What does the Bible say about faith without works is dead?
Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone. When it ceases to be by faith alone, it ceases to be Christianity. Roman Catholicism teaches that salvation comes through faith and works, often citing James 2 to support this view. However, James 2 does not teach that salvation is achieved through faith and works. Instead, it emphasizes that true faith naturally produces good works. The evidence of genuine belief in Christ alone is that your faith will be accompanied by actions. Why? Because Christ transforms the believer into a new creation with new desires. For more on this distinction, see Christian vs. Catholic.
Galatians 3:10 warns that those who rely on the works of the Law fall under its curse, as the Law demands perfection, which no one can achieve. Saving faith, however, leads a person to live a lifestyle pleasing to Jesus—not to maintain salvation, but because they have been truly converted. The first set of verses refers to evidence of faith and good works, while the second set consists of Scripture passages that declare salvation by faith alone. Let’s dive in!
1. James 2:17 (NIV) – “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
2. James 2:26 (ESV) – “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
3. James 2:20 (NASB) – “But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?”
4. James 2:14 (NKJV) – “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?”
5. James 2:18 (KJV) – “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.”
6. Matthew 7:21 (ESV) – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
7. John 14:15 (NKJV) – “If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
8. James 1:22 (KJV) – “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
9. Titus 3:8 (NLT) – “This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good.”
10. Matthew 5:16 (NIV) – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
11. Romans 2:13 (ESV) – “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
12. 1 John 3:18 (NASB) – “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.”
Faith alone
Scripture reminds us that we cannot fulfill what is required on our own. If you insist that you must work for your salvation, it’s as if you’re saying that when Christ declared on the cross, “It is finished,” He wasn’t telling the truth. Claiming that salvation comes through faith and works, rather than faith alone, implies that Christ’s blood wasn’t sufficient—that I need to add to His completed work or maintain my salvation by doing what He supposedly couldn’t. That’s blasphemy and a lie from the enemy. Works lead to boasting, with people saying, “I have to do this.” But Jesus drank every drop of your sin, leaving nothing from the cup of God’s wrath. He declares, “I am the only way.” No works are required, only faith in Him. And when you believe in Him, you will be made new.
13. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
14. Romans 3:28 (ESV) – “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
15. Galatians 2:16 (NASB) – “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
16. Romans 5:1 (NKJV) – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
17. John 3:16 (KJV) – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
18. Romans 4:5 (NLT) – “But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.”
19. Acts 16:31 (NIV) – “They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.’”
20. Romans 10:9 (ESV) – “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
21. John 5:24 (NASB) – “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
22. Galatians 3:11 (NKJV) – “But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’”
23. Romans 3:22 (KJV) – “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”
24. John 6:29 (NLT) – “Jesus told them, ‘This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.’”
25. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
