James 2:26

26 For as the body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James 2:26 Meaning and Commentary

James 2:26

For as the body without the spirit is dead
This simile is made use of to illustrate what the apostle had asserted in ( James 2:17 James 2:20 ) that as a body, when the spirit or soul is departed from it, or the breath is gone out of it, is dead, and without motion, and useless; which the Jews ^F4 express in like manner, (xwr alb Pwg rgp) , "the body without the spirit", or "breath, is a carcass".

So faith without works is dead also:
a vain thing, useless and unprofitable, can neither justify, nor save, nor prove that a man is justified, or will be saved.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 Ohel. Moed, fol. 15. 1.

James 2:26 In-Context

24 Ye see that a man is justified on the principle of works, and not on the principle of faith only.

25 But was not in like manner also Rahab the harlot justified on the principle of works, when she had received the messengers and put [them] forth by another way?

26 For as the body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.