Does Faith Produce Works?

Does faith produce works, or do works produce faith? A brief look at James 2:14.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? (James 2:14)

Question: What are “works?”

Answer: “Works” could be defined simply as righteous acts and behaviors. Such works accompany those who have been regenerated by God.

Question: What works, or righteous behavior, does James have in mind when he says that this person has no works? James has listed multiple behaviors that should accompany salvation:

1. Perseverance under trial (1:3)

2. Slow to speak. (1:19)

3. Quick to listen. (1:19)

4. Slow to anger (1:19)

5. Be doers of God’s Word (1:22)

6. Keeping oneself unstained by the world (1:27)

7. Compassion to the needy (1:27)

8. Impartiality (2:1)

9. Loving others as oneself (2:8)

10. Showing mercy. (2:13)

11. Generosity, not greed (2:14-15)

Comment: These are all areas that, even though we may not be perfect at, should be present in our lives in an ever-increasing manner, and any failure to comply should result in confession and repentance. A person who has been saved by God has also been transformed by God. James is saying that if there are no works, no evidence in the person’s life that they have been changed, then quite simply, the person’s life is speaking louder than their mouth about the true state of their soul.

Comment: Good works do not cause salvation but come from salvation.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Comment: The same One who has brought them to life, and did all of the saving work, now impowers them to do good works. In other words, it is not a matter of if good works will come from a person’s life if they have been saved, but good works will come from their life because they are saved. God has prepared them. Paul is saying the same thing that Jesus told his disciples about salvation and the works that will follow:

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. (John 15:16)

Summary: Long story short, genuine faith is revealed by a transformed life. If a person claims to be in the faith, yet their life speaks otherwise, then they have a faith that is not saving faith. When God brings someone to life, they exhibit characteristics of being alive. Faith that is dead, ineffective, and does not bring about obedience to God is not saving faith.