Faith That Works, Pt. 2

July 28th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

James 2:15-18 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

James begins with a scenario of a poor person in need who calls for help. Speaking to those who at least claim to be Christian, James challenges them as to how they might respond. They could either feign compassion and wish the poor person well, or they could actually feed and clothe them. Since the verbs “be warmed…be filled” are in the reflexive middle voice, the translation could be, “Go feed and clothe yourself,” implying that the needy just need to get a job, work harder, or spend their money more wisely. Either way, James separates those with true faith from those with dead faith. Those who actually help the needy are true (cf. 1:26-27). John says likewise, asking, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17; cf. Luke 10:30-37).

Truly, faith without works is dead, and Christ will judge all those with dead faith, as evidenced by His own prophecy concerning His second coming:

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him… Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.” Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” The King will answer… “To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Then He will also say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.” Then they …will answer, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?” He will answer them, “…to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Matt 25:31-46).

John says, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as [Jesus] walked… The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now…” (1 John 2:4-11). So, true faith is that which works the works of Christ, loving Christ through loving one’s neighbor. Without such a love, faith might be professed, but it isn’t real. It’s a dead faith.