James 2:20

James thought his objector’s argument was foolish. He still asserted that without good works a person’s faith in God is useless, not non-existent but useless (Gr. argos, ineffectual, lit. without work; cf. Matthew 20:3; Matthew 20:6).

A Christian who has stopped living by faith day by day is similar to a person who has a non-functioning organ in his body. As the organ is dead, so the faith of such a Christian is dead, useless. Furthermore, his dead faith will contribute to his physical death, as a dead organ will shorten physical life.

James then proceeded to explain what he meant by "useless" in James 2:21-23. Note how often James said that he was writing about the uselessness of faith unaccompanied by works, not the absence of faith unaccompanied by works (James 1:26; James 2:14; James 2:16; James 2:20).