Trailblazin Ministries

A Dead Faith: Part 3 - James 2:17

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Monday, 29 October 2007

A faith that is in word only is surely a dead faith. This is the point that James is discussing at this particular point in his letter and it is one that is requiring the believer to examine him/herself to see if they are truly in the faith and doing those things that should be expected of them. For many Christians, it is said that this is a difficult passage, but as we can see through our study so far that this is not a complicated passage of Scripture, but it is one that requires the reader to double check and make sure that what they are doing is lining up with Scripture and the characteristics of true followers of Christ. James clearly makes his point known in James 2:17, of which he will continue to discuss all the way through to the end of this chapter, where he will again make such a declaration. So, let us see what the Lord spoke through James in this verse.

James 2:17 (NASB) - Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself.

You cannot separate faith from works, it is impossible to do. As we've already shown in the first three verses of this section, you cannot say that you have faith in the gospel and then not back it up with your actions. If you are going to say that you trust in the gospel message, then there should be signs in your life that can confirm such a response. James illustrated in vv. 15-16 that it is impossible to say you have faith and then not help your brother or sister when you see them in need. That kind of faith is a dead faith, one that is not alive; in other words, this faith is neither genuine or real; it is a false faith that is in word only. How is this so? Well, we know that after hearing the gospel message and accepting it, your life becomes transformed through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and His work within you. If such is the case, then we now have the Spirit of God within us, and as a result of that we should begin to desire to want to do those things that are pleasing to our Father in heaven and resemble His holy character. In other words, after becoming a Christian, if I see my brother and sister in need, I just don't say, "God bless you," but if I will do what I can to help them because that is the kind of deed that is pleasing to the Father.

There is a parallel passage in the Bible that really draws out this idea and picture for us; it is a passage that shows us how God the Fathersaved us of His own volition, not on the basis of anything that we were able to do own our own, and it is our gratitude towards Him for saving us that should drive us to want to do good works towards others. The passage is Titus 3:4-8.

Titus 3:4-8 (NASB) - 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.

We can definitely see here how this lines up with what James is speaking in this passage, and it further proves the point that James is not saying that we need to perform good deeds in order to obtain salvation. We do not have a works based faith, but it is one that is freely given to us by the grace of God and all we have to do is accept it. It is with that in mind that James is saying that because of this great deed that God has done for us, the least we can do in turn is to perform good deeds towards others as an outward display of what God has done by bringing life to our spirit. Therefore, to say that can have faith and not do anything to show that we have such faith is a ludicrous idea, thus making that kind of faith dead. As we've already shown, God is an impartial God and Jesus' ministry was all about showing impartiality towards those whom He ministered to; if that kind of ministry is alive within us, we cannot help but to do those same things after our spirit is made alive through Him. Conversely, one with a dead faith, truly has no faith at all because he is still spiritually dead, just like his faith.

Again, the two cannot be separated. As was just stated, a faith with no works is no saving faith at all. If you have works but no faith, you're just a morally good person, but with no forgiveness of sins and spiritual life. It is only when you combine the two that you get a true picture of the Christian life where saving faith pushes us towards acts of kindness towards others because of our love for the Father and His creation. We will continue our look at this next time when we move forward to verse 18 where James reiterates this thought with an illustration. Until then, keep walking in holiness!