James 2:14–26

Faith and Actions

¹⁴My brothers and sisters, what good is it for people to say that they have faith if their actions do not prove it? Can that faith save them? ¹⁵Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don’t have enough to eat. ¹⁶What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”—if you don’t give them the necessities of life? ¹⁷So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, “One person has faith, another has actions.” My answer is, “Show me how anyone can have faith without actions. I will show you my faith by my actions.” ¹⁹Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe—and tremble with fear. ²⁰You fool! Do you want to be shown that faith without actions is useless?^{a 21*}How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. ²²Can’t you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his faith was made perfect through his actions. ^23*And the scripture came true that said, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” And so Abraham was called God’s friend. ²⁴You see, then, that it is by people’s actions that they are put right with God, and not by their faith alone.

^25*It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.

²⁶So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without actions is dead.