What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? (Jas 2:14)It seems to me to be a rhetorical question. That is, the obvious answer ... indeed, the reason for asking the question ... is "No!", making it a dangerous question. "Is your faith a saving faith?"
James goes on to argue the point. He gives an example of someone who sees someone else in need and ... wishes them well ... without, you know, actually helping. Did they actually wish them well if they simply wished and didn't do? He goes on to say, "Even so ..." (as in, "In the same way ... ") "... faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself" (James 2:17). And that's the chilling part. James is arguing that there is a type of faith that is ... dead, useless, not saving. We learn that this faith may be spoken ("someone may say ...") or even correct ("You believe that God is one"), but it's not saving faith if it lacks a particular component. "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone" (James 2:24). That is, faith is required for salvation, but not a faith that is alone; it must be a faith that changes us, that produces works.
It's said that we always act on what we truly believe. That seems to be what James is saying here. If you truly believe, you will act. Don't get lost in the terminology. He's not saying we're "justified by works" in the sense of "made right with God by works." This "justified" is the same sort that Jesus used when He said, "Wisdom is justified by her deeds" (Matt 11:19). The word means "to declare right," and in this case, the works declare that the faith is real. (The NASB translates the phrase, "Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds," recognizing that this is not the "made right with God" kind of justification.) How about you? Does your life indicate that your faith is living ... or dead? You can see it's a critical question since there is such a thing as "faith," both claimed and correct, that is dead and, therefore, useless.
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