What The Bible Says About FaithSample

Faith Demonstrated by Works
Can faith save him? This statement and others in James 2:14–26 persuade some   critics that James is teaching salvation through faith and works. Luther called this epistle “strawy,” believing it emphasized works too much. 

Today, some regard it as a late writing in which the author is reacting to Paul’s doctrine of salvation by faith alone. This is not the case. James’s teachings reflect neither a negative nor a positive response to Paul’s teachings. For Paul, faith practically equals salvation. James, however, sees two kinds of faith: saving faith and professing faith (much like the usage today). For Paul, justification is by faith (Romans 4:5). For James,  justification is by a faith that works—by a genuine faith that manifests itself in post­conversion works. 

Before salvation, these Jews had believed in the efficacy of works. Now some were reacting at the opposite extreme, imagining that works play no part in the salvation experience. James retorts that the kind of faith that does not produce works is not saving faith. 

As Calvin said: “Faith alone saves, but a faith that saves is never alone.”  Thus, James’s question is not simply “Can faith save?” but as the Greek text may suggest, “Can that faith save him?” Can merely professed but undemonstrated faith save? (See verses 21–24 for further discussion.) The Greek grammar expects a negative answer to the question that ends verse 14. Hence it can be rendered, “That faith [i.e., the one mentioned in verse 14a which is without works] cannot save.”