James 2:18

James 2:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
• New International Version (NIV)But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Context of James 2:18

16Then one of you may say to them, ‘Go with God's peace! I pray that you will be warm. I pray that you will eat well.’ But if you do not give to them what they need, that does not help them at all. 17How we believe in God is also like that. If our faith does not lead us to do good things, then it is not worth anything. It is dead! Someone may say, ‘You believe in God, but I do good things to help people.’ Then I would say, ‘You cannot show me that you believe in God if you do not do good things. I do good things, and that shows that I really believe in God.’ 19You believe that there is only one God. That is good! But even the demons believe that! And it makes them very afraid. 20You fool! If someone's faith does not lead them to do good things, it is not worth anything. You should know that!

James 2:18 word by word

Ἀλλ᾽ ἐρεῖ τις· σὺ πίστιν ἔχεις, κἀγὼ ἔργα ἔχω· δεῖξόν μοι τὴν πίστιν σου χωρὶς τῶν ἔργων κἀγώ σοι δείξω ἐκ τῶν ἔργων μου τὴν πίστινRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Yeaἀλλάalla · butG235
• a manτιςtis · oneG5100
• may sayἐρῶereō · to sayG2046
• Thouσύsu · youG4771
• hastἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• faithπίστιςpistis · faithG4102
• and Iκἀγώkagō kamoi kame · and IG2504
• worksἔργονergon · workG2041
• shewδεικνύωdeiknuō · to showG1166
• meἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• faithὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• withoutἐκek ex · out fromG1537

Cross-references for James 2:18

• James 2:14My Christian brothers, you say that you believe in God. Then you must show this in the things that you do. If not, your faith will not help you. It will not save you.
• Romans 14:23But someone else may not be sure whether it is right to eat certain kinds of food. If that person does eat that kind of food, then he shows that he is guilty. He has not trusted God that it is right for him to do that. Whatever things we do, we must trust God about them. If we do not trust God that something is right, then it is a sin.
• 1 Corinthians 13:2I may be able to speak messages from God. I may understand all God's secret things, and know all the facts. I may have great faith so that I trust God enough to move mountains. But I am nothing if I do not love others.
• Galatians 5:6We belong to Christ Jesus. So it does not matter whether anyone has circumcised us or not. The only thing that matters is that we believe in Christ. As a result we will love others in the way that we live.
• Hebrews 11:6Unless we trust God, it is impossible for us to make God happy. Anyone who comes to God must believe that God is there. They must also believe that God helps everyone who wants to know him.
• James 2:22Abraham believed in God, and he did what God asked him to do. So you can see that both of these were necessary. When he did this good thing, he showed that he believed in God completely.
• James 3:13Do some of you think that you are wise? Do you think that you are clever? If so, show that you are wise by the way that you live. Be kind to other people. Do things that are good. That is what it means to be wise.
• Matthew 7:17Good fruit grows on a tree that is good. Bad fruit grows on a tree that is not good.
• Romans 8:1Now we know this: God has forgiven those people who are united with Christ Jesus. God will never say that they are guilty.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17When anyone belongs to Christ, they become a new person. Their old way of life has gone. Their new life has begun!
• 2 Corinthians 7:1So, my friends, God has promised these things to us. So we must keep ourselves clean from everything that makes our bodies or our spirits unclean. We must respect and obey God. Then we will become more and more like him.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:3As we pray to our Father God, we remember how you live. You do good things because you believe in Christ. You work hard to help other people because you love them and you love God. You are also strong and patient because you hope strongly in our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 1 Timothy 1:5We need to teach people to love one another with pure thoughts. They need to be sure in their minds that they are living in a good way. They need to trust God completely.

Commentaries on James 2:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Show me thy faith without thy works - Your pretending to have faith, while you have no works of charity or mercy, is utterly vain: for as faith, which is a principle in the mind, cannot be discerned but by the effects, that is, good works; he who has no good works has, presumptively, no faith. I will show thee my faith by my works - My works of charity and mercy will show that I have faith; and that it is the living tree, whose root is love to God and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Yea, a man may say … - The word which is rendered “yea” ( ̓̀ alla) would be better rendered by “but.” The apostle designs to introduce an objection, not to make an affirmation. The sense is, “some one might say,” or, “to this it might be urged in reply.” That is, it might perhaps be said that religion is not always manifested in the same way, or we should not suppose that, because it is not always exhibited in the same form, it does not exist. One man may…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-26Verses 14-26 Those are wrong who put a mere notional belief of the gospel for the whole of evangelical religion, as many now do. No doubt, true faith alone, whereby men have part in Christ's righteousness, atonement, and grace, saves their souls; but it produces holy fruits, and is shown to be real by its effect on their works; while mere assent to any form of doctrine, or mere historical belief of any facts, wholly differs from this saving faith. A bare…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-19James shows that believing something is true without acting on it is pointless. But someone will say: James offers another diatribe (see study note on 1:13). He introduces a possible argument someone might make. The imaginary person argues that different Christians might have different gifts—one person might have the gift of faith while another has the gift of works (see 1 Corinthians 12:7–9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. "But some one will say": so the Greek. This verse continues the argument from Jas 2:14, 16. One may say he has faith though he have not works. Suppose one were to say to a naked brother, "Be warmed," without giving him needful clothing. "But someone (entertaining views of the need of faith having works joined to it) will say (in opposition to the 'say' of the professor)." show me thy faith without thy works--if thou canst; but thou canst not SHOW…Read the comment

Topics related to James 2:18

• Faith
• Hypocrisy
• Religion
• Righteousness
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Convince
• Dead
• Draw
• Justify
• Offend
• Respect
• Rich
• Sister
• Works, Good
• Faith

Commentaries on James 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings