James 2:14-26

New Life Version

Faith Without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ My Christian brothers, what good does it do if you say you have faith but do not do things that prove you have faith? Can that kind of faith save you from the punishment of sin? ¹⁵ What if a Christian does not have clothes or food? ¹⁶ And one of you says to him, “Goodbye, keep yourself warm and eat well.” But if you do not give him what he needs, how does that help him? ¹⁷ A faith that does not do things is a dead faith.

¹⁸ Someone may say, “You have faith, and I do things. Prove to me you have faith when you are doing nothing. I will prove to you I have faith by doing things.” ¹⁹ You believe there is one God. That is good! But even the demons believe that, and because they do, they shake.

²⁰ You foolish man! Do I have to prove to you that faith without doing things is of no use? ²¹ Was not our early father Abraham right with God by what he did? He obeyed God and put his son Isaac on the altar to die. ²² You see his faith working by what he did and his faith was made perfect by what he did. ²³ It happened as the Holy Writings said it would happen. They say, “Abraham put his trust in God and he became right with God.” ^(A) He was called the friend of God. ²⁴ A man becomes right with God by what he does and not by faith only. ²⁵ The same was true with Rahab, the woman who sold the use of her body. She became right with God by what she did in helping the men who had been sent to look through the country and sent them away by another road. ²⁶ The body is dead when there is no spirit in it. It is the same with faith. Faith is dead when nothing is done.