James 2:26

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, etc.] This simile is made use of to illustrate what the apostle had asserted in (<590217>James 2:17,20) that as a body, when the spirit or soul is departed from it, or the breath is gone out of it, is dead, and without motion, and useless; which the Jews f28 express in like manner, jwr alb Pwg rgp, “the body without the spirit”, or “breath, is a carcass”. So faith without works is dead also: a vain thing, useless and unprofitable, can neither justify, nor save, nor prove that a man is justified, or will be saved.”

“Faith is a spiritual thing: works are material. Hence we might expect faith to answer to the spirit, works to the body. But James reverses this. He therefore does not mean that faith in all cases answers to the body; but the FORM of faith without the working reality answers to the body without the animating spirit. It does not follow that living faith derives its life from works, as the body derives its life from the animating spirit. Next: James Chapter 3”

“For as the body without the spirit is dead - Margin, “breath.” The Greek word πνεύμα pneuma is commonly used to denote spirit or soul, as referring to the intelligent nature. The meaning here is the obvious one, that the body is animated or kept alive by the presence of the soul, and that when that is withdrawn, hope departs. The body has no life independent of the presence of the soul. So faith without works is dead also - There is as much necessity that faith and works should be united to constitute true religion, as there is that the body and soul should be united to constitute a living man. If good works do not follow, it is clear that there is no true and proper faith; none that…”

“2:26 Good works are as necessary to faith as breath is to a physical body (Gen 2:7). We cannot have one without the other.”

“as: Job 34:14, Job 34:15; Psa 104:29, Psa 146:4; Ecc 12:7; Isa 2:22; Luk 23:46; Act 7:59, Act 7:60 spirit: or, breath so: Jam 2:14, Jam 2:17, Jam 2:20 Next: James Chapter 3”