James 2:19

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. THOU - emphatic. Thou self-deceiving claimant to faith without works. THAT THERE IS ONE-GOD, [ ho (G3588) Theos (G2316) estin (G2076) heis (G1520)] - 'that God is one:' God's existence is also asserted. The fundamental article of Jews and Christians alike; the point of faith on which especially the former boasted themselves, as distinguishing them the Gentiles; hence, adduced by James here. THOU DOEST WELL. But unless thy faith goes further than an assent to this truth, 'the demon ("devil" is restr...

19_Thou believest that there is one God_. From this one sentence it appears evident that the whole dispute is not about faith, but of the common knowledge of God, which can no more connect man with God, than the sight of the sun carry him up to heaven; but it is certain that by faith we come nigh to God. Besides, it would be ridiculous were any one to say, that the devils have faith; and James prefers them in this respect to hypocrites. The devil _trembles_, he says, at the mention of God’s name, because when he acknowledges his own judge he is filled with the fear of him. He then who despises an acknowledged God is much worse. _Thou doest well_, is put down for the purpose of extenuating, as though he had said, “It is, forsooth! a great thing to sink down below the devils.” (117) In the former verse the boaster of mere faith is challenged to prove that his faith is right and therefore...

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 profession may gain the good opinion of pious people; and it may procure, in some cases, worldly good things; but what profit will it be, for any to gain the whole world, and to lose their souls? Can this faith save him? All things should be accounted profitable or unprofitable to us, as they tend to forward or hinder the salvation of our souls. This place of Scripture plainly shows that an opinion, or assent to the gospel, without works, is n...

Verse 19. _THOU BELIEVEST THAT THERE IS ONE GOD_] This is the faith in which these persons put their hope of pleasing God, and of obtaining eternal life. Believing in the _being and unity of_ _God_ distinguished them from all the nations of the world; and having been circumcised, and thus brought into the covenant, they thought themselves secure of salvation. The insufficiency of this St. James immediately shows. _THE DEVILS ALSO BELIEVE, AND TREMBLE._] It is well to believe there is one only true God; this truth universal nature proclaims. Even the _devils_ believe it; but far from _justifying_ or _saving_ _them_, it leaves them in their damned state, and every act of it only increases their torment; φρισσουσι, _they shudder with horror_, they believe and tremble, are increasingly tormented; but they can neither _love_ nor _obey_....

THOU BELIEVEST THAT THERE IS ONE GOD - One of the great and cardinal doctrines of religion is here selected as an illustration of all. The design of the apostle seems to have been to select one of the doctrines of religion, the belief of which would - if mere belief in any doctrine could - save the soul; and to show that even this might be held as an article of faith by those who could be supposed by no one to have any claim to the name of Christian. He selects, therefore, the great fundamental doctrine of all religion, - the doctrine of the existence of one Supreme Being, - and shows that if even this were held in such a way as it might be, and as it was held by devils, it could not save men. The apostle here is not to be supposed to be addressing such an one as Paul, who held to the doctrine that we are justified by faith; nor is he to be supposed to be combating the doctrine of Paul,...

EXPOSITION JAMES 2:1 WARNING AGAINST RESPECT OF PERSONS. JAMES 2:1 The translation is doubtful, two renderings being possible. (1) That of the A.V. and R.V., "Hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons." (2) That of the R.V. margin and Westcott and Hort, "Do ye, in accepting persons, hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory?" According to this view, the section commences with a question, as does the following one, James 2:14. According to the former view, which is on the whole prefe

THOU BELIEVEST THAT THERE IS ONE GOD,.... These words are a continuation of the address of the man that has works, to him that boasts of his faith without them, observing to him, that one, and a main article of his faith, is, that there is one God; which is to be understood in the Christian sense, since both the person speaking, and the person spoken to, were such as professed themselves Christians; so that to believe there is one God, is not merely to give into this article, in opposition to the polytheism of the Gentiles, or barely to confess the God of Israel, as believed on by the Jews, but to believe that there are three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, and that these three are the one God; wherefore this article of faith includes everything relating to God; as to God the Father, his being and perfections, so to Christ, as God, and the Son of God, and the Messiah, c. and to the Hol...

JAMES 2:19 ei-j evstin o` qeo,j {B} Among the several readings the chief difference turns on the presence or absence of the article: B 614 630 1875 2412 2495 _al_ read ei-j qeo,j evstin (“There is one God”; compare ei-j evstin qeo,j 945 1241 1739 _al,_ and the singular reading of Y), whereas the other readings involve o` qeo,j standing either before or after the verb (“God is one”). The reading ei-j o` qeo,j evstin (C 33vid 81 syrh _al_) and still more the reading ei-j qeo,j evstin can be suspected of having been assimilated to the style of the Christian kerygma ...

II. THE ROYAL LAW: FAITH AND WORKS CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The faith of Christ with respect to persons (James 2:1)_ 2. The royal law (James 2:6) 3. Faith must be manifested by works (James 2:14) James 2:1 Here we have the synagogue mentioned, sufficient evidence that these Jewish believers were still gathering together in the Jewish fashion, and were not an ecclesia, an assembly, gathered out. The Epistle to the Hebrews, written many years after the Epistle of James, exhorted them to leave the camp behind and go outside of it (Hebrews 13:13

The surface contradiction between James and Paul, which made Luther call this an epistle of straw, and the Tü bingen critics hail it as a Judaist's attack upon Paulinism, troubles no one now, simply because faith is seen to be used in entirely different senses. It is _creed_ here, personal _trust_ there. James, who is most probably prior in time, teaches that orthodoxy defined in true Jewish fashion as acceptance of the _Shema_ (James 2:19; Deuteronomy 6:4) can never save until it has its logical outcome in conduct. Paul makes trust vital, just because nothing else can produce conduct after the mind of God. James 2:14 belongs naturally to the doctrine of Saying and Doing. To repeat a creed and not live up to