Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

James 2:17

James 2:17. Now follows the application of this illustration. As this love, which merely expends itself in kind words and wishes, is of no value; so neither is the faith of him who professes to believe the Gospel, yet walks not up to his profession. Even so; as charity without works is dead, so faith, if it hath not works, if it be merely a theoretical assent to the truths of revelation, is dead. From this it is evident that by works is not meant merely something which is added to faith, but something which proceeds from it; as life is seen by its actions, so is faith by its works. The works then are those of a living faith, those to which faith gives birth. ‘If,' observes Neander, ‘James calls the faith which is without works a dead faith, it could not surely be his view that works, which are but the outward manifestation, made faith to be living; but he must have presupposed that true faith has the principle of life within itself, from which works must proceed, and which manifests itself in works.'

being alone. The words in the Greek are not tautological, as they appear in our version, but emphatic. More correctly rendered they are ‘by itself' denoting that a simple assent is useless, or rather ‘in itself,' i.e is wholly and completely dead has no living root which might spring up ‘twice dead, plucked up by the roots,' as Jude expresses it (Jude 1:12). As has been observed, ‘A tree in winter may not have signs of life, but is not dead in itself; it will put forth shoots and leaves in spring. But faith has no winter; if it has not works, it has no life in it, and ought not to be called faith, for dead faith is no faith' (Wordsworth). It is, however, to be remembered that James does not deny the existence of a theoretical faith; he distinguishes between faith and faith, between theoretical and practical faith; and to the former, the theoretical faith, he denies that justification can be ascribed.

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Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary (4 vols)

James 2:17

Old Testament

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