James 2:22

22 See, his faith was at work along with his actions. In fact, his faith was made complete by his faithful actions.

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 Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all?
21 What about Abraham, our father? Wasn't he shown to be righteous through his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
22 See, his faith was at work along with his actions. In fact, his faith was made complete by his faithful actions.
23 So the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and God regarded him as righteous. What is more, Abraham was called God's friend.
24 So you see that a person is shown to be righteous through faithful actions and not through faith alone.
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