Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

(4) Conclusion (2:26)
James’ concluding verdict is crisp and to the point in “yet another comparison”
(Martin, 98). The union of faith and deeds is as close as the union of
body and spirit, the life principle breathed into man (Gen. 2:7). We simply
cannot conceive the body without the spirit (Zodhiates, II, 69), unless it is a
corpse fit to disintegrate in a coffin, dressed and all. In fact, “the sooner it is
buried, the better” (Phillips, 93). In the opinion of one commentator, “An impure
life veiled under profession is as noisome to God as a dead body is to
you.” This makes faith that does not produce holiness comparable to “a rotting
carcass,” loathsome and offensive. In that scenario even the prayers are
an abomination (Prov. 28:9), “like the breath that comes from rotten lungs.”
Furthermore, because dead faith is incapable of uniting with Christ, it is and
remains a dead-end street. There simply is no future for this type of faith
(Manton, 270).
Does all this (almost) resemble a “rhetorical overkill” (Martin, 98)? Absolutely
not! James appears quite willing to repeat this “truth” not once, but a
million times in a million ways. Truthfully, from his perspective there is a
dire need for that in the Church of Christ on an ongoing basis (See also Heb.
3:13). Whenever eternity is at stake, every preacher or teacher may, in fact,
should go in this kind of “overdrive!” James serves as a model to be emulated!
The contrast that James eyes is, once again, not between faith and
works, but between faith that is dead, and naturally remains alone, and faith
that is alive, active, and produces offspring (Laws, 139). Even if it seems
alive like a mule, it is dead like a mule for the simple reason that it is only a
mule, unable to reproduce itself. The relationship between faith and obedience
in Scripture is clearly a fine tapestry. Both antinomianism (faith without
works) and nomianism (works without faith) stand condemned. Only he who
believes is (and can be truly) obedient (contra works righteousness and nomianism).
At the same time, only he who is obedient (truly) believes (contra
cheap grace and antinomianism)! In short, “No works: no real faith. No faith:
no real works” (Keddie, 120)! To be a picture of spiritual health, one must
exhibit the unmistakable presence of both. “‘Separating faith from works’ has
the same effect as ‘separating body from spirit’ – ‘death’” (Cargal, 134). All
in all, James’ “justification by deeds” must without blushing be trumpeted
from the rooftops, and under no circumstances may Paul’s “justification by
faith,” which is designed to undergird it, be openly entered or surreptitiously
be smuggled into the equation to neglect, sidestep, undercut, oppose, or destroy
it. After all, “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). In
the words of one commentator, “There is as much necessity that faith and
works should be united to constitute true religion, as there is that body and
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