genuine, saving faith but rather to an intellectual acceptance of certain truths. The Jewish people were a very intellectual people who were basically working for their salvation. James is not saying that a person is saved by works and not by genuine faith. Martin Luther explained it this way: “People are justified (declared righteous before God) by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone.” Our faith must be accompanied by goods deeds, but only faith in Christ saves. James uses a great example to demonstrate this fact. He points out that when Abraham offered his son Isaac on the altar, it was his faith in conjunction with his action that was “credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).” If Abraham had just had the intellectual faith that God was going to save his son, then where would the proof have been? It was because Abraham put his son on the altar and raised the knife to sacrifice him that proved to God his faith. Like Abraham, in order to prove our genuine faith, we too must have works as an outward expression of the faith in us. Where are our deeds? Is there any proof of a transformed life? Can the world look at you and see your faith?

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead (James 2:26).”

Living out my Faith,
Aaron Hodges