James 2:22

22 You see that his faith worked with his actions; by the actions the faith was made complete;

James 2:22 Meaning and Commentary

James 2:22

Seest thou how faith wrought with his works
Not to justify him before God; for neither faith nor works are ever said in Scripture to justify any man; but his faith being of the right kind, a faith which works by love, it put him upon doing this work, and many others; for this was done in faith, ( Hebrews 11:17-19 ) as all good works are, which are properly such; and where there is true faith, it will influence and engage a man to do good works, as it did Abraham.

And by works was faith made perfect?
not with an absolute perfection; for though Abraham's faith was very great, yet there were things lacking in it, and he had his fits and times of unbelief; and had he lived till now, his faith, in this sense, would not have been perfect; and he would have had reason to have used the apostle's petition, ( Luke 17:5 ) much less would it have been made thus perfect by works; but the sense is, that hereby his faith was declared to be sincere, unfeigned, true, and genuine; just as love is said to be perfected, ( 1 John 4:17 ) .

James 2:22 In-Context

20 But, foolish fellow, do you want to be shown that such "faith" apart from actions is barren?
21 Wasn't Avraham avinu declared righteous because of actions when he offered up his son Yitz'chak on the altar?
22 You see that his faith worked with his actions; by the actions the faith was made complete;
23 and the passage of the Tanakh was fulfilled which says, "Avraham had faith in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness." He was even called God's friend.
24 You see that a person is declared righteous because of actions and not because of faith alone.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.