Going through what the Book of James says prior to the controversial verses of James 2:14-26 is necessary to really understand those verses like they ought to be understood. 

James 1:1: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”

James undoubtedly wrote the book to Christians.  If he wrote the book specifically to Jewish Christians, the principles in it apply to Gentile Christians too.  The same Gospel with the same promises and requirements pertaining to faith is sent to both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 20:20-21, Acts 26:19-23, etc).  The only difference was the need for Jewish Christians to keep the ceremonies of the Law of Moses while the Temple stood.  Gentiles could be Christian church members without keeping the ceremonial law several years before that due to the decrees at the council recorded in Acts chapter 15.

James 1:2-8: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers (or, various) temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.  For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

One shouldn’t doubt the Lord’s willingness to help them, yet they need to be ready to cooperate with the wisdom He shows them without their own agenda interfering.  Any wisdom from the true God is in line with His Word and a basis for it can be found in His Word.  Cain and Balaam in the Old Testament are obvious examples of double-minded men.  

It is established early in the Book of James that faith which is acceptable to the Lord involves surrender to heed His counsel and forsake one’s agendas in order to do so.  This is relevant to why Abraham needed to be justified by faith continually and not just one initial time.  That is obviously also the case with everyone who would be saved in the end.  The commonly touted concept that you can put your faith in Jesus for salvation, and then your salvation is not at stake by how you actually live after that, is an utter lie which throws everything else about Christianity off when it takes hold.  

James 1:9-11: “Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.  For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.”

We’re talking about poverty or richness of spirit here, yet verse 11 also shows the tendency which Jesus so greatly stressed in the Gospels, that riches greatly tend to make people proud before God and to trust in a false security.  Most in the first world now are materially rich by world and historical standards.

James 1:12: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”  

Note the connection here between loving Him and enduring (i.e. not succumbing to) temptation.  God’s kingdom is only for those who love Him; and loving Him is inseparable from being subject to His commandments and suffering not to yield to sin (see also John 14:21-24 and 1 Corinthians 16:22).  Those who choose sin don’t love Him.  Choosing sin expresses unbelief and is incompatible with exercising a living faith in Christ.  Those who regard iniquity in their hearts cannot have fellowship with the true God nor be in His grace (see Psalm 66:18 and Proverbs 28:13).  Those who choose sin over subjection to the Lord do not have works in the sense that James is going to demonstrate that works must accompany faith.  

James 1:13-15: “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

Sin is never, ever worth it and always leads to the second death in the lake of fire for those who hold on to it.  Faith in Jesus which doesn’t cause one to forsake sin and be subject to His Word is dead and cannot save.  

Here is a key cross reference to understand what James means when he says that faith without works is dead and to certify that he is indeed dealing with salvation in saying that.

Revelation 14:9-12: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand (my note- and the consequence of not receiving this mark will be exclusion from the world economic system- which means no buying or selling), The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

The nature of this battle has never changed from the beginning of time, though it may be a lot more blatant at the very end of time.  The definition which many have of works which must accompany faith is not consistent with faithfulness in the conflict which has existed from the beginning of time (concerning whether man will heed the devil and serve his own carnal appetites; or deny his carnal appetites in order to be subject to the true God).  Jesus’ atonement is only applied to those who recognize their need for that, turn to get on the right side of this conflict, and continue in faith in Him as the rightful Lord and the only Savior.

James 1:16-19: “Do not err, my beloved brethren.  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.  Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.   Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:”

“Wherefore” here refutes the heresy that God imputes Jesus Christ’s personal righteousness to the Christian.  Christians must walk in the light of God’s Word to be cleansed by Jesus’ blood.

James 1:20: “ For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”

God has delegated His wrath to man in certain circumstances.  James isn’t eliminating the possibility that one might exercise righteous wrath.  Those who are quick to speak and/or quick to wrath will surely cross lines and commit all manner of sin.

James 1:21-22: “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.  But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Many people are taught constantly to deceive themselves in churches, in personal conversation, and/or over the internet when they are taught that Jesus can be received for salvation while their life afterwards is disconnected from the issue of their salvation.  This entire book bears witness against this deception.  

It is also the case that some of the greatest and most subtle deception is rooted in environments where there is a lot of Bible talk- even perhaps where there are constant reminders that we need to not just be hearers of the word but doers.  Even rightly understanding the Bible and saying the right things in relation to its counsel is deceptive when not actually following that counsel is deemed as permissible.

James 1:23-24: “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass (i.e. a mirror): For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.”

Those who are not wholeheartedly aiming to keep God’s Word are blinded to their actual, constant need.

James 1:25: “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

This is describing actually working in accordance with a living faith in Christ.  The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes one free from the law of sin and death.  Walking free from the law of sin and death through Jesus causes one to fulfill the righteousness of God’s law (see Romans 6:16-18 and Romans 8:1-4).  Those who don’t walk in this manner will die (see Romans 6:19-21 and Romans 8:13)- referring to the second death in the lake of fire (since all are appointed to die physically anyways).  

Those quotes from Romans were written by the Apostle Paul- since James and Paul taught totally consistent with each other.  Both taught that we cannot work our way into God’s favor- while both also taught that acceptable faith in Christ which justifies must be expressed and continued in through doing what His Word commands.  Jesus is the Lord as well as Savior; and His authority is expressed through what the Bible teaches.

James 1:26-27: “If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.  Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

Having an out of control tongue is inconsistent with being a doer of the Word.  Being a doer of the Word requires visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction; and keeping oneself unspotted from the world.  Widows and orphans represent any in true need.  Keeping oneself unspotted from the world is multi-faceted.  James is about to get into an example which might take many by surprise.  

James 2:1-4: “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.  For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay (goodly) 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: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?”

Though James is using the example of preferring the rich over the poor because that is obviously a common sin people commit, being a partial respecter of persons in any way is inconsistent with pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father.  This means that it is inconsistent with faith in Jesus Christ which saves.

James 2:5: “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?”

This is not saying that all poor people will be saved nor is it saying that only poor people can be saved.  However, these have the greatest capacity for genuine faith.  Since we must be poor in spirit to be saved, there is a sense in which any who would enter God’s kingdom must relate to Him as a poor person. Consider the following in relation to man with God.

Proverbs 22:7: “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

James 2:6-7: “But ye have despised the poor.  Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?  Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?”

Blaspheming His name can be done through professing to love Jesus while serving money.  The rich tend to be obsessed with the pleasures and cares of life while practically denying the true God (even if they profess to love Him).  James is exhorting the Christians not to regard these as above other people.  The exhortation is no less significant now.  Many churches obviously do regard the rich above other people.  They are evil over this alone.

James 2:8-9: “If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”  

It is obvious that those who are not subject to God’s law cannot be in His grace through the blood of Christ.  Those who are partial respecters of persons are not subject to God’s law.  This means they are His enemies who are on track to eternal damnation.  The “faith alone” people are liars because they deny this and try to explain away the obvious meaning of these verses and other passages which say the same thing in principle.

James 2:10: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

James is indeed saying we need to keep God’s law as a guide to a living, authentic faith in Christ.  When Paul spoke of justification by faith, he made it clear that we establish the law by faith rather than make it void (Romans 3:31).  Paul never used the term “justification by faith alone.”  The faith alone concept is a Protestant/Evangelical heresy which is no more able to save than the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox sacramental systems.  Biblical justification by faith is something else- and James is explaining that here.

James 2:11: “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.”

Neither murderers nor adulterers will enter God’s kingdom.  A person who doesn’t do one will still be damned if they do the other.  James isn’t making the point here that no one besides Jesus has never sinned- though he knows that is so and expects others to understand that.  James is dealing with walking in a living faith in Christ/being a doer of the Word/having pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father (all different ways of saying the same thing).  James is speaking in that context and rebuking the prevalent thought that one can be a transgressor of the law and yet have a saving interest in Christ.  He is dealing with properly relating to God as the ultimate authority.  We are obligated to live in subjection to His commandments as a guide to walking before Him by faith.  The blood which Christ shed on the cross didn’t remove this obligation.  The following Scriptures are dealing with the same thing.  

Isaiah 1:28: “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.”

1 John 1:6-7: “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

Revelation 22:14-15: “Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”

James 2:12-13: “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”

Again, regard the context.  Those who are not careful to do what the Lord requires, which includes those who are partial respecters of persons, cannot be partakers of His mercy and grace in Christ.  There is no doubt that James is dealing with salvation here, even though some foolish people claim otherwise. 

Now we come to James 2:14-26.  Catholics and Protestants argue a lot over these verses.  The Protestants are wrong because they do not accept that the verses mean what they say.  The Catholics are wrong in their definition of works and also inconsistent due to how they blatantly disregard the Bible in so many other places.

James 2:14-17: “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works?  can faith save him?  If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 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?  Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

Don’t think helping the needy is optional for you.  As an individual, with your own money and possessions- not lobbying to enlist the government to use other people’s money for that.  

There are silly preachers who say that a dead faith is profitable for salvation, though it is unprofitable otherwise.  They are foolish.  If they are right, then James would be teaching that even the devils are saved by what he goes on to say in verse 19.  The devils are obviously going to hell.

James 2:18: “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

This is referring to works that show you’ve embraced the entire package of Biblical Christianity so that it molds your mind and your conduct accordingly.  James is not dealing with works by the sacramental system of the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, or another church.  Those aren’t spoken of here nor does the whole counsel of the Bible warrant any of these.  

James 2:19: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

That is surely not a faith which is good for salvation.  Those who defend their ungodly character and unrighteous behavior with “Hey, I believe in God” or “I believe in Jesus Christ” are being rebuked and told their faith is utterly unprofitable.

James 2:20: “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”

Works demonstrating one embraces Christ and the entire package of Christian doctrine with their whole being.  Not works which one throws together in a self-made package and thinks God should accept it like Cain did.

James 2:21-23: “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?  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.”

Some claim that Abraham was only justified before men when he offered Isaac upon the altar.  That is a foolish claim.  Besides Isaac, no other person was even there when this happened.  The Bible teaches that those who make sacrifices and do deeds with the intention of being seen by men are hypocrites.  We should do what we ought to do even if people do know about it, yet unto the Lord and not unto men.  And that is not to mention how people (even people in conservative, supposedly Bible-believing churches) will often not appreciate, and might even criticize, those who are doing right in God’s eyes.  

Some say that Abraham’s salvation couldn’t have been at stake in offering up Isaac because Abraham had been justified when he believed in the Lord many years before this point.  Yet this reality only refutes the idea that being justified one time is enough.  Is it possible for one who begins well in faith to fall away?  It surely is (see Matthew 24:9-13, Hebrews 3:12-15, etc).  James will eventually end his epistle with the following exhortation.

James 5:19-20: “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

The Bible never teaches that Jesus’ personal righteousness is imputed to anyone.  It teaches that those with acceptable faith before God are cleansed and justified by what Jesus accomplished on the cross- due to the quality of their own faith (in Abraham’s case, by what Jesus would someday accomplish on the cross).  Not everyone who begins well by faith ends well by faith.  Those who begin well do not have unconditional eternal security.  Abraham had to keep believing the Lord and expressing faith through works (i.e. by doing what the Lord commanded him).  Abraham’s faith was tested.  Having faith previously didn’t guarantee he would pass the next test.  In order to endure in faith, he had to do some very difficult things.  There were many tests- offering up Isaac is just one of the most notable ones.

The Apostle Paul surely believed and taught that one who is justified by faith needs to continue in the faith whereby they were initially justified in order to enter God’s kingdom.

Acts 14:21-22: “And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

The justification by faith alone people inevitably believe in unconditional eternal security.  These would never (without contradicting themselves at least) exhort anyone “to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

The concept of justification by faith alone clearly contradicts the Bible and falsely implies you don’t have to actually live like a Christian in order to enter God’s kingdom.  James understood this implication when he wrote his epistle and said what he said therein to demonstrate that the concepts of justification by faith alone and unconditional eternal security are bold-faced lies. 

James 2:24: “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”

James is teaching consistent with Paul.  Both taught that works in line with what the Lord commands are a necessary expression of faith.   James’ illustration proves that those who wonder how a person would need to be justified continually by faith should look at Abraham’s life.  Hebrews 11:6 also explains this.

Hebrews 11:6: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

James 2:25: “Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?”

Some say that this word translated as harlot would have been better translated as innkeeper.  Regardless, Rahab surely didn’t remain a harlot if she had previously been one.  Those who find fault with Rahab in the example cited should consider that there is no obligation to cooperate with malicious people in their wicked endeavors.  Yet those who call evil good; and those who call good evil will end up justifying evil behavior and opposing righteous endeavors.

James 2:26: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

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