James 2:14-18, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”
“What doth it profit, my brethren…”
Christians ought to profit others. We need a focus on the benefits of the people around us over our own comforts. It would do the testimony of Christ and His church well if we would put ourselves aside more often and consider the cause of others. What would benefit my neighbor? What needs do others have around me? How can I be a blessing?
“…though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?”
The focus here in James 2 is actionable faith that benefits others. We learned in James 1 that we are not to be hearers of the Word only but doers. Chapter 2 continues that line of thinking: we are not only to speak of having faith, but we are to show our faith by our works. In fact, in a practical reality and as stated in a coming verse, faith without works is dead.
Many have been stunned by the last question of verse 14, “Can faith save him?” Faith is absolutely necessary for salvation. We have to place our faith in Jesus and ask Him for salvation. Ephesians 2:8, a foundational verse, teaches us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” We have freewill to place our faith in Christ, and we are saved by the grace of God through that faith.
But “can faith save him?” the verse asks with such rhetoric that we know the answer is, “no.” How can this be? First, remember the context established in verses prior of not showing respect of persons against the poor. In other words, can your faith save the poor or those in need? Let us leave this point for the moment, as the next verses address this well. Second, the passage is not discussing the salvation of the souls of the poor but the physical saving from a person’s need. Is your faith alone enough to physically save a person in need? One might say that if I can trust God for my needs, then I can trust God for the needs of others. True, but let us see the example given in Scripture.
“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”
Let’s understand the example. We are dealing with a Christian who is confronted in some way with the need of the poor, a scenario not at all unfamiliar to us. The Christian understands the legitimate need and owns the means to be able to fill that need. But this Christian is “super-spiritual.” In fact, he is so spiritual that instead of just filling the need, he piously states, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,” as if to say, “I have faith that your needs will be filled.” But this Christian does nothing personally to fill that need; he only states his “faith” that the need will be met. What did that statement “by faith” profit? Was it even really faith?
We have to wonder why the Christian didn’t just fill the need right then and right there. It is evident that he could have: “notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body.” The Christian had the means but withheld. Why?
Perhaps he didn’t want to do without for himself. Sometimes, we Christians are more interested in having a storehouse built up for ourselves and our eventualities than we are in meeting the immediate needs of others. “If I give this, then what happens if I need it?” If that is the case, then where is the actual faith? It is easier to say that I have faith that God will supply your need than to give what is in my possession to take care of your need and trust that God will supply my need. Truthfully, however, our faith is dead if we won’t give because we are keeping for ourselves.
It is also possible that this Christian was using faith to mask his lack of love and compassion for the poor. The words of faith are easy to utter and can be given insincerely in a situation such as this. If this is the reason, then this is not a show of real faith but a lack of Godly love for others. The mouth here says, “I know by faith your need will be met,” but the heart is saying, “Yes, but not met by me. You can’t have what is mine.” We could find ourselves with this heart if we value ourselves more than others or if we value the things of this world more than others. Either way, the truth of the matter is that we value something over God. How then could we expect to express true faith? Our faith, again, is dead if we can’t even find the love to help the needs of others.
“I will shew thee my faith by my works.”
We once again find ourselves faced with the truth that words are cheap. If you really want to show the love of God and if you really want to exercise faith, you must but works to it. Work out of your faith.
What does working out of your faith look like? If the Christian in the example had done the right thing, it might have looked like this: “God has given to me so that I can help in your time of need. I know that when I give to you God will take care of my need as well.” That’s what real faith looks like, giving and working by faith that God will take care of you as you take care of others. Then we are able to show Jesus Christ to others by the faith that they will see in us.
We need living faith, but we are prone to (in our flesh) trying to exercise dead faith. How can we tell if our faith is alive or dead? Verse 17, “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” You can try to show me that you have faith without works, but you can only show me you have faith by your works.