Are Works the Evidence or the Energizer of Faith?

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Are Works the Evidence or the Energizer of Faith?

June 30, 2025

Questions about whether faith is the evidence or the energizer of faith, and biblical support for the idea that good works are inevitable and always demonstrated in the life of someone who has true faith.

* Works appear to be the “engine oil” that keeps faith alive. Without them, faith is dead. Therefore, aren’t works the energizer of faith, not the evidence? Can you please provide biblical support that “good works” are inevitable and always demonstrated in the life of someone who has true faith?

Transcript

This is the hashtag-STRask podcast. Welcome. I'm Amy Hall and I'm here with Greg Koukl.

You ready for the first question, Greg? Yes, ma'am. Alright, this one comes from Jim. Regarding James 2, 17, and 20, if faith without works equals fake faith, then isn't that smuggling in works? Works appear to be the first question.

the lifeblood or the engine oil that keeps faith alive. Without them, faith is dead by itself and useless. Therefore, works are the energizer of faith, not the evidence.

Outside of this passage, can you please provide biblical support that good works are inevitable and always demonstrated? Well, I think this is a fair question, but I think he's taking, in a certain sense, the figures of speech here, or the figurative way Paul is speaking, or James rather, speaking like dead and stretching it too far. Well, if faith without works is dead, then it is works that makes faith alive, and therefore this is works based because you can't have the faith that saves without doing the work that makes the faith alive. That's, I think, the way he's construing it, but it's not what James means.

What James is pointing out is the, it's an indicative, genuine faith results in works. It isn't, and any claim to have a faith that does not have a consequence in behavior in one's life is not a genuine faith. I'm just looking at some of the words here.

By the way, I'm just pausing for a moment for that distinction to say, yeah, these two ways of looking at this passage, and what I'm claiming is that when, what's his name, Jim, Jim is talking about works, in a sense, giving life to the dead faith that this is another work, and that's not what James is talking about. The faith is dead not because it isn't given life by the works. It's dead because it doesn't produce the works.

It's not the works that give the faith life. It is the faith that puts works in its proper perspective. Now, I'm going to check another text, but I don't need to.

The problem here is not an ambiguity in the text. The problem is the way Jim is reading it. Okay, I'm not chastising Jim.

I'll just say, so I'm going to start in verse 14. What use is it? My brother, notice how he even starts. What use, what's the usefulness of it? My brother, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works, can that faith save him? Then that kind of faith.

So the discussion here is whether there's true faith. True faith produces a consequence, and that's how we know it's true. It isn't the consequence that produces the true faith, which is the way the question is kind of worded.

If a brother or sister, verse 15, is without clothing and need of daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warm, be fed, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body. What use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. Okay, so there can be a claim for faith that has no consequence, and that claim to faith, that kind of faith is dead.

It's not useful for salvation, or you can have a faith that has the consequence of conduct befitting faith, and then the conduct verifies the faith that saves. I'm thinking, for example, a parallel concept. John the Baptist is baptizing.

The Pharisees, the religious folk, all show all religious attitude, no deep spirituality. They show up because this is the religious thing to do at the moment, and he says, who warns you, you brood of vipers, to flee the wrath that is calm. He says, then he says, bring forth fruits in keeping with your repentance.

Now, I would say, subtext here, what he means is in keeping with your professed repentance. You're showing up, you're going through the motions, you're going to do the thing. Well, let's see the results.

Without the results, the thing is, now here using James' language, is dead. All right, and if we go further in the text here, and so the point I'm making here for Jim is that my point, contrary to what he suggested, can be made fairly from this text. All right, it isn't like James is ambiguous.

Then James goes on. In verse 20, he doesn't use the word dead regarding faith without works. He uses the word useless.

Are you willing to recognize you, foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless, all right? So now he shifts to a different metaphor, which means we can't take the dead word too strongly or too literalistically as if faith is dead until you pump it up with the life of works, and then it becomes real faith. Now he says it's useless, which is the point. Okay, and then he uses Abraham as an example.

Now, this is where there's some confusion about this word justified. And the word justified is not univocal. It has biblically has two different senses.

In fact, the biblical sense of salvation, Paul develops in Romans 4. And their justified means that it's a banking term. We are invested with righteousness because of Jesus. God gives us.

He reckons it to us. He gives us righteousness. That's the point of salvation.

Now this happened to Abraham in Genesis 15, where God renewed his promise from Genesis 12, and Abraham, the text, has believed God, his promise, and God reckoned to him as righteousness. So Abraham hadn't done anything. I mean, if I want to use New Testament lingo here, that's when Abraham got saved.

What's interesting here in James is when he's referring to Abraham being justified by works, he is not talking about Genesis 15. He is talking about Genesis 22. And this is many years later, because now he's got Isaac, who's a kid, took him a while to get Isaac.

I don't know what if this could be 20 years later. And then he goes to Offright, obediently Isaac on the altar, and then God stays his hand. And then he says, now in the text in Genesis, now I know that you love me.

And of course, the know there isn't like I gained information. No, now he's experiencing knowledge by acquaintance. Now he's knowing, seeing the action, Abraham's faith working itself out.

And that's the second work of sense of justification. When I say justify yourself, what I'm asking is give me the reasons that make sense of what you're doing. All right.

And that's the standard way we use the word justify nowadays. And that's exactly how James is using it here. There's not a contradiction with Paul.

They're talking out two different times in Abraham's life. And Abraham gets saved in Genesis 15. He doesn't get saved again in Genesis 22.

There is an outworking of his prior salvation there. Okay. So this is all meant to strengthen the point that I'm making that even the illustrations that are offered, the faith is there and is manifest.

The faith is there early on, but manifest many years later in the incident that James quotes here in James 2. Now, so I hope I've made the point clearly that faith is not the engine that, or the fuel that create, I'm sorry, that works is not the fuel that creates faith. It is the outworking of genuine faith. Okay.

Now let's go to Titus for, Ephesians chapter two, the first verse I ever memorized or remembered. I didn't actually memorize it. It just stuck.

Ephesians two, eight, nine. By grace, you have saved through faith that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, list any men boast. And then he goes on and the next verse said, you were created for good works.

Notice that faith is what saves and works follow. So there's a proof text for you, if you will. I'm not reading it right now.

It's just from memory, but I'm going to go to Titus here after Timothy. Titus chapter three is a really great characterization of this order that ought to make it really clear for Jim. And here's what Paul writes to Titus chapter three, verse four.

But when the kindness of God, our Savior, notice that God is the one who saves and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us. How did he do that? Not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, who he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. So that being justified by his grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Okay, stop there. All of that doesn't use the word faith there. It's not talking about man's response at that point, it's talking about God's action.

Now we know this is a response because in Ephesians, it says, having believed, we received the Holy Spirit of promise. This passage is talking about what the Spirit accomplishes by saving us and washing us and regenerating us as an expression of the mercy of God. Next verse, this is a trustworthy statement and concerning these things, I want you to speak confidently.

That is all the grace stuff that just came above, above all the mercy, grace, salvation stuff, washing by the Holy Spirit, which Ephesians tells us come as a result of our faith in Jesus. This is a trustworthy statement and concerning these things, I want you to speak confidently so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.

What things, the good deeds following salvation, they are not profitable before salvation. They are profitable after. I hope my broader characterization of James, chapter 2, especially going back to Genesis 15 and 22, and what Ephesians 2 says and Titus 3 says, puts this all in its proper perspective and proper balance.

That was great, especially that last one that really brings it home. I think I thought of another verse here in Romans 11, but if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. I just want to make a few points about this too, I'm going to respond to the very last part of his question.

First of all, it seems clear to me in this passage that what James is mainly talking about isn't even good works, like doing good deeds. It's about doing things that reflect the trust you have in God. So the works of trust are the results of trust.

They don't create the trust. That wouldn't even make sense. Why would you do works of trust? And he uses it as evidence in James 2, 18, he says, I will show you my faith by my works.

He's very clearly using it as evidence of his faith, and that's the sense that's happening here. Now, the question of outside of this passage, can you please provide biblical support that good works are inevitable and always demonstrated? So I have a few verses whether we're talking about works of faith, or we're talking about good works and good deeds, that sort of thing. I have evidence for both of those, but go ahead, Greg, did you want to? Before you move away from this excellent point, you just made works of trust.

Both illustrations in James are examples of that. Right. So you have Abraham trusting God by doing this kind of strange thing, which he was prevented from killing his son, but nevertheless, he was willing to do that in his trusting God.

And of course, in another text, it makes clear that Abraham knowing the promise was based on this son, the promise for the long future, etc., that God would raise him from the dead if it turns out that he was going to execute him according to God's initial command. And the second example is Rahab. She wasn't just doing nice things and passing up bread to hungry people and all that.

She was protecting the spies because they were vulnerable to the community who wanted to kill them, and she trusted God. She had heard about 40 years before what God had did to the Egyptians, and then subsequent to that how God had protected. She said, man, I'm on your side, and I am going to trust you and take this risk.

It was a risk for her to lie and protect those spies, but she was willing to take the risk because she trusted in God. So that was a great observation. I've never made about that passage before, so I haven't had to write it into my Bible.

So she didn't just believe the truth about God. She entrusted herself to him, and she acted in a way that reflected that, which is why James contrasts that with the demons who believe in God, but don't trust him. Right, right.

Even the demons know the truth about God, but they don't trust him. So I have a two-set of verses to answer his question. Even if they're a little short of good deeds too, I'd say.

So let's start with verses that talk about inevitable actions of faith. And the first one that comes to mind is 1 Peter 1, 6 through 9. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you've been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So the continuation of his trust is something that will bring glory to God, and that's inevitable.

And we know it's inevitable because of 1 John 2, 19. They went out from us, but they were not really of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us, but they went out so that it would be shown that they are not all of us.

So there's another example of the inevitability of true faith persevering in its trust in God. Romans 8, 29, and 30 talks about those who mean for new, we also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these who mean predestined, he also called, and these whom he called, he also justified, and these whom he justified, he also glorified.

So we see perseverance again of that trust and evidence of that trust. So that I think is the most relevant thing here, but also I also want to answer in terms of good works as in good deeds, because I think that is also very clear, even if that's not exactly what I think James is talking about here. That wasn't the Ephesians 2, 8, 9, 10, 11 passage to create a foregood work.

Oh, right, exactly. Here's another one that says we're created for that Romans 7, 4. Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another to him who was raised from the dead in order that we might bear fruit for God. That is the goal.

John 14, 21, he who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. John 14, 23, 24, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word. Let's see.

Oh, John 15, 5, and 8, he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit. My father is glorified by this that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. Oh, there you go.

Yeah, that's great, Amy. And then one last one, this is Romans 8, 12 through 14. So then brethren, we are under obligation not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die.

But if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live, for all who are being led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God. And he makes it really clear that those who have the spirit are those who are being led by the spirit of God and who puts to death are sin. So all of these show that this is inevitable in a Christian's life.

Lest anyone miss the significance of the Romans 8 passage of being led by the spirit in the context does not mean, Paul does not mean, getting hints, hints, nudges, nudges, go this way, go that way, whisper, whisper, kind of thing. That is not what's going on here. And the sad thing, of course, I deal with this a lot in the broader issue of hearing the voice of God, so to speak, and the so-called spirits leading.

And I only say so-called, not because I doubt God acts in our lives in a special way, but I'm saying this verse does not mean that. Paul means, when he says being led by the spirit, that we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, the spirit in our life is causing us to become more and more sanctified in very specific ways. And this same phrase is used in Galatians chapter 5, led by the spirit.

It's the only two places that's used in the New Testament. It's Pauline and he means exactly the same in each case. So I didn't want anyone to shift gears when you were citing that verse and then jump into into this other understanding of that phrase when that would be lifting it out of its context and employing it, pressing it into service for a thing that Paul had no intention of us doing.

And this verse is especially important for this discussion because not only does it say that if you're being led by the spirit, you're being led by the spirit of God putting your sins to death, but it also says the reason why, let's see, why we will live is not because we're putting our sins to death, but it's because these are sons of God, it's because we're adopted. So the grace and the adoption is the reason for the fruit, not the other way around. And if it were the other way around, he would have said that.

He would have said, if you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live because those who put to death the deeds of the body will live, but that's not the source of the living. The source of the living is that we are sons of God. And if we see that we are being led by the spirit, that's evidence that we are actually sons of God.

So that puts the evidence in the right place also. Excellent. All right.

Well, thank you, Jim. You took up the whole episode. That's a great, that's always a great question when we can get a whole 20 minutes out of it.

So thank you for that. And we'd love to hear from you. If you have a question, just send it on X with the hashtag STRask, or you can go to our website at str.org. This is Amy Hall and Greg Coco for Stand to Reason.