James 2:26

26 So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions 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 You see, then, that it is by our actions that we are put right with God, and not by our faith alone.

25 It was the same with the prostitute Rahab. She was put right with God through her actions, by welcoming the Israelite spies and helping them to escape by a different road.

26 So then, as the body without the spirit is dead, also faith without actions is dead.