James 2:19 - Explained
James chapter 2 is hotly debated, and people will turn here to try to prove that if you have faith you will automatically have good works. But that is not what the passage is teaching, because the Bible actually says you can have faith without works — it says faith without works is dead, not that it is going to send you to hell. This passage is about being the friend of God, as it says at the end of James chapter 2. Because in this life we are justified by our works, not just by our faith. We go to heaven or hell based on what we believe, but whether or not God blesses our life is going to be based on what we do.
To understand verse 19 we have to go back to verse 18. People who teach that if you are really saved you are going to have good works will go to verse 19 where it says "thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." And they will say, see, it is not just about believing — the devils tremble at the judgment of God, so you also have to have the works. But they are pulling that out of context.
Verse 18: "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." This verse is not about proving to unsaved people that you are saved. It is a hypothetical conversation between two saved people. One of those people has faith but does not have works — they are not really dedicated to church, not going soul-winning, not reading their Bible, but they say they have faith. And the other one says, hey, well I have works. It is like saying, you are telling me how great of a Christian you are — why do you not come to church? Why do you not come soul-winning? The person who says he has works is not saying he does not have faith. He is saying to the person who claims to have faith — why do you not start being dedicated to the things of God? And he says I will show thee my faith by my works, meaning I will show you how much I really care about God by going soul-winning, reading the Bible, and going to church. This passage is about Christians that are actually becoming zealous for the things of God and having works.
Then verse 19: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." This is not a person saying hey, you say you have faith but you do not have works — look at the devils that are going to go to hell. That is not what is actually being said in this verse. What we have to understand is that the devils and the angels do not go to heaven or hell based on what they believe. They go to heaven or hell based on their works, based on their actions. One third of the angels chose to rebel and they are damned to hell. They have no hope. Their salvation is not dependent on what they believe — it is based on what they do.
When the Bible says the devils believe that there is one God — here is the thing. The devils understand and know who the true God is. Believing in one God does not get you to heaven, but believing in the one true God does. The devils know who the one true God is. They understand there is a Trinity. But it does not matter for them, because angels are not judged based on what they believe — they are judged based on what they do. And so the devils, knowing who the true God is, tremble at his judgment.
What this person is saying is how much more should we as believers tremble at the judgment of God — not because we do not know who the true God is, but because we do. We understand the true God is going to send unsaved people to hell forever. But we also know that judgment must begin at the house of God, and in this life you will be justified by your works. If you live a bad life, God will punish you. So it is not about showing your faith before man or being justified before man. What it is saying is that if you do not live a good life in this life, you ought to tremble. You ought to fear. You ought to be worried about what God is going to do to you, because God will judge his people.
James 2:19 is not proving that if you are really saved you are going to have good works. What it is saying is that we as saved people ought to tremble at the judgment of God — not because we do not know who the true God is, but because we know who the one true God is.
Pastor Matthew Stucky
