What Does “Faith Without Works Is Dead” Mean?

Sadly, many teachers, disciplers, and leaders will teach those who are under their teaching or leadership that if their faith does not produced works, then their faith is not genuine and they are not saved.

These leaves genuine believers in Jesus doubting their salvation, causing tremendous damage emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

To understand what faith without works is dead means, we must follow the steps of proper Bible Study methods: Observation, Interpretation, then Application.

Observation:

• Who wrote the book or letter?

• Who was the book/letter written to?

• When was the book/letter written?

• Why was the book/letter written?

• Who is the speaker, and who is being spoken to?

Interpretation:

• What does it mean within the context?

• What is the context?

  -What is the historical context?

  -What is the book or letter context?

• What was the writer’s or speaker’s original purpose for the words communicated?

• How did the audience understand what was written or spoken?

Application:

• How does this verse apply to believers living in the new testament of grace (the way we relate to God following the death of Jesus), if at all?

With this Bible Study method in mind, let’s seek to discover what faith without works is dead means in its context?

The verse we are seeking to understand the meaning of is James 2:26 which says, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

The letter of James was written by James, the brother of Jesus.

James was the leader of the Jewish church in Jerusalem.

He wrote his letter around AD 44, making it the very first book or letter in the Bble written after the resurrection of Jesus.

The second letter written was Galatians, written around AD 49-50.

Galatians was written by Paul.

Paul was given the assignment by Jesus of taking the message of salvation by grace through faith apart from the works of the law into the cities of the Roman Empire (Acts 20:24; 26: 15-18; Romans 3-4; Galatians 1:10-12; Ephesians 3:1-7).

The message of Grace that Jesus sent Paul to communicate was that righteousness is received by faith in Jesus, apart from the works of the law (see Romans and Galatians).

The message of grace is the message of salvation, which is a person is saved when God declares this person to be righteous the moment the person believes/faith in Jesus.

God declaring a person to be righteous (saved, forgiven of sins, innocent of sins) is called justification.

Justification is when God declares a person to be righteous the moment that person places his faith in Jesus.

The first recorded city that Paul taught the message of grace in was Syrian, Antioch (Acts 11).

Eventually, Paul went into the cities of Galatia (Acts 13-14) and many other cites where he taught in the Jewish synagogues about justification by faith apart from the law of Moses.

Acts 13:38-39 records Paul’s first message of grace (justification, righteousness, forgiveness, innocence, salvation by faith apart from the law), which says:

“Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”

This is the message that Jesus sent Paul to proclaim (Acts 26:15-18).

Jesus himself also taught that salvation is through belief in him (John 3:16; 6:29) apart from works.

During the life of Jesus, some asked Jesus what works were required to do gain eternal life.

Jesus response was to believe in him (see John 6:28-29).

The Rich Young ruler asked Jesus what good work (obedience to the Law of Moses) must he do to be saved (Matthew 19:16-22; Luke 18:18-30).

In response, Jesus held up the law as a mirror to show him the works of the law could not save him.

On another occasion, an expert in the law asked Jesus what he must do to gain eternal life (Luke 10:29-37).

Jesus held up the Two Great Commandments (Love God and Love people) to show this man that he could not be saved through obedience to these commandments.

Jesus did this by telling the story of a good Samaritan who was loving but who the expert in the law hated.

Salvation/righteousness has always been by faith and never through the law (Genesis 15:6; Romans, Galatians).

Salvation/righteousness has never been a combination of faith plus works of the law.

Paul, having been taught by the ascended Jesus, made it very clear that salvation/righteousness is by faith/believing apart from the law (see Romans and Galatians).

Paul went out of his way to make sure those to whom he wrote did not view salvation as faith plus works or that works show you have genuine faith.

He taught in Ephesians 2:8-10 that salvation is not by works.

He taught that the works people do are not there works.

Rather, they were the works God prepared for them to walk in.

He wrote this because people were boasting in “their works” as proof their faith was genuine.

This message of salvation by grace through faith/belief in Jesus apart from the law/works was not a popular message among the religious leaders during the time following the resurrection of Jesus.

Many taught that salvation/justification/righteousness was by faith in Jesus plus practicing the works of the law.

This led to a major meeting in Jerusalem around AD 49/50 to decide if justification is by grace though faith in Jesus apart from the law or by faith in Jesus plus obedience to the law (Acts 15).

After much discussion and debate, it was decided that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus apart from the law (Acts 15:6-11).

It is important to note that this decision was made about 6 years after James wrote his letter (AD 44), leading us to believe that when James wrote his letter he did not fully understand the message of salvation/righteousness by faith, or if he did, he rejected it - instead, favoring a righteousness that came by faith and works.

We are seeking to understand what faith without works means in context - both the historical and biblical context.

We have looked at the historical context about salvation by grace through faith apart from the law as seen in Romans and Galatians and decided upon at the meeting in Jerusalem.

Now let’s look at the biblical context in James 2.

James wrote (James 2:14-24),

What 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.

We see in the context that James is saying that faith without works/deeds is dead, insufficient to save a person.

He clearly states that righteousness (which is needed for salvation) is based upon one’s faith and one’s works.

He seeks to provide evidence for his position by saying that Abraham was declared righteous when he not only believed God (Genesis 15:6) but also presented Isaac to be sacrificed (work).

According to James, Abraham was not declared righteous by God the moment he believed, but he was declared righteous when he presented Isaac to be sacrificed (work), even though he quotes Genesis 15:6.

At this time, Isaac was between the ages of 20 and 35 years old.

So James has Abraham being declared righteous by God not at age 85, when he believed God and was declared righteous by God (Genesis 15:6), but much later in Abraham’s life, when Abraham was between the ages of 120 and 135 years old.

The application James makes from his teaching on Abraham was that people are declared righteous-saved, not by faith alone, but by faith and works.

Paul, in Romans 4 and Galatians 3, makes the opposite case for when and how Abraham was justified/saved - declared righteous by God.

Paul states that Abraham was declared righteous by God the moment he believed - apart from works.

Paul also states that people are declared righteous by God the same way Abraham was - believing apart from works or deeds (Romans 4).

It’s important to note that Paul records in Galatians 2 that James sent specific men to Syrian, Antioch, where Paul first taught the message of grace (Acts 11), to persuade Peter to abandon righteousness by grace through faith apart from the law and to depend on faith plus obedience to the law for righteousness.

In Galatians 2:14-21, Paul records his own confrontation of Peter for caving to the pressure put on him from the men sent by James and abandoning righteousness by grace through faith apart from the law and going back to the law for righteousness.

Peter’s abandoning of righteousness by grace through faith apart from the law happened after the meeting in Jerusalem.

Galatians, written around AD 49/50, was written after the meeting.

We see this in Galatians 2 because Peter was not acting in line with the truth of the gospel (righteousness by faith apart from the law of Moses) that was decided at the meeting in Jerusalem.

Paul is providing a chronological timeline in Galatians 1 and 2, and he includes the meeting in Jerusalem in the timeline.

So, what did James mean when he wrote faith without works is dead?

The context is that James wrote to say that faith/belief alone apart from the works of love (the Two Great Commandments) cannot save a person…cannot bring a person into a righteous standing before God.

James clearly states in the context that for a person to be saved…that for a person to be declared righteous by God, he must not only have faith but he must also have works associated with the Two Great Commandments - the law of freedom as James calls it.

Paul makes the opposite point in Romans and Galatians, stating that salvation/righteousness is by grace through faith apart from works of the law.

It was Paul who was taught by Jesus that salvation is by grace through faith apart from works.

NOTE: If you would like to read more about Paul and James, I have written a booklet entitled, “Were Paul And James Really In Agreement?”

It is available on Amazon: Paul and James, Were They Really In Agreement?