Read James 2:20-26
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,”and he was called God’s friend. You see that people are justified by what they do and not by faith alone.
In 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? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:20-26)
James now refers to two incidents in the Old Testament to show that faith without deeds is useless. Here we are swimming in deeper waters and we need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to understand this passage!
James then takes the example of Abraham (a respectable Jewish male) and Rahab (a disrespectable foreign female) to show us once more that faith without deeds is useless. (These two stories can be found in Genesis 22:1-19 and Joshua 2:1-21).
(It is interesting to note that the writer of Hebrews mentions both Abraham (11:8-12) and Rahab (11:31). However he refers not to their works but to their faith!)
James does not deny that both Abraham and Rahab had faith but he emphasizes the fact that it was a faith which was accompanied by good works.
After he had dealt with Abraham, James writes “you see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” (v. 24). “And not by faith alone.” Does this statement not conflict with the teaching of Paul? In Ephesians 2:8-10 we read “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” See also Galatians 2:15-16.
In fact both Paul and James are giving the same teaching but are approaching it from a different angle. Paul stresses that we cannot save ourselves by trying to be good. We are saved by faith alone – but even this faith is a gift from God. But we are saved to do good works. James approaches it from the good works point of view and says that this faith, which is a gift from God, must always express itself in good works.
“We are not saved by works but we are saved for works.” (G. Stulac)
Praise the Lord that He has prepared in advance good works for us to do.
This meditation is extracted from “Transformation from Belief to Behaviour: 39 Lenten Meditations on the Letter of James” by Peter Young and used with permission by the author. It may be used solely for personal, noncommercial, and informational purposes. Republication or redistribution of this devotional is prohibited.
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