the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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James 2:17
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- DailyParallel Translations
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
Faith without works is like a saddle without a horse.
Even so faith without works is dead.
So also faith, if it have not works, is dead by itself.
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
So likewise faith, if it hath not works, is dead in itself.
So also faith, if it is unaccompanied by obedience, has no life in it--so long as it stands alone.
Euen so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone.
So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself.
Euen so faith, yf it haue no dedes, is deed in it selfe.
So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].
Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.
So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
Eve so fayth yf it have no dedes is deed in it selfe.
Even so faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead in itself.
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
so also the faith, if it may not have works, is dead by itself.
In the same way, faith by itself—that does nothing—is dead.
So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself.
So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead.
Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!
Thus, faith by itself, unaccompanied by actions, is dead.
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Euen so the faith, if it haue no woorkes, is dead in it selfe.
Even so faith, without works, is dead, by itself.
In the same way faith, if it doesn't have works, is dead by itself.
Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
In the same way, faith by itself, if it does not have any works, is dead.
Thus also the faith that hath not works is dead, (being) alone.
So also faith alone, without works, is dead.
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
A faith that does not do things is a dead faith.
Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.
So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
So, also, faith, if it have not works, is dead, by itself.
So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself.
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Thus also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
Euen so, fayth, yf it haue not deedes, is dead in it selfe:
It is the same with faith. If it is just faith and nothing more—if it doesn't do anything—it is dead.
In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.
So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead.
So also feith, if it hath not werkis, is deed in it silf.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
so: James 2:14, James 2:19, James 2:20, James 2:26, 1 Corinthians 13:3, 1 Corinthians 13:13, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 1 Timothy 1:5, 2 Peter 1:5-9
alone: Gr. by itself
Reciprocal: Ezekiel 18:11 - that Matthew 7:24 - whosoever Luke 6:49 - that heareth 1 Corinthians 15:2 - unless Colossians 2:13 - dead Philemon 1:6 - the communication
Cross-References
who knowing the divine rule of right, did not perceive that they who commit such things are worthy of death, and not only they who do the same, but they who give countenance to those that do them.
by no means. know ye not, that to whom ye subject your selves vassals at command, his vassals you are whom you thus obey; the vassals either of sin to destruction, or of obedience to justification?
for the christian dispensation of a spiritual life has set me free from the legal state of sin and death.
for as by Adam all die, even so by Christ shall all be restored to life.
the sting of death was sin; and the strength of sin was the law.
but they that rest themselves upon the works of the law, are obnoxious to the curse: for it is written, " cursed is every one, who continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them:"
wherefore 'tis said, " awake thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."
Even you, who were in a dying sinful state, and were uncircumcised Gentiles, has God raised to life, as he did Christ, having pardoned all your sins:
the widow of pleasure is dead tho' she lives.
If any man see his brother commit a sin, which is not a mortal sin, let him pray to God, who will grant him life, for such as do not commit a mortal sin. there is a sin unto death: in which case I do not enjoin any prayer to be made.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. It is like a lifeless carcass, a body without a soul, James 2:26 for as works, without faith, are dead works, so faith, without works, is a dead faith, and not like the lively hope and faith of regenerated persons: and indeed, such who have no other faith than this are dead in trespasses and sins; not that works are the life of faith, or that the life of faith lies in, and flows from works; but, as Dr. Ames observes b, good works are second acts, necessarily flowing from the life of faith; to which may be added, and by these faith appears to be living, lively and active, or such who perform them appear to be true and living believers.
b Medulla Theolog. l. 2. c. 7. sect. 35.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
If a brother or sister be naked ... - The comparison in these verses is very obvious and striking. The sense is, that faith in itself, without the acts that correspond to it, and to which it would prompt, is as cold, and heartless, and unmeaning, and useless, as it would be to say to one who was destitute of the necessaries of life, depart in peace.” In itself considered, it might seem to have something that was good; but it would answer none of the purposes of faith unless it should prompt to action. In the case of one who was hungry or naked, what he wanted was not good wishes or kind words merely, but the acts to which good wishes and kind words prompt. And so in religion, what is wanted is not merely the abstract state of mind which would be indicated by faith, but the life of goodness to which it ought to lead. Good wishes and kind words, in order to make them what they should be for the welfare of the world, should be accompanied with corresponding action. So it is with faith. It is not enough for salvation without the benevolent and holy acts to which it would prompt, any more than the good wishes and kind words of the benevolent are enough to satisfy the wants of the hungry, and to clothe the naked, without correspondent action. Faith is not and cannot be shown to be genuine, unless it is accompanied with corresponding acts; as our good wishes for the poor and needy can be shown to be genuine, when we have the means of aiding them, only by actually ministering to their necessities. In the one case, our wishes would be shown to be unmeaning and heartless; in the other, our faith would be equally so. In regard to this passage, therefore, it may be observed:
(1) That in fact faith is of no more value, and has no more evidence of genuineness when it is unaccompanied with good works, than such empty wishes for the welfare of the poor would be when unaccompanied with the means of relieving their wants. Faith is designed to lead to good works. It is intended to produce a holy life; a life of activity in the service of the Saviour. This is its very essence; it is what it always produces when it is genuine. Religion is not designed to be a cold abstraction; it is to be a living and vivifying principle.
(2) There is a great deal of that kindness and charity in the world which is expressed by mere good wishes. If we really have not the means of relieving the poor and the needy, then the expression of a kind wish may be in itself an alleviation to their sorrows, for even sympathy in such a case is of value, and it is much to us to know that others feel for us; but if we have the means, and the object is a worthy one, then such expressions are mere mockery, and aggravate rather than soothe the feelings of the sufferer. Such wishes will neither clothe nor feed them; and they will only make deeper the sorrows which we ought to heal. But how much of this is there in the world, when the sufferer cannot but feel that all these wishes, however kindly expressed, are hollow and false, and when he cannot but feel that relief would be easy!
(3) In like manner there is much of this same kind of worthless faith in the world - faith that is dead; faith that produces no good works; faith that exerts no practical influence whatever on the life. The individual professes indeed to believe the truths of the gospel; he may be in the church of Christ; he would esteem it a gross calumny to be spoken of as an infidel; but as to any influence which his faith exerts over him, his life would be the same if he had never heard of the gospel. There is not one of the truths of religion which is bodied forth in his life; not a deed to which he is prompted by religion; not an act which could not be accounted for on the supposition that he has no true piety. In such a case, faith may with propriety be said to be dead.
Being alone - Margin, “by itself.” The sense is, “being by itself:” that is, destitute of any accompanying fruits or results, it shows that it is dead. That which is alive bodies itself forth, produces effects, makes itself visible; that which is dead produces no effect, and is as if it were not.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. If it hath not works, is dead — The faith that does not produce works of charity and mercy is without the living principle which animates all true faith, that is, love to God and love to man. They had faith, such as a man has who credits a well-circumstanced relation because it has all the appearance of truth; but they had nothing of that faith that a sinner, convinced of his sinfulness, God's purity, and the strictness of the Divine laws, is obliged to exert in the Lord Jesus, in order to be saved from his sins.
