Digging Deeper James 2:14-17

Friends, how are you doing? Have you been taking time to tarry at the Lord's feet? Are you delighting in the Word? Are you spending time with Jesus or simply reading your Bible? I know I can be guilty of approaching the Bible like an item on my task list. I have been asking the Lord to teach me to read His Word with my heart not my head. How about you?

James 2:14-17
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Commentary:
"if someone says. This important phrase governs the interpretation of the entire passage. James does not say that this person actually has faith, but that he claims to have it. faith. This is best understood in a broad sense, speaking of any degree of acceptance of the truths of the gospel. does not have. Again, the verb's form describes someone who continually lacks any external evidence of the faith he routinely claims. works. This refers to all righteous behavior that conforms to God's revealed Word, but specifically, in the context, to acts of compassion (v. 15). Can faith save him? Better translated, "Can that kind of faith save?" James is not disputing the importance of faith. Rather, he is opposing the notion that saving faith can be a mere intellectual exercise void of a commitment to active obedience...James illustrates his point by comparing faith without works to words of compassion without acts of compassion...faith by itself...is dead. Just as professed compassion without action is phony, the kind of faith that is without works is empty profession, not genuine saving faith." [The MacArthur Bible Commentary by John Mac Arthur pg 1887-1888].

Blessings,
Diane

Diane Hunt is the Director of Addiction Recovery and Development at America's KESWICK. In addition to her Keswick responsibilities which keep her busy, she loves to read, write and teach, travel and laugh with her grandchildren. Diane has been married to her husband John over 26 years. She has 2 children, 3 grandchildren, 3 step-children, and 7 step-grandchildren.