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James 2:16
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Faith Without Works Is Dead

14 aWhat does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?  
15 aIf a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,  
16 and aone 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.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” aShow me your faith without your works, band I will show you my faith by2 my works.  
19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
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James 2:16

The habit of receiving passively sentimental impressions from sights of woe without carrying them out into active habits only hardens the heart.

one of you—James brings home the case to his hearers individually.

Depart in peace—as if all their wants were satisfied by the mere words addressed to them. The same words in the mouth of Christ, whose faith they said they had, were accompanied by efficient deeds of love.

be . . . warmed—with clothing, instead of being as heretofore "naked" (James 2:15; Job 31:20).

filled—instead of being "destitute of food" (Matthew 15:37).

what doth it profit—concluding with the same question as at the beginning, James 2:14. Just retribution: kind professions unaccompanied with corresponding acts, as they are of no "profit" to the needy object of them, so are of no profit to the professor himself. So faith consisting in mere profession is unacceptable to God, the object of faith, and profitless to the possessor.




Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing James 2:16:

Proverbs 3:27-28
Galatians 5:6
James 2:14
James 2:18
James 3:1

 

<< James 2:15   James 2:17 >>

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