The Meaning of Faith Without Works, and How We're Saved: Looking at James 2:14-26

*Correction- at around the 26 mark, it's *Esther* without the works, nor Ruth. Oops.*

Are we saved by faith alone, or faith plus works? This should be a very simple answer, but unfortunately, many works based religions have placed a yoke of works on people by using verses like James 2:26, and others, to tell them works are necessary for salvation. In this video, I look at the teachings, philosophy, and fallacies of works based religions vs grace alone, and go through James 2:14-16 and explain it. James wrote his letter for a reason. Let's take a look!

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Helpful Scriptures:

Rom. 3:24, "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;"
Rom. 3:26, "for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
Rom. 3:28-30, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one."
Rom. 4:3, "For what does the Scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Rom. 4:5, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness,"
Rom. 4:11, "And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,"
Rom. 4:16, "Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all."
Rom. 5:1, "therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
Rom. 5:9, "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."
Rom. 9:30, "What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith."
Rom. 9:33, "just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
Rom. 10:4, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes."
Rom. 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
Rom. 11:6, "But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace."
Gal. 2:16, "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."
Gal. 2:21, “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Gal.3:5-6, "Does He then, who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 6Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."
Gal. 3:8, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "All the nations shall be blessed in you."
Gal. 3:14, "in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
Gal. 3:22, "But the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe."
Gal. 3:24, "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith."
Phil. 3:9, "and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith."
1 Tim. 1:16, "And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life."

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[bluskie]

"it's not about how to achieve salvation, but how to live out your salvation"

[johnathondavis]

As hearts go, there is such a genuineness and loving-kindness about this woman. Would love to offer her my humble, sincere thanks and gratitude. This kind of heart is (sadly) quite rare in our faith - so it stands out when seen. You are a light to the world but not like a little candle...rather, like a huge spotlight, hooked to a nuclear power plant. One that nearly sets the sky on fire. What a generous heart, sister :)

[johnhouchins]

“God does not need our good works, but our neighbor does”. Martin Luther

[keithdiaz]

You appear to understand James within the context of sola fides.

You do not understand Catholic theology. The difference between your “faith alone” and traditional faith taught prior to the Reformation is the understanding of the role of free will and grace. That’s the difference - it’s not faith + works as you say. You are teaching a watered down comparative theology. Please consult with a real Catholic theologian to clear up your confusion.

James would likely have adopted the orthodox view of justification by faith which does not include the addition of the word “alone.”

Sola fides incorporates the word “alone” which Luther used to negate the orthodox belief that we are free to chose good and bad; free to chose grace and evil. Sola fides, as later incorporated into protestant systematic theology (likely some take on Luther or Calvin) holds that one, due to complete depravity, cannot freely choose grace but choose evil only. According to Luther, his belief in justification by faith “alone” imputed salvation because in our natural, sinful state we are incapable of participating with grace to merit salvation. However, St. Paul never added the word “alone” in his writings. Ironically, sola was imputed to the text by Luther who was pretty vocal regarding his dislike of the Gospel of James for its obvious connection to the orthodox view of justification by faith.

Good works - in the orthodox sense of the term- describes one’s participation with grace by an act of free will. That’s why Catholics say: through him, with him and in him. Whereas Protestants profess: through him and in him- excluding “with him.” There is no “with him” if your theology embraces sola fides or incorporates total depravity.

CS Lewis in Mere Christianity uses the analogy of the child who receives some money from his parent. The child uses the money to buy a gift and then gives it to his parent. No one reasons that the child earned or merited the gift. But it is apparent that the child freely chose to do something good with what was given. In this regard, it is a good work which is merited to the child by virtue of his/her exercise of free will, and it pleases the parent. Likewise, the same is true with our participation with grace: we are made worthy of receiving it by the very gift itself and thereby are made apt to do good works by it. But importantly there remains in us the
free will to chose it and do good work by it. By choosing to participate with Grace the mustard seed that is the human will grows closer to its glory.

Have you ever asked yourself why you choose Jesus as your savior? Is it you or God that does the choosing? Ever consider that it’s a combination of both your will and Grace? If it’s just God moving our wills to be good or God imputing salvation, then what’s the purpose of suffering in this life if it cannot move us to move our wills closer to God? Suffering must be pointless to you.

Faith without works is a nullity if one cannot freely exercise the will in a way consistent with god’s will.

[prodigalAli]

As a born in Jehovah's witness who left the religion after 39 years, I love this video. Going door to door and doing the JW preaching WORK was exhausting, anxiety invoking, and mostly fruitless. As a JW I NEVER understood GRACE. Jesus...the true Jesus of the Bible, is my Lord today and I'm forever grateful for his kindly and light yoke. I'm still very much a prodigal daughter...I feel like I'm constantly slipping into unhealthy behaviors (sin), but I appreciate you explaining the difference between being a prodigal son and a lukewarm unbeliever. I'm so thankful for the YouTube Christian community and people like you who remind us all to dig deep in scripture constantly. God bless. Shalom. 💚🙏

[GSpotter]

I don't understand how someone can take one understanding from a small snippet of a passage while ignoring the other 100 or so passages that teach the exact opposite?

[makarov]

The secret to understanding this is that there are two different "works" described in scripture. One is the works of the law, and the other is good works. James, here, is talking about doing good works for your fellow man.

[hebrewrld]

Sis shalom.. my goodness… that marriage analogy absolutely beautiful.. it’s sad us as sinners get saved become so prideful into thinking oh now God need my works.. all that’s needed is to divide the word of truth. Humans see works God see’s the faith. Clear and concise

[bmorse]

Please check your information on Catholics...because you are simply wrong thinking you know what Catholics believe. As a Catholic, we DO NOT believe we have to earn our way through works. All we need is Jesus...period! Works, helps authenticates your faith! You want to do good works, because you are indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Giving "lip service" to God is transparent, to those who truly are Faithful.

[deceptionsdemise]

I love that. "Faith without works is like Abraham without the altar, Noah without the Ark, Ruth without talking to the king, Moses without parting the sea." This quote really stuck to me and brought to mind people I love who fall into this category.

[lavendernightmares]

Catholicism doesn't teach that we are saved by our works alone or by faith and works.

Catholicism teaches that:
- we are saved by grace alone, a doctrine called sola gratia. That's the official Church teaching.
- after salvation by grace, we are justified by faith and works. Faith and works are the result of being saved by grace.
- NOT *salvation* by faith and works. - salvation is by grace alone

I respect you believe in salvation by faith, and your channel is such a blessing, and your videos are normally so thoughtful. I'm hoping the misrepresentation was just an oversight. I would have loved to see your thoughts (or anyone else's thoughts) on salvation by faith vs salvation by grace and on why Protestants don't believe in salvation by grace. 🙏

[leahlittrell]

James crossed my mind this week. I am new to being just a plain Christian, I grew up very Catholic, so this has been something I’ve been struggling to accept, but only recently. I God works in mysterious ways since this just popped up on my feed. Thank you!

[thekingslady]

3:00 Now pause right there. If good works are a result of Salvation, why would James be writing this to BELIEVERS?! Could it be because they were actually not working??
So therefore, is it possible for a truly saved person to not be working??

Do you see how stating:- "good works are A RESULT of Salvation" is still preaching a works Salvation??
I hope you do.

[nghinvacsf]

Agreed completely. When I first discovered salvation by grace in its fullest meaning, I used to be repulsed by the James passage. But in time, as I grew deep in the grace and knowledge of Christ, I also came to the same understanding, that our expectation of ourselves, and of others in the faith, is not contrary to the salvation-by-grace-alone faith at all. Actually, now more than ever, I comfort myself with James' demand: "show me your faith with your works, " as I see glaring inconsistencies that damage our testimony to the world. I'm now sharing with James his frustration.

[emmat]

Ιm an orthodox. Never have I ever thought that whatever great deeds we do or even if we did everything good (we can't obviously ) we deserve paradise. We are always unworthy, always don't deserve it, because God validated us upon birth yet still we sin! It's only by God's grace, YET we need to do good deeds and try to behave and mimic Jesus ❤️😀

[mariakadnar]

I am a catholic. I don't think you understand the catholic worldview. We believe that paid it all on the cross, and we believe we are saved by God's mercy. There is no list of good works you need to do in catholicism. We acknowledge that works flow from faith and your faith should shape your deeds. As I watched the video I agreed with many things and they were actually things that catholicism teachers I think we are coming from the same. God is not an idiot he judges by the truth and what he sees in a heart.

[ruthvansandt]

Galatians next to James: men cannot see faith, only God can. It is that faith that saves you. Though men cannot see faith, they see the results of that faith in good works.” Love this summary!!

[sarahtotmullins]

You explain the bible so beautifully. I needed this video today. God Bless you and happy new year! 💞

[melissaculpepper]

“It is finished!” Yes, Jesus! You’ve paid it all and overcame the world! Hallelujah!

[jonjordanfans]

James 2:14-26
New King James Version
Faith Without Works Is Dead

(It pays to read an entire context of a scripture/verse to gain true and full understanding)

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, ” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

That particular scripture isn’t about being saved, it has to do with when someone tries to apply the same salvation type of faith to everything (like people be doing to this day) like instead of giving someone food, they’ll say something like they’re going to pray for them. Or instead of doing something that helps them reach a goal, instead of doing something they’ll say they are trusting God to do it in their life. The Bible and writer is just putting balance on our faith walk so we don’t live out our lives understand a false notion that God is going to do everything just because we believe by faith. The Bible is stating that there will be times where we’ll have to do something. A lot of people who believe in God/Jesus, don’t understand that just like sinners or non believers go to work or give to the homeless, we must do the same too. Praying doesn’t remove our responsibility as Christians to do something with our lives. Many of our gifts are not active, and therefore, many of us see the world prospering in every area of our lives, not because God is always making us wait, sometimes it’s because we haven’t been doing anything but living in a Christian fantasy. I mean, the same pastor that preaches living by faith will get you what you desire, is actually not just living by faith but he is actually doing something. This con job has people dependent on something invisible, and the scripture is written to help us all not live in a false belief that isn’t true. May the truth set us all free

Now read the scripture again

James 2:14-26
New King James Version
Faith Without Works Is Dead

(It pays to read an entire context of a scripture/verse to gain true and full understanding)

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, ” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.