What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. [James 2:14-17 NIV]
What if? James is here having an argument with an imaginary opponent. This is a literary device. James is wanting to convince those who would receive this letter that their profession of faith is not enough. He is making the point that faith without works or deeds is useless. It is not faith at all.
These Jews were proud of the fact that they were different from the Gentiles all around them. They had been scattered to various parts of the Roman Empire where they would witness the lifestyle of these heathens who believed in a variety of gods which were not gods at all. In sharp contrast to these people, the Jews were monotheistic: they believed in One God. They recited their Shema which was their sort of creed.
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” [Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV]. This powerful statement of belief made them distinct from the other nations in their idolatry. It could be stated in different ways but it was a statement of belief in an all-powerful being - Yahweh. [See footnote below] But James is challenging them in their faith. He is not saying that faith is not enough on its own and needs to be supplemented by good works in order to please God. Rather, he is saying that unless there is evidence of deeds of kindness and love towards those in need it is not genuine faith at all. So James is providing them with a litmus test to verify if their faith is genuine. So for these Jews who were living among the pagans, it was not enough for them to claim or profess to believe in the One God. This faith in God must lead to a change of heart or else it is not real. If a person has been born again, that new life will manifest itself in action. James is not speaking about them following Jewish ritual or adhering to Jewish customs or traditions. He is speaking about the practical outworking of their faith.
James is almost cynical in these verses. He denounces empty platitudes such as "Go in peace! or Shallom. It is not enough to tell someone with no money to pay their heating bills - "Keep warm." We hear empty statements like these all the time - "Have a nice day!" but they are meaningless. James is advocating practical Christianity. He is particularly interested in our attitude to the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised.
Beth Easton recorded a video of a talk on the subject of Testing our Faith. It is very relevant to this topic today.
Sadly, many people in our churches are relying on a profession they made in childhood when they 'took Jesus into their heart' but sadly they now show little evidence of this faith. It has not resulted in growth and development of Christian character. There is no evidence of the fruits of the Spirit in their lives. I am not criticising those who came to faith in childhood as I trusted the Saviour when I was five years old. The point is that this is only the start of the Christian journey. There needs to be signs of the new birth and divine life.
So James is very relevant to us in the 21st Century. He is also very challenging.
Photo by Blake Campbell on Unsplash
Footnote
The Shema can be read like this
The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
The LORD our God is one LORD
The LORD is our God, the LORD is one
The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.
The word translated LORD is Yahweh. In Hebrew there are no vowels, so it was really YHWH. The word Shema comes from the word to hear and it refers to the start of the verse - Shema Yisrael or Hear O Israel.
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