James worksheet 5
Dead faith and living faith & Faith and deeds

Teaching video James 2:14-26

Bible text (NIV)
James 2:14-26 says ¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If 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? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. ²⁰You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. ²⁵In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Bible text (NKJV)
¹⁴What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ¹⁹You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! ²⁰But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? ²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? ²³And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. ²⁴You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. ²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? ²⁶For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

This passage shows the necessity of works to demonstrate the fact of a living faith.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NIV) says ⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. And Titus 3:8 (NKJV) says This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Q1 In verse 1 this “controversy” between faith and works/deeds is addressed. Here James states can faith without that kind of works/deeds save you? In other words: can you say that you enjoy your faith and do nothing with it? Does James contradict Paul? Or does James completes or adds to Paul’s teaching?

In the next we’ll look at the difference between faith and living faith, as a contrast to dead faith, which is mere religion. James calls a faith without works a dead faith (verse 17). In chapter one James talks about examples of people who are in need: orphans and widows. Here in verses 15-17 he talks about another example of people in need: people who are “naked” and without food.

Q2 Are you a person that has faith or a person that has faith plus resulting works/deeds? How do you prove/demonstrate the latter, having a living faith?

It is never wrong to pray. But if you only pray as a substitute for helping/works/deeds is vain.

What is a living faith?

Here is a list compiled by David Guzik.
Living faith
1. It is faith that looks not to self, but to Jesus Christ
2. It is faith that agrees with God’s Word, both inwardly and with words, expressing Scripture
3. It is faith that in itself is not a work that deserves reward from God; in this sense it is simply refusing to think God is a liar; and that in itself is not a good work, simply the absence of a sinful work
4. It is faith grounded in what Jesus did on the cross and by His resurrection
5. It is a faith that will naturally be expressed in repentance and good works
6. It is faith that wants others to come to the same faith

Q3 Can you see faith? After that, try to explain how you interpret verse 18.

Verse 19 shows that demons have a faith in God. But it is certainly dead faith. Then, James deeply explains an example. The hearers of James were Christian Jews at the time of writing. Therefore, James comes with the example of Abraham, the first Jew, in verses 20-24 and later in verse 25 the example of the Gentile Rahab (Joshua 6). Notice, that Abraham was already justified by faith (Genesis 15:6) and showed his faith by sacrificing his son Isaac much later (Genesis 22:2–18) in which he demonstrated his trust in God. In the process of obedience Abraham already had his knife in his hand to kill the boy. But God stopped him. Because God doesn’t want human sacrifices. God showed that the willingness was more important to Him than the deed of the believer. See also Hebrews 11:17-19.

Q4 Tell in your own words below, how you see the story of Abraham’s “sacrifice” of his son, demonstrates Abraham’s faith and resulting deeds.

Q5 How would you tell a friend that faith is made perfect by works (verses 22 and 24)?

The people that read the letter of James were Jewish Christians. In this passage they get two examples of people with living faith: the Jew Abraham and the Gentile Rahab, a lady with a not-so-good reputation (Joshua 2:8-13). Quite shocking.

Verse 26 says For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also, which we can see as a concluding phrase.

Q6 Now, summarize what you have learned today.