James Commentary:
I. Greeting and Testing of Faith (1:1-18)
II. Hearing and Doing the Word (1:19-27)
III. The Sin of Partiality (2:1-13)
IV. Faith without Works is Dead (2:14-26)
A. Can that Faith Save Him? (2:14-17)
B. Response and Reiteration (2:18-20)
C. Explanation: Abraham and Rahb (2:21-26)
V. Christian Speech and Wisdom (3:1-4:3)
VI. Submission to God: (4:4-17)
VII. Concluding Admonitions (5:1-19)
Ver 18. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” It is the same as though he had said, "Thou hast faith only, I have also works in addition to my faith; now, prove to me that you have true faith without having works connected with it (which was impossible, hence he is called a 'vain man,' or empty-headed, in 2:20), and I will prove my faith by its fruits, even good works.
Show me your faith without works. If you can, see what ways, means, and methods you can make use of to make it appear to me, or any other, that you have the faith you talk of. These words, though spoken rightly, are a sort of sarcasm and jeer upon the man, calling upon him to do that which is impossible to do, and thereby exposing his vain boast; for faith is an inward principle in the heart. It is a hidden thing and cannot be seen and known but by external acts. Where it is right, it is operative, and shows itself by works, which is not practicable in those who have none.
I will show you my faith by my works. There may be indeed an appearance of good works, where there is no faith, as in the Heathens, in the Scribes and Pharisees, and in the Papists, and others; and on the other hand, there may be the principle of faith implanted, where there is not an opportunity of showing it by a series of good works, or a course of godly living, as in elect infants dying in infancy, and in those who are converted in their last moments, as the thief upon the cross; wherefore works are not infallible proofs and evidences of faith, yet they are the best we are capable of giving of it to men, or they of receiving. In short, works may deceive, and do not infallibly prove truth of faith, yet it is certain, that where they are not, but persons live in a continued course of sinning, there cannot be true faith.
Ver 19. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe—and shudder.
From this one sentence it appears evident that the whole dispute is not about faith as the term is usually used, but of the common knowledge of God, which can no more connect man with God, than the sight of the sun can carry him up to heaven; but it is certain that by faith we come nigh to God. Besides, it would be ridiculous were any one to say, that the devils have faith.
You believe that God is one. These words are a continuation of the address of the man that has no works and yet boasts of his faith. He points out that a main article of the faith, that there is one God in the Christian sense, is indeed held in some way by the man. He believes things relating to God: that there are three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, and that these three are the one God; of God the Father, his being and perfections, of Christ, as God, and the Son of God, and the Messiah, and to the Holy Spirit and to believe all this is right. But to believe there is one God, is not merely to give into this article, in opposition to the polytheism of the Gentiles, or barely to confess the God of Israel, as believed on by the Jews. For, as he will point out, the demons believe these things.
You do well. For that there is but one God, is to be proved by the light of nature, and from the works of creation and providence, and has been owned by the wisest of the Heathens themselves; and is established, by divine revelation, in the books both of the Old and of the New Testament; what has been received by the Jews, and is well known by Christians, to whom it is set in the clearest light, and who are assured of the truth of it.
The demons also believe. They believe the same truth; they know and believe there is but one God, and not many; and they know that the God of Israel is He; and that the Father, Son, and Spirit, are the one God; they know and believe him to be the most high God, whose servants are the ministers of the Gospel; and they know and believe that Jesus is the Holy One of God, the Son of God, and the Messiah (Acts 16:17).
And shudder. They tremble at the wrath of God, which they now feel, and at the thought of future torments, which they expect (Mk 5:7), and which is more than some men do; and yet these shall not be saved, their damnation is certain and inevitable (2 Pet 2:4), wherefore it follows, that a bare historical faith will not profit, and cannot save any; a man may have all faith of this kind, and be damned; and therefore it is not to be boasted of, nor trusted to.
Ver 20. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
But do you want to know. These are the words of the apostle resuming the argument, that faith without works is dead, useless, and unprofitable for the man that boasts of his faith, and has no works to show it.
Vain man. He calls him a "vain man," meaning an empty one, a sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal; empty vessels make the greatest sound. Such are proud boasters, vainly puffed up by their fleshly mind, but are empty of the true saving knowledge of God, and of the faith of Christ, and of the grace of the Spirit. Such a one betrays his ignorance in spiritual things by his conceit and vain triflings of faith without works.
That faith apart from works is dead?. We must understand the state of the question, for the dispute here is not respecting the cause of justification, but only what avails a profession of faith without works, and what opinion we are to form of it. Absurdly then do they act who strive to prove by this passage that man is justified by works, because James meant no such thing, for the proofs which he subjoins refer to this declaration, that no faith, or only a dead faith, is without works. No one will ever understand what is said, nor judge wisely of words, except he who keeps in view the design of the writer.