James 2:26

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead even so 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 You see that a man's righteousness is judged by his works and not by his faith only.

25 And in the same way, was not the righteousness of Rahab, the loose woman, judged by her works, when she took into her house those who were sent and let them go out by another way?

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead even so faith without works is dead.