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Is it in the Bible?

Is “Faith without works is dead” in the Bible?

Yes. “Faith without works is dead” is in the Bible, at James 2:26. James writes it in his letter.

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The answer

Where it is, and what it means there.

From the Bible

Yes. It is in the Bible.

The verse is James 2:26.

James writes it in his letter.

The verse

For just as the body is dead without the spirit, so faith too is dead without works.
James 2:26 · open the chapter →

These exact words are in the King James Bible. The Lumin Translation, a modern English Bible, is quoted here, and it words the verse differently.

What it means there

James’s example is telling a cold, hungry person to keep warm and eat well, and giving them nothing (James 2:15-16). Faith that never shows in what a person does, he says, is like a body without breath.

Also in the Bible

So it is with faith as well: if it has no works, it is dead on its own.
James 2:17 · open the chapter →
Do you want to know, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless?
James 2:20 · open the chapter →

Verses quoted from the Lumin Translation.

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Common questions

Plain answers.

Is “Faith without works is dead” in the Bible?

Yes. “Faith without works is dead” is in the Bible, at James 2:26. These exact words are in the King James Bible. The Lumin Translation, a modern English Bible, is quoted here, and it words the verse differently. James writes it in his letter.

Where in the Bible is “Faith without works is dead”?

In James 2:26, and also James 2:17 and James 2:20. In the Lumin Translation, James 2:26 reads: “For just as the body is dead without the spirit, so faith too is dead without works.”

Who said “Faith without works is dead”?

James writes it in his letter.

What does “Faith without works is dead” mean in the Bible?

James’s example is telling a cold, hungry person to keep warm and eat well, and giving them nothing (James 2:15-16). Faith that never shows in what a person does, he says, is like a body without breath.

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