James 2:18-20

GODLY FAITH VS. THE DEVIL'S FAITH

Text 2:18-20

James 2:18

Yea, a man will say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith apart from thy works, and I by my works will show thee my faith.

19.

Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe and shudder.

20.

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?

Queries

144.

What did the man of James 2:18 really say? (Could you put it in your own words?)

145.

Just who is the speaker in James 2:18? Is it the man who has faith without works? (Look carefully at what he said!)

146.

Who said, show me thy faith apart from thy works, etc?

147.

To whom did he say it?

148.

Is it possible to show faith apart from thy works, as James 2:18 states?

149.

Can faith exist apart from works?

150.

Can works exist apart from faith?

151.

How is this faith apart from works defined in James 2:19?

152.

What do the demons have to do with the argument?

153. James 2:19 a appears to obviously be faith without works, then why does James say, Thou doest well?

154.

Why do the demons shudder?

155.

Do we have any proof from the gospel narratives that the demons believe?

156.

Why refer to the man of James 2:20 as a vain man?

157.

What is the meaning of barren?

Paraphrases

A. James 2:18

Yes, some man might possibly say, You have the faith, and I have the works. Let someone show to me his faith without works, if he can. As for me, I will show my faith by the works I do.

19.

You have faith that Jehovah is the only God, and this is good; but just remember the demons also believe this and they tremble with fear of their fate!

20.

Do you really desire proof, O man with the futile reasoning, that faith without works does not work?

B.* 18.

But someone may say, You think the way to God is by faith alone, plus nothing; well, I say that good deeds are important too, for without good deeds you cannot show me whether you have faith or not; but anyone can see that I believe by the way I act.

19.

You think believing is enough, do you? Believing in one God? Well, remember that the devils believe this too, and believe it so strongly that they tremble in terror!

20.

Dear foolish man! When will you ever learn that believing is useless without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good deeds is not real faith.

Comment

The man speaking in this verse seems to be some observer outside. neither James, nor the ones to whom James is speaking. The speaking man is obviously not the one who has faith only, for he says: You have faith, and I have works. It appears here that this third party is introducing a new thought. You have the faith with no works. I have the works with no faith. You claim the belief in Jesus, but your life is no different. Your submission to the Lord goes no further than your lips. The life you live does not agree with what you say. You have compassion without expression. Now as for me, I have the works. I show my compassion by helping my fellow man. When I see a brother in need, I go to his service. No, I don-'t need your faith, for I do the good deeds without your faith. I am a doer, not a believer. You might call my gospel a social gospel for we are not so concerned with what a man thinks in his heart as what he does in his life.
Our missionaries show the helpless people around the world how to raise better crops. Our ministers visit the jails and offer psychological help to those who are in need of such help. We offer food to the hungry, and clothing to the -naked-'.
If this is the argument of the third party, James dismisses it with a very brief statement, implying that we all know this man is wrong. It is as if this third party is quoted in defense of the man who has faith without works. This faith-only party may be saying: Well, it's better to have faith without works than to have works without faith. Works only will get you nowhere!
All right, says James, show me your -faith only-'. But as for me, I will show you my faith by my works!
There seems to be a bit of sarcasm in James reply. Let's see you demonstrate without doing, if you can! It would be difficult indeed to do without doing, to demonstrate without demonstrating, to show without showing! The faith-only man may tell of his faith, but his fellowman would have to take his word for it. He could not show it.
Fallacious is the conviction that religion is only for the inside manthat God's grace could not possibly have conditions attached that required man to act; that man is saved without deeds; that the teaching of God is salvation by faith only.
Proof for such a faith-only doctrine is usually taken from Paul's Roman epistle. Yet Paul is most emphatic in stating that a man must work out his salvation; that a man must obey, that a man must present his body as a living sacrifice; holy, acceptable unto God. Not only must a man do this, but it is a reasonable servicethat which is no more that what is right and properthat which everyone should understand is God's right to expect. (See Romans 1:5; Romans 12:1 ff; Romans 16:26).

As for me, I will show you my faith by my works. What other way is there to show a faith? And how many times has the apostle John taught that by expressing our love for our fellow man we express our love for the Father? Did not Jesus Himself show us that As ye have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me? And if James is unable to convince a man that God requires a man show his faith in God by deeds to his fellow-man, then he should read carefully the epistles of John, the words of Jesus, the teaching of Paul; in fact the entire new Testament!

When James turns aside to an imaginary person, and argues, Show me your faith without your works (if you can), he is using the Greek Diatribe style of argument. He turns to the imaginary opponent and addresses him directly as if he were there in person. This is a very effective debating style, used often by the Old Testament prophets, as well as the Greek debaters. It is very unlikely that James had ever talked with a person who believed that God would justify by faith without any works required. The tendency of the Jews was to say that God required works, but they often lacked faith.
Then, you might ask, Why does James make such a strong point of the argument? James was trying to convince people to do that which they already knew was right and reasonable. He is not just trying to change the conviction of his readers. but their action. They already have faith, and this James recognizes. What they lack is the works to go with the faith. Not only do they need to trust Jesus (as they already do) but they need to obey Him. Trust, and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. This they knew, but this they were not doing.

How tragic today to realize that there are many sincere people who have been taught that a man is saved by faith without works. They believe that for God to expect a man to do as well as to believe is neither reasonable nor consistent with the logic of salvation by grace. (This is not meant to say that a man is saved by earning his salvation. Paul refutes this very effectively in more than one of his epistles. Earning salvation by works is impossible for any sinner. Obedience however, can be required as a condition of salvation without that obedience earning one ounce of the salvation gift. James and Paul are in perfect harmony here. (See the chart later in this chapter).

James 2:19 shows that James does not despise faith. He honors the Jewish confession that God is one (the Shema). This conviction that Jehovah is one God, and the only God, is the essential starting point in all revelation. In the beginning God. is the fundamental faith upon which further faith and action is built. This James recognizes. A man who believes this doest well, but has not done that which is required. He has the basis upon which a saving commitment to Christ can be made. But without this surrender of both life and deed to Jesus, he has only made a start that accomplishes nothing by itself. He is on his way, but if he goes no further, he is no better off than the demons.

Some may feel that James-' thou doest well is a touch of the ironical. They may feel that such a man is only doing well if the demons are doing well, and that James is saying: Fine, you are on about the same basis as the demons if you go no further. There could be a touch of irony here, but James is not belittling belief. The intellectual conviction of the truth is important, and basic. James is saying: Good, as far as it goesbut you haven-'t gone anywhere yet!
The demons believe and shudder. If there is anything odd about this, it is not that the demons believe. It is that man sometimes refuses to believe that which even the demons believe! The demons have the conviction that God is real and that His eternity of heaven and hell is real. Their conviction is so strong that they shudder at their destiny. This shuddering they do is similar to the bristling of an animal's hair when he is cornered and frightened because his life is in danger. When the demons contemplate Jesus, they bristle at the prospect of hell that looms before them. Men would do well to have such a conviction of the existence of God's heaven and hell!

What the devil (and demons) believe that makes them tremble is clearly outlined in John's vision. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10) The false prophet should open his heart to the Word of God and know his destiny. The demons know!

The facts are so fundamental and basic in this God-created world that it takes many years of brain washing to convince young men and women that there is no God. Pupils often are exposed to these subtle suggestions (of there being no God) in their early school years, then during their teens in high school they often see scornful rejection of God on the face of many of their teachers. At the college level, the professor who believes in God is such a rarity that the pupil often is convinced that education and a belief in God are opposed to one another. In a world created by God, with the evidence of God in every leaf, every star, every thing that has been made (see Romans 1:20-21), the student is brainwashed to blind himself to the evidence, is shamed into a denial of that which is obvious, is ridiculed openly, laughed at and scorned, until he himself turns to join the professors in open scorn of those few students who yet dare to believe. Now walking with the scoffers, he takes his stand with them that he may one day sit in their seat. (See Psalms 1:1) Yes, 2% of the world's population, the educated elite, need to come up to the faith of the demons before they can go further. They need to become convinced of the reality of Jehovah and His eternity of heaven and hell. To believe this, they would do well; but still they would be no better than the demons if they should go no further than an intellectual acknowledgment of the facts.

It is not just some action that God requires as evidence of our faith. It is obedience He requires. To do without eating kidneys on Fridays (which one may not like to eat, anyway) is no evidence of a Godly faith. Fasting from kidneys is action and this action may be that by which we would choose to demonstrate our faith. This is just the point! It is our selfish choice of action that makes our faith void. It is our refusal to submit our will to God's that limits our faith to a dull intellectual conviction that prompts no action. Likewise the person who stubbornly refuses to obey God in any commandment is by this refusal making his faith dead. The perfection which God requires of us is supplied by Jesus Christ. But the submission He requires, we must do ourselves.

The demons who believe actually do something about their belief, but what they do does not come from a will surrendered to Christ. An example of demons acting on their faith is found in Luke 8:26-33. Here the demons who occupy a man cause the man to fall down before Jesus in a position of worship, and through the man's lips confess, so that all may hear, their conviction that this is Jesus, the son of God. (See also Mark 3). The demon's faith, even when coupled with confession of that faith, is pointless without the surrendered life. The person who by his deeds shows he wills to obey Jesus Christ, with faith in God and His promises, can expect the grace of salvation through the blood of Jesus.

Wilt thou know? Do you not see the point yet, says James? Do you desire proof? Do you yet wish to know? Faith without works is barren. Is the believer in faith only for justification yet willing to recognize and acknowledge the truth? There appears to be here a point of vexation against the man who still does not see that faith only does not offer salvation. Yet, James with a tenacious spirit is ready to offer other arguments from the Scripture of the Old Testament to convince the most stubborn.

Faith without works is barren offers a subtle play upon words in the Greek. Barren (aggos) denotes idleness, or a lack of results because of lack of work. James is saying, Faith without works doesn-'t work! The absurdity of holding that a workless faith works explains further the note of exasperation in the question.