James 2:20-26

Now, James sets out to show his readers that faith apart from works is useless. Here, he uses examples from the Old Testament of people who not only had faith, but had works as well. More importantly, those works are a means of justification for these people. The first example shown is of Abraham. The way in which Abraham was justified by works was when he was willing and ready to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on the altar. Abraham had faith, and his faith was accompanied by his works, which was his obedience to God when he was told to sacrifice his son. They're not only together, but the works are that which completes faith. Faith alone is not complete unless it has works. In Romans 4, Paul writes about how Abraham was justified by faith, pointing to the Old Testament. James uses the same passage to support his point that faith apart from works is dead. Justification is by works and faith, not by faith alone.

The other example that James uses is of Rahab the prostitute. She was justified by her works that were not apart from her faith. What she did was receive the messengers and send them out by a different way, saving their lives. What she did was what justified her, and not a faith which was without works. One last example that James uses is that of the body and the spirit. We are made up of a body and spirit. It's not as if we have one or the other. If we have only the body or only the spirit, it just doesn't work. Using this, he describes faith apart from works dead just as the body apart from the spirit is dead.