Jam 1:22-25, 2:14-26 | Family

James 1:22-25

He beholdeth; the gospel shows a man himself.

Forgetteth; if a man does not obey the gospel, its impressions on him will be short. Looketh into; looketh closely into. The apostle means a practical looking, that is, connected with obedience.

The perfect law of liberty; the gospel, which gives true freedom to the soul, and is a perfect rule of action. That it delivers the soul from the bondage of the Mosaic law is also true, but that is a view not discussed in the present epistle.

James 2:14-26

Can faith save him? that kind of faith which is inactive, dead, and never does good? No. Be ye warmed; to give words only, when deeds are due and in our power, is to offend God and wound our needy brother. Is dead; it is not the kind of faith which justifies the soul: that is, a living, operative faith, which works by love, purifies the heart, overcomes the world, and produces good works. Thou doest well; in believing that there is one God, thou believest the truth; but it will do you no good, any more than it does devils who believe the same, unless it lead you to obey him. Faith without works; is not the kind which Abraham had, and by which he was justified. His faith led him to obey God, even His most difficult and trying commands. Ge 22:9,12. Justifying faith produces good works; and if a man does not love to obey God and do good, he may conclude that he is not in a justified state. Made perfect; shown to be complete, of the right kind, by producing its appropriate fruit. The scripture was fulfilled; by the works which Abraham did. His works showed that he believed God in reality, as the Scriptures declared, with a living, and not merely a dead faith. Not by faith only; not by that faith which is alone, and never produces good works; but by good works a man is shown to have living faith, and to be in a justified state. By works; they proved that she had faith. Between the teaching of James in this chapter and that of Paul there is perfect agreement. When the question is, What is the ground of justification before God? Paul answers, Faith, and not the works of the law. But when the inquiry is as here, What kind of faith is acceptable to God? both answer, Not a dead faith, but "faith which worketh by love;" in other words, operates to produce good fruits through love, which is "the fulfilling of the law." Ga 5:6; Ro 13:10. There is no contradiction between the meaning of the apostles James and Paul, with regard to justification. The case of Abraham exemplifies the doctrine of both. Paul treats of faith as justifying us before God: James treats of the fruit, or effects of faith.