A Free Grace Response to John Piper on James 2:14-26

In an article on the Desiring God website titled “Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone?”, John Piper appeals to James 2:14-26 trying to prove that faith alone is insufficient for final salvation.[1] Under the heading “How Are We Ultimately Saved?”, Piper writes: “Especially as it pertains to final salvation, so many of us live in a fog of confusion. James saw in his day those who were treating “faith alone” as a doctrine that claimed you could be justified by faith which produced no good works. And he vehemently said No to such faith.”[2]

But in the book of James, the word “save” (sōzō) is sometimes used in reference to sanctification (e.g. Ja. 1:21, cf. Psa. 119:11; Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Pet. 2:1-2), not justification. Indeed, does Piper think that when James says, “And the prayer of faith will save [sōzō] the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (Ja. 5:15), that James is referring to salvation from hell? Clearly, the context must be allowed to shed light on the meaning of the word! In James 5:15 the word “save” obviously refers to physical healing, not salvation from hell. This is consistent with the meaning that the BDAG lexicon assigns to the word “save” in James 5:15: “to raise up from sickness, raise up=restore to health (the sick person is ordinarily recumbent) Js 5:15”[3]; “be ill...Js 5:15”[4]; “save/free from disease...Cp. Js 5:15”.[5] Thus it becomes clear that even in the book of James, the word “save” can refer to other things besides salvation from hell.

How then should we understand James 2:14 when it says, “Can that faith save him?” Is James referring to salvation from hell, or perhaps to something else? When we look at the context of James 2:14, it’s clear that James is addressing Christian “brethren” (v. 14), i.e. already saved people, and the question, “Can that faith save him?” (v. 14) is specifically referring to someone from this audience: “one of you” (v. 16). So how can a justified person still need saving? If we understand the word “save” as a general term which encompasses both justification and sanctification (and eventually glorification), then the meaning is clear: the man’s faith has no sanctifying effect! So salvation from hell is not the issue. Rather, the issue is: how useful is your faith to others? Is it “dead as a doornail” sitting there doing nothing (and thus even being counterproductive like a bent nail!), or is it being used for a good purpose to help others? That’s what James is talking about in 2:14-26.

But someone may say, “James 2:26 says, ‘faith without works is dead.’ Doesn’t this mean that it is spiritually dead and therefore not justifying?” Let’s take a look at the meaning of the word “dead”. In regards to the “dead” faith spoken of in James 2:26, the BDAG lexicon gives this definition of “dead”: “Pert[aining] to being so morally or spiritually deficient as to be in effect dead....of things n[ekros] erga dead works that cannot bring eternal life...faith apart from deeds (i.e. without practical application) is dead, useless Js 2:26b”.[6]

Several things can be pointed out here: (1) BDAG says “morally or spiritually deficient”. Thus, not necessarily spiritually “dead”! Possibly only morally “dead”, i.e. alive but without good works. (2) BDAG says “dead works that cannot bring eternal life”. When does the Bible say that good works bring eternal life, anyway?! We have not all become Roman Catholics, have we? So the Free Grace understanding of James 2:14-26 is in agreement with BDAG on this point. (3) BDAG clarifies that “faith apart from deeds (i.e. without practical application) is dead, useless Js 2:26b”. Again, the Free Grace position can accept this statement and agree with this statement because BDAG clarifies that the meaning is “dead” in the sense of “useless”. Useless for what? The Free Grace position would say that the “morally…deficient”[7] faith in James 2:26 is “useless” in terms of the faith’s “practical application” (to quote BDAG), i.e. the faith is not doing anything to help others. The issue is sanctification, not justification.

CLOSING THOUGHT

I can’t help but think that Piper may be one of those at the last judgment who says to the Lord Jesus, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” (Matt. 7:22, KJV). And Christ will say to them, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:23, KJV).


References:

[1] John Piper, “Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone?” (September 25, 2017), Desiring God website, www.desiringgod.org/articles/does-god-really-save-us-by-faith-alone (accessed June 27, 2023).

[2] Ibid, emphasis his.

[3] Walter Bauer, Frederick William Danker, Editor, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2021), 4th Edition (BDAG), p. 241. See under the word egeirō.

[4] BDAG, p. 449. See under the word kamnō, ellipsis added.

[5] BDAG, p. 873. See under the word sōzō, ellipsis added.

[6] BDAG, p. 592. See under the word nekros, ellipsis added.

[7] I.e. “morally” deficient in the sense that good works have not been added to it (cf. 2 Pet. 1:5-9).