James 2:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

As sowers gain no profit when they cast seed by the roadside, so we gain no profit from being named Christians if we do not justify the name by corresponding works. If you wish, I shall present you with a trustworthy witness to this: James, the brother of God, who says, "Faith without works is dead." Therefore the practice of good works is necessary everywhere. Without it, even the name Christian cannot bring us profit. And do not marvel. Tell me, what profit is there for a soldier from being enrolled in military service, if he is unworthy of it? He is fed at the king's expense, yet does not fight for him. Perhaps, though my word is fearful, it would have been better for him not to enter military service at all than, after entering it, to neglect the king's honor. How can the man who lives at the king's expense but does not fight for the king escape punishment? But why do I say, for the king? If only we would at least care for our own soul.

He calls the man empty who boasts in faith alone, because by not bringing it to fulfillment in works he has acquired no fullness.

Truly right and blameless faith, accompanied by the light of good works, fills us with every good thing and grants brilliant glory to those who possess it. But the light of works, if it is foreign to right doctrines and uncorrupted faith, will, I think, bring no profit to the human soul. For as "faith without works is dead" (Jas 2:20), so the opposite is also true. Therefore let the glory and incorruption of faith shine together with an honorable life. For as faith is dead without works, so, in our judgment, the reverse is also true. Therefore let blamelessness in faith shine together with the glory of a good life.

The intellect, set in motion by discernment, comes to practice. Through practice it comes to virtue, and by virtue it attains faith: truly firm, unshaken, and full assurance concerning divine things. At first, through discernment, the intellect possesses this faith as a possibility. Then it appears in actuality, manifesting itself in works according to virtue. For it is written: “Faith without works is dead.”

See Jn 1:1. To the rightness of dogmas, wise one, one must add the love of wisdom in one's way of life. This is so if it is true, and it is certainly true, that faith without works is dead (Jas 2:20). When both are blended and in some way joined together, then, through the union of piety and virtue, perfect and highest excellence appears in a man.

But I speak of active faith, since faith without works is dead in itself. The works of faith are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, mercy, goodness (Gal 5:22-23), humility of mind, boasting in the Lord, and hope in God. They are to crucify the flesh, to rest from all works as God rested from His (Heb 4:10), to take up one's cross and follow Him (Mt 10:38), to live by the Spirit, to attain the Spirit. Such faith is counted as righteousness. These are the works of faith.

Although the Apostle Paul taught that a man is justified by faith without works, he is misunderstood by anyone who decides that, once he has believed in Christ, he may commit evil deeds, live in dishonor and vice, and still be saved by faith. In this passage of his Epistle, James explains how the Apostle Paul's words must be understood. He uses the example of Abraham to show that faith is vain if it is not confirmed by good deeds. The Apostle Paul also uses Abraham's example to show that a man is not justified by works. The author of the Epistle recalls that Abraham's faith was in fact confirmed by good works. He clearly shows that the Apostle Paul used Abraham as an example of justification by faith, not so that anyone might think good conduct is unimportant. Paul meant that no one should think he has earned the gift of justification by his previous good works. This gift is obtained only by faith.

Unbelievers, weak believers, and half-believers are those who do not show their faith by works. Without works, even the demons believe and confess that Christ is God. We know that the demons often cried out, "You are the Son of God" (Mk 3:11). At another time they cried out concerning the apostles: "These men are servants of the Most High God" (Acts 16:17). And they were servants of Christ. But such faith helps neither demons nor men. There is no profit from such faith, because, as the apostle says, it is dead. "Faith without works is dead" (Jas 2:20), just as, conversely, faith works together with works (Jas 2:22). Why is such faith dead? Because it does not have within itself God who gives life.

The divine James calls vain, that is, empty, the Christian who boasts only in superficial faith, without possessing steadfast faith, which consists in good works and the commandments. St. Metrophanes says that the brother of God did not consider such a man worthy to be called a faithful Christian, but only an empty man. The first reason he does not consider him faithful is that he has become like the demons. Otherwise he would have been compelled to call even the demons faithful, since they also have superficial faith without [...]. Man was created for the doing of those good works that are directed toward the glory and good pleasure of God, his Creator.

Faith without works, that is, without the fulfillment of Christ's commandments, is dead. Even its introductory knowledge remains extremely dark and confused for a man, because it has not been explained in him and to him by action, and still more by the Holy Spirit. See Jas 2:26.

"But do you want to know," and so forth: this verse forms an introduction to the proof from Scripture of the same truth, that faith without works is dead and cannot save a man. The interrogative form, "Do you want to know," joined with calling the opponent a groundless man, expresses consciousness of victory over him and triumph. "Groundless man" is more precisely "empty man." The Greek word does not signify a lack of thought, but a moral deficiency of the soul, the absence of firm foundations for moral life and activity. Applied to the present opponent, the expression means: you, a man with empty, unsubstantial, and powerless faith, content with your empty faith that contains nothing within itself. "He calls empty the man who boasts of faith alone, but, not bringing it into effect through works, has not cultivated within himself a firm foundation for his activity" (Theophylact). "Dead": see the note on Jas 2:17.

Some Western scholars see a certain disagreement between the teaching of the Apostle James and that of the Apostle Paul on the meaning of faith and works in salvation. They say that the Apostle James teaches salvation through works, while the Apostle Paul teaches salvation through faith. But this disagreement appears only because the teaching of both apostles is presented incorrectly. In verses 14 and 17, and likewise in 19 and 20, and later in verses 24 and 26, the Apostle James speaks of faith as a heartless, merely rational acknowledgment of the truth of Revelation, without living penetration by it. This is the faith that even the demons have.

Whoever says, “Believe as you wish, only live well,” speaks falsely, for without right faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Likewise, whoever lives badly and hopes to be saved only because he believes rightly is in delusion, for “faith without works is dead” (Jas 2:20). One must both believe rightly and live holily in order to please God and be saved.