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New Testament

Is Faith Enough?

Is faith enough?

Is faith enough? It’s a common question. Let’s turn to Scripture to determine an answer. Also, we’ve included some helpful insights from the Quest Study Bible.

Does Scripture Say Faith is Enough in James 2?

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.” –JAMES 2:14-21

It’s Enough

Are we saved by grace through faith alone (Eph. 2:8–9) or do we also need good works?

James does not argue that good works are required for salvation. Nor does he say that deeds are more important than beliefs. Rather, he insists that there are two kinds of faith—one legitimate and the other illegitimate; faith … made complete (v. 22) and without deeds (v. 20). Both are “belief” in one sense of the word. But legitimate faith goes deeper than “right thinking” to “right living.”

Confusion may arise, however, when we recall that Paul writes that we cannot earn salvation. He uses Abraham as an example of one who received God’s promise, not through human effort, but through faith (Gal. 3:6–12).

James also uses Abraham as an example, but his focus and emphasis are different than Paul’s. He skips over the futility of human effort to discuss the futility of deficient faith—faith that stops at the intellectual level. Even demons have that kind of “faith,” James exclaims (v. 19)!
James’s point, then, is that Abraham exercised authentic faith—demonstrated by his actions. Abraham’s deeds earned him nothing, but they proved his belief was genuine: Right faith led to right actions. If he had not trusted God, Abraham could never have offered his son—the fulfillment of God’s promise—on the altar (vv. 21–22). Paul uses Abraham to show that people are justified on the basis of real faith; James shows that Abraham’s was proven to be real because it worked (compare Gal. 5:6).

So then, we don’t need anything but faith—the right kind of faith—to be saved by God. And our behavior will show what our faith is made of, whether or not it is legitimate.

Learn More

NIV Quest Study Bible

This blog post was adapted from The Quest Study Bible. Verse-by-verse, this study Bible asks questions that most Christians ask, and then provides a biblical answer. This tool is priceless as you begin to study God’s Word.

Learn more about The Quest Study Bible.

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Want to answer even more questions about the Bible? Study the Word of God from multiple angles with the NIV Bible Study Pack, a curated selection of helpful tools, including the Quest Study Bible.

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12 Comments

  1. Roneld Youtham

    In my opinion ‘faith’ is faith, which propels our lives. Faith in God and Jesus moves our lives in a right direction. It is difficult but satisfying. And this faith always look towards the life of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God while living this life.

  2. Ping Tao

    James 1:3 The testing of your faith develops perseverance.

  3. Gary DeVine

    Ms Klatt, I agree that James is correcting the claim that one can have faith without any evidence in their behavior, but in order to do so, James makes a much stronger assertion in vs 24: a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. This is an explicit statement that must not be dismissed. Paul, on the other hand, implies that we are saved by faith alone, but never states it explicitly. Also, when we take the whole of Scripture, people are not saved by faith alone. People are regenerated by the Holy Spirit, they repent of their sins, they get baptized, they are filled with the Holy Spirit, etc. Therefore, it seems wiser to me to not reinterpret what James has stated explicitly so that it will conform with what Paul only implies.

  4. K

    In earlier years I was moved to do works motivated by various things … I should, peers, expectations placed upon self by me or others….But as life evolved, experience, testimony, growth in living Word, relationship with Father, Son, Holy Spirit….by grace my faith, works, inner most being becomes motivated, craves, desires to walk, live, breathe …. serve Lord……serve Lord, remain steadfast, anchored, secure foundation His is Rock foundation … every issue, circumstance, awaken and diligent keep alignment position love and be loving… all nine fruits… shine… priority… with through Him possible…. not fear… not worn… tired…. continually renewed and restored …. cycle faith and works builds closeness relationship to Father, Son, Holy Spirit… awarenes, enlightened, perception, revealed.

  5. Keith King

    Faith does save us; it allows the entrance of the Holy Spirit into our lives, so that if we yield to His control, will conform us to the image of Christ.
    Works will follow, not as a requirement for salvation, but as an outworking of the new spiritual life within us.

  6. John

    Jesus in Mathew 7 talked about fruits…and his connotation was to show works or behaviour of those whom He referred to as corrupt trees. Surely faith gives way for our salvation and the Holy Spirit to breed within us the character of Christlikness (the fruits) that have been referred to by the author as works.
    Even the “works” can only take place or be done if we have faith…
    The two most important words i have come across in the entire Bible are Love and Faith….Christ centered His teaching on these two great words and they are the basis on His reason to come and die for us…

  7. James Albers

    Faith is not only enough it is ALL that is needed. And even that is not of ourselves for Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:2. We can do nothing to add to our status with God or to diminish it. We either walk according to Grace or the Law there is no hybrid in between those two realities. We walk in Grace, through faith provided in Christ for good works not because of them.

  8. Tommy

    So, even with all the Bible say, there are still those that believe ALL they have to do to be saved, and inherit eternal life, is believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Good thing Paul didn’t believe that….

    • Tom Leddy

      Paul did say that we are saved by grace, through faith, not of works. He, like James, merely differentiates between justification in the the sight of God through faith alone by the grace of God and faith ‘in action’ so as to glorify Him who saves in the sight of men. (Rom 4:1-3; Jas 2:21-25)

      Dead Faith IS Solo Fide.

  9. Monty

    Eph. 2:8–9 does not say “faith ALONE”. Jesus said, “Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:20).

    • Tom Leddy

      The passage is speaking of false prophets whose fruits are their false teachings, and we know their teachings are false by weighing such against the Gospel.