1-13
You may recall that we left off Chapter 1 with James explaining one of the ways you can tell the difference between someone who merely has an external “religion”, i.e. rituals and routines, and one who has a genuine internal faith is by how they treat people. Do they take time to meet the needs of those who are the most helpless in our world – the orphan, the widow and others who can do nothing in return for your kindness.
If we have loved others and shown them mercy and compassion, we will be rewarded for it on that day.
He continues with this thought in chapter 2 as he explains to believers the importance of treating all people equally. He warns them against favoritism whether it be for the sake of wealth or prestige. He basically says to them, “Look, many times the people who have the least materially are the ones who have the most faith, and the rich who you are so quick to fawn all over are the ones who treat you miserably and try to control you.” “Not only that,” he says, “but aren’t they the same ones who insult Christ, the name by which you are known?”
In case they still did not understand the gravity of their error, he shows them through the lens of what he calls the “royal law.” This refers to the two greatest commandments Jesus gave to the rich young ruler in Matthew 22:36-40. The first was to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, and the second is to love our neighbors as ourselves, which he is referring to here.
He asserts that by treating one person as more important than another, they are breaking this second command. He goes on to say that by breaking one of God’s commandments we are guilty of breaking the law as a whole. God’s laws work as a unit
He gives this illustration: God said, “Don’t commit adultery.” He also said, “Don’t kill.” If you don’t commit adultery, but you kill someone, you are still a law breaker.
Therefore, he concludes, we should keep this in mind in our daily life. We should never show partiality or judge others unkindly in any way because we all will be judged by God one day. If we have loved others and shown them mercy and compassion, we will be rewarded for it on that day.
These verses are especially convicting to me because, while I don’t believe I necessarily show partiality among others, I definitely can have a critical spirit toward others. I never really saw this in myself until I went to a teacher’s conference and one of the sessions was explaining personality types. The leader of the session was talking about the different traits of personality types, and he gave both positives and negatives of each trait.
He mentioned perfectionism and stated how it could drive people to excellence in school, careers, etc. However, the downside is it can also lead to being critical of others, because this type of personality then holds others to that same level of unattainable perfection.
That was a real “ouch” moment for me because I realized I had been guilty of doing that many times in my life. Ever since then, I have become much more aware of this tendency, and have tried to nip it in the bud. I think half of the battle is realizing when we’re being judgmental of others because it’s a habit that can be so easy to slip into.
14-26
He is not saying that works are needed for salvation. He is saying that works prove your salvation.
This passage, along with Paul’s writings on the subject, make up the premier texts about the proper relationship between saving faith and works of righteousness. The two of course go hand in hand as illustrated by both men’s writings. Some at first may think that James words here contradict Paul’s assertion that salvation is through faith alone; however close examination of the text will bear out that James is actually exploring the opposite side of the same argument.
He is not saying that works are needed for salvation. He is saying that works prove your salvation. If you have been truly saved, the Holy Spirit within you will long to obey God’s commands, and behave righteously (works).
His main audience here seems to be those who gave mental assent to God, Jesus, perhaps even the tenets of the gospel, but who have never truly placed their faith in Christ for salvation.
In verses 15-17 he gives the analogy of a brother or sister in need of food and clothing. He says, “If you tell them you hope God is with them, and that they get warm and filled with food, but do nothing to meet those needs, what good is that? Your words are worthless.” In the same way, faith without works is dead.
He continues to draw the distinction between some generic “belief” and true saving faith in verses 18-20. He explains that though they say the have faith, unless they prove it by their behavior it’s no good. Some say they believe in God, but that doesn’t mean they’re saved because even the demons believe in God and they certainly aren’t saved.
Some say they believe in God, but that doesn’t mean they’re saved because even the demons believe in God and they certainly aren’t saved.
Finally, in verses 20-24, he says, look you fool, if you still don’t get it, I will give you an example everyone should understand.
He then proceeds to give the example of Abraham. (This passage is where some people get confused about what James is saying. It at first seems as though he is saying Abraham was saved due to his good works, but he is actually saying the opposite. The key to these verses hinges on a proper understanding of the word justify in this text.)
With God’s help, I hope to make it clear here.
First, in verse 21, he states that Abraham was justified by works when he offered Isaac on the altar. We normally understand the word justified to mean saved, so it appears he’s saying he was saved when he submitted to sacrificing Isaac on the altar.
It re-emphasizes this thought in verse 24, when he says, “a person is justified by works and not faith alone.”
However, the word justified, actually means “declared or proven to be righteous.” Many places in the Bible it is talking about being declared righteous by God, or saved. However, it can also have the connotation of being proven righteous before men. That is the sense in which James uses it in this passage. In other words, Abraham’s obedience in putting Isaac on the altar “showed or proved that he was righteous before men.”
His works did not save him, they demonstrated to others that he was indeed saved.
Just as it is the spirit which brings life to our body, and makes it useful, so our works give life to our faith and make it worthy.
Verses 22 and 23 lend credence to this interpretation of these verses. Remember, he had just been talking about the worthlessness of faith without works (v. 16,17), and he tells them that Abraham was the opposite of this. His faith was active, not dead, and was therefore brought to its peak by his works.
He further demonstrates his belief that Abraham was saved by faith alone by quoting the passage in Genesis 15:6, which simply states that Abraham believed in the Lord, and God counted it to him for righteousness. Pure and simple, he believed and he was saved. This event, by the way, happened some 15 years before he put Isaac on the altar.
So, you could say he was declared righteous before God in Gen. 15:6, and declared righteous before men in Gen. 22:10.
Likewise he says, Rahab demonstrated faith when, at great personal risk, she hid the men of God and safely sent them on their way.
He concludes with this analogy: Just as it is the spirit which brings life to our body, and makes it useful, so our works give life to our faith and make it worthy.
Our works give feet to our faith.
Final Thoughts
This week I will share the special blessing I received from this chapter. As I read verses 14-26, I was amazed at the omniscience of God. God knew how hard it would be for many humans to understand the concept of salvation through faith alone. There are so many of us who want to add something to it or who think there must be something we need to do in order to earn such a wonderful gift.
Knowing this, he had not one, but two great leaders of the faith, clearly explain the complicated relationship between our faith and our works.
How well our Father knows us. How supremely He loves us!
Did you receive a special blessing from chapter 2? Share it in the comments.
