James 2:14

1. James’ assertion 2:14

The Arminian interpretation of this verse (view one above) is as follows. If a person claims to be a Christian but gives no evidence of true faith by the way he lives, he may never have been saved or he may no longer be saved. One Reformed view (view two above) is that if a person claims to be a Christian but gives no evidence of true faith by the way he lives, he was never saved. [Note: For a response to advocates of lordship salvation that hold this position, see Robert N. Wilkin, "Can Faith Without Works Save? James 2:14," Grace Evangelical Society News 9:5 (September-October 1994):2-3.] The third interpretation (view three above) is that if a person claims to be a Christian but gives no evidence of true faith by the way he lives there are two possibilities. He may not be saved, or he may be saved, but he is not living by faith, practicing his faith.

James just dealt with the Christian who professed to love others but by practicing personal favoritism demonstrated that he did not. Now he raised the larger issue of the believer who gives no evidence of his faith in the way he lives. He began by questioning the vitality of that faith. The form of this question in the Greek expects a negative response. If we translate it, "Can that kind of faith save him," or, "Can such faith save him," we may mislead the reader. The same construction exists in James 1:2-4; James 2:17-18; James 2:20; James 2:22; James 2:26; and 1 Corinthians 13:4 where the addition of "kind of" or "such" gives a more obviously improper translation. The presence of the definite article "the" with the abstract noun "faith" emphasizes the noun. James was saying that faith without works cannot save a person. Works are a condition for some kind of salvation.

This statement seems to contradict Paul’s affirmation that works are not a condition for salvation (e.g., Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 11:6; et al.). However, Paul and James were talking about different aspects of salvation. This is clear from James’ earlier assertion that his Christian readers (James 1:18) would be able to save their "souls" (better "lives") if they obeyed God’s Word (James 1:21). Jesus also gave similar warnings that if His disciples did not continue to follow Him they could lose their "souls" (i.e., lives; cf. Matthew 16:24-26; Mark 3:4; Mark 8:34-37; Luke 9:23-25). He used the same Greek word that James did to describe the life (i.e., psyche). The translation "life" for "soul" may mislead us, however, into concluding that only the physical life is in view whenever we read this word (psyche). Rather it is the total person that psyche describes, not just our physical life or our eternal life (cf. 1 Peter 1:9). Any aspect of our life may be in view, and the context will help us determine what it is.

"We are not saved by deeds; we are saved for deeds; these are the twin truths of the Christian life. And Paul’s whole emphasis is on the first truth, and James’s whole emphasis is on the second truth." [Note: Barclay, The Letters . . ., p. 87.]

In James 2:14 James returned to his thought in James 1:21-22 about saving one’s life from death. His point here was that faith is no substitute for obedience. Orthodox faith without good works cannot protect the Christian from sin’s deadly consequences in this life (i.e., a deadening of fellowship with God at least, and at most physical death; cf. James 5:20; 1 John 5:16). That faith cannot save him from God’s discipline of him as a believer. Good works in addition to faith are necessary for that kind of deliverance (salvation). Many commentators believe that James was referring to eschatological salvation (i.e., salvation from eternal damnation). This interpretation obviously involves bringing works in as some type of condition for that aspect of salvation, which contradicts the clear revelation that salvation from hell is by grace alone.

"It would be difficult to find a concept which is richer and more varied in meaning than the biblical concept of salvation. The breadth of salvation is so sweeping and its intended aim so magnificent that in many contexts the words used defy precise definition. Yet these difficulties have not thwarted numerous interpreters from assuming, often without any contextual justification, that the words used invariably mean ’deliverance from hell’ or ’go to heaven when you die.’ It may come as a surprise to many that this usage of ’salvation’ (Gk. soteria) would have been the least likely meaning to come to the mind of a reader of the Bible in the first century. Indeed, in 812 usages of the various Hebrew words translated ’to save’ or ’salvation’ in the Old Testament, only 58 (7.1 percent) refer to eternal salvation." [Note: Dillow, p. 112. Cf. pp. 187-94. See also Alfred Plummer, The General Epistles of St. James and St. Jude, p. 137; Martin Dibelius, James, p. 178; and W. Nicol, "Faith and Works in the Letter of James," Neotestamentica 9 (1975):7-24. For a short, popular discussion, see Robert N. Wilkin, "Repentance and Salvation, Part 2: The Doctrine of Repentance in the Old Testament," Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society 2 (Spring 1989):14.]