Albert Barnes Commentary James 2:15-17

"If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself." — James 2:15-17 (ASV)

If a brother or sister be naked, etc. The comparison in these verses is very obvious and striking. The sense is, that faith in itself, without the acts that correspond to it and to which it would prompt, is as cold, heartless, unmeaning, and useless as it would be to say to one who was lacking the necessities of life, "depart in peace." In itself considered, it might seem to have something that was good; but it would answer none of the purposes of faith unless it should prompt to action.

In the case of one who was hungry or naked, what he wanted was not good wishes or kind words merely, but the acts to which good wishes and kind words prompt. And so in religion, what is wanted is not merely the abstract state of mind which would be indicated by faith, but the life of goodness to which it ought to lead.

Good wishes and kind words, in order to make them what they should be for the welfare of the world, should be accompanied with corresponding action. So it is with faith. It is not enough for salvation without the benevolent and holy acts to which it would prompt, any more than the good wishes and kind words of the benevolent are enough to satisfy the wants of the hungry and to clothe the naked, without corresponding action.

Faith is not and cannot be shown to be genuine unless it is accompanied with corresponding acts; just as our good wishes for the poor and needy can be shown to be genuine, when we have the means of aiding them, only by actually ministering to their necessities. In the one case, our wishes would be shown to be unmeaning and heartless; in the other, our faith would be equally so. In regard to this passage, therefore, it may be observed:

1. In fact, faith is of no more value and has no more evidence of genuineness when it is unaccompanied by good works, than such empty wishes for the welfare of the poor would be when unaccompanied by the means of relieving their wants. Faith is designed to lead to good works. It is intended to produce a holy life—a life of activity in the service of the Savior. This is its very essence; it is what it always produces when it is genuine. Religion is not designed to be a cold abstraction; it is to be a living and vivifying principle.
2. There is a great deal of that kindness and charity in the world which is expressed by mere good wishes. If we really do not have the means of relieving the poor and the needy, then the expression of a kind wish may be in itself an alleviation to their Sorrows, for even sympathy in such a case is of value, and it is much to us to know that others feel for us. But if we have the means, and the object is a worthy one, then such expressions are mere mockery and aggravate rather than soothe the feelings of the sufferer. Such wishes will neither clothe nor feed them; and they will only make deeper the sorrows which we ought to heal. But how much of this is there in the world, when the sufferer cannot but feel that all these wishes, however kindly expressed, are hollow and false, and when he cannot but feel that relief would be easy!
3. In like manner, there is much of this same kind of worthless faith in the world—faith that is dead; faith that produces no good works; faith that exerts no practical influence whatever on the life. The individual professes indeed to believe the truths of the gospel; he may be in the church of Christ; he would esteem it a gross calumny to be spoken of as an infidel. But as to any influence which his faith exerts over him, his life would be the same if he had never heard of the gospel. There is not one of the truths of religion which is manifested in his life; not a deed to which he is prompted by religion; not an act which could not be accounted for on the supposition that he has no true piety. In such a case, faith may properly be said to be dead.

The phrase being alone (or, as noted in the margin, by itself) means that, being destitute of any accompanying fruits or results, it shows that it is dead. That which is alive manifests itself, produces effects, makes itself visible; that which is dead produces no effect and is as if it did not exist.