James 2:14

What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — James addresses his brothers, the Jewish-Christian community, at the pivot from his argument against partiality (2:1–13) to the concrete example of the hungry brother that follows (2:15). He shifts from social ethics to the root question of what faith actually produces.

The words — ὄφελος (ophelos), "profit" or "benefit," frames faith as a matter of measurable outcome rather than internal feeling. The rhetorical question presupposes that faith without deeds is a net loss.

The thread — Matthew 7:21 and 7:26 tie entry into the kingdom to doing the Father's will, not merely hearing or saying. James 1:22 issues the same warning: hearers only deceive themselves.

Why it lands — It puts the reader in the position of the one being asked, not the one being described. The question is not academic; it demands an answer that can be seen in daily behavior.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

Cross-references

Matthew 7:26 But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
James 1:22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
Luke 6:49 But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”
Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
2 Peter 1:5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
James 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
1 Corinthians 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.
Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,