Useless Faith

An exposition of James 2:14-26

James 2:14 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?”
Consider these questions one at a time. “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?” In many Christian circles the response would be that so long as the man believes the “right truths,” then he will be saved. They will quickly point to the thief on the cross as an illustration of this principle. Certainly the thief had no occasion to demonstrate his faith through deeds, yet he is told that he will be in paradise with Christ. Furthermore they quickly shy away from any implication that human effort plays any part in salvation; belief alone leads to salvation. “Whosoever believeth…has eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) So it would seem that if a man claims to have faith (rightly directed beliefs about Christ) but does not have deeds he would still be saved. This would seem correct, but James follows his first question with a second one.
“Can such faith save him?” If understood in context, this is a rhetorical question. For James the answer is an obvious and resounding ‘NO!’ He goes so far as to call a faith that is expressed in belief alone, and bereft of deeds, a ‘dead’ faith. (v.17) Clearly James does not accept that an intellectual assent to (belief in) a particular set of doctrinal statements is sufficient to save. Saving faith must be more than mere belief.

In James 2:18 the author portrays the challenge of a hypothetical man saying, “Show me your faith without deeds.” This is a great challenge; a challenge that many 21st century Christians have eagerly tried to meet!
For the most part defining our faith has been reduced to stating the propositional truths that we believe. This is nothing new, it’s been done by Christians for ages. All the great creeds of our Christian heritage (The Apostle’s Creed; The Nicene Creed; and The Athanasian Creed) are expressions of the orthodox faith. Though Baptists in general have eschewed creedal statements, they nevertheless make liberal use of confessions of faith with the same intent of expressing the fundamentals of their faith once delivered and passed on to the saints. But providing a copy of our creedal/confessional belief statements seems to fall short of answering the challenge to ‘show our faith without deeds.’ It would seem that James is saying that ‘showing faith without deeds’ is an impossible task. Saving faith must be more than mere belief.

James 2:19 drives the point home. “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” No one would argue that demons are not saved, and yet they may believe all the same truths that we confess. They know and believe that God is a trinity; that He is the Creator; and that Jesus was born of a virgin. They believe all the same things that you and I believe, yet they are NOT saved! How can this be? Saving faith must be more than mere belief.

James 2:20. Now James states his proposition clearly. “Faith without deeds is useless.” (The word for ‘useless’ in the Greek is nekros: meaning dead, without power, destitute) James goes further in even offering to give examples to illustrate his argument, and he cites Abraham and Rahab as those justified not by belief alone, but by acting on their beliefs. He draws his final conclusion, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (v.26)


So if there is a faith that is useless (as James has described), and a faith that saves apart from works (as Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9), then how can I be certain that my faith is the latter and not the former. What are the characteristics of ‘useless faith,’ and ‘saving faith?’

For me ‘useless faith’ is that which is expressed by mere statements of belief with no genuine relational dynamic with the person of God. It is religious consent to accepted doctrines with no renewal of the mind or transformation of character. (Romans 12:2) It is spiritual performance based on duty and tradition without any engagement of the heart or soul. (Isaiah 29:13) It holds to a form of godliness, but denies its power. (2 Tim 3:5) It is trusting Jesus to save you, but refusing to submit to Him as Lord. It believes that knowing the right answers, the right words, and saying the right prayers are all that is necessary. (Matthew 7:21)

And saving faith…well that’s another entry.

Grace and Peace to my brothers and sisters in Christ,

Kent