James 2:1-26
1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2 For if there come unto your assemblya a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
7 Do not they blasphemeb that worthy name by the which ye are called?
8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.c
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith withoutd thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirite is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
James 2:1. Have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. See James 1:1. The whole of this chapter turns on charity, which is the excellence of pure religion. In the eyes of the omnipresent Being we are all but worms of the dust; and at the throne of grace the prince and the beggar bow in equal rank, and with equal piety and hope. The Lord of glory sheds a lustre on all his members, brightening the countenance far above that of rings and gems.
James 2:5. Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom. Christ was sent to preach the gospel to the poor, to bind up the broken-hearted, and to comfort all that mourn. Matthew 11:5; Luke 4:18. The apostle also appeals to the Corinthian church, whether it were not obvious that the more numerous converts were from among persons of this description; and to the present day they constitute a large majority of the believing world. 1 Corinthians 1:26. There is in this respect a correspondence between the servants and their blessed Lord, who had not where to lay his head. Not only are they the more numerous class of christians, but many among them are the most distinguished for piety, “rich in faith,” as well as heirs of the kingdom.
James 2:14. What doth it profit, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works. St. Paul has said, “that a man is justified by faith.” St. James here affirms, “that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” The question then is, how these seemingly contradictory assertions may be fairly reconciled. In order to this we are to consider the following things.
That as these Epistles were written to different persons, so the occasion and subject of them were also different. St. Paul had to do with those who thought to be justified partly by faith in Christ, and partly by their own works, or the works of the law: and therefore his design, in excluding works from justification, was only to deny the sufficiency of the works of the jewish law, or those that were thought meritorious, as being wrought by our own strength. In asserting therefore, in opposition to such works, that we are justified by faith, he meant no more than that we are justified in an evangelical way. In affirming more particularly, that we are justified by faith, he intended a practical belief, including evangelical obedience. St. James wrote to those who confessed the free justification of a sinner through faith in Christ, but who nevertheless did not duly consider that a true lively and justifying faith necessarily brings forth the fruit of righteousness. He therefore proves that where these fruits of faith are wanting, true faith itself is wanting; and that all ungodly and carnal professors of Christ have but a dead faith, which in no respect is able to help or save them; by works meaning no more than evangelical obedience, in opposition to a naked and empty faith. St. Paul's aim and drift is to prove affirmatively, that true faith unites us to Christ, and thereby saves us. The design of St. James is negatively to prove that a dead unfruitful faith, which is but a bare image of true believing, cannot profit a man. Moreover, they do not speak of justification in the same meaning of the word, but in a different sense.
The justification which St. Paul ascribes to faith without works, means absolution from sins which were committed before believing in Christ; and the not having those sins imputed, but being admitted to peace and favour with God, upon entrance into covenant with him by baptism. This cannot possibly be owing to their good works, because, till interested in Christ, and assisted by his grace, men can have no such works to owe it to. But the justification spoken of by St. James is that other, whereby the scriptures signify the full and final justification of good men, in their last great account, as is evident from the whole tenour of his argument in this place.
But supposing there had been any disagreement in this matter (as indeed there is not) it is most reasonable to follow St. James's explanation of it, not only because his expressions are so clear and positive as not to be justly liable to any ambiguity, seeing he wrote this sometime after St. Paul wrote the other; and consequently, as he was perfectly instructed by the divine author of both, so he was capable of explaining the true meaning of the other inspired apostle, and to confute those false principles which some men had built upon the mistake of it. And the rather still, because this epistle, in the opinion of several of the ancients, as well as of learned moderns (as were likewise the first epistle of St. John, the second of St. Peter, and that of St. Jude) was written partly to rectify the mistakes which some had fallen into, through their misunderstanding some of St. Paul's writings.
James 2:26. As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James speaks here in the language of the Nazarene christians, many of whom had belonged to the pharisees; but he does not say more in favour of works than Paul. The loose state of oriental morals rendered strong words necessary. Faith is the first to save, to give life and love to the soul, that works may follow. There is no discord between Paul and James; an expletive in most sentences relieves the whole.