Toward a Practical Theology of Good Works: The Practice and Teaching of Communal Good Works in the Book of James

Summary

Reese argues that the Book of James is essential for understanding the role of communal good works in the early church and in the Christian life today. While it may seem odd to transition from the Book of Acts to James, Reese shows this is logical because James, Jesus’ half-brother, became the de facto leader of the Jerusalem church early on. His epistle, written likely between AD 40–50, was directed to Jewish Christians throughout the diaspora—many of whom had experienced the communal practices of the early Jerusalem church firsthand.

James’ letter reinforces the themes of communal care and good works that are foundational in Acts. Reese explores how James, in several key passages (1:22–27, 2:14–17, 3:13, 4:17), emphasizes that true faith manifests in action—specifically in caring for vulnerable members of the community like widows and orphans.

A major obstacle to James’ influence in modern evangelicalism, Reese explains, is Martin Luther’s early criticism that the book contradicts Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith alone. However, later reformers (including a more mature Luther) concluded that James and Paul do not contradict but complement each other: Paul speaks of justification before God; James speaks of proving faith before people.

Reese warns that the modern church has largely ignored James’ teaching, contributing to the suffering of vulnerable people and tarnishing Christianity’s reputation. Through practical illustrations—including C.S. Lewis’s lifelong care for a widow—Reese challenges readers to examine whether their faith aligns more with passive belief or with active, sacrificial love.

Conclusion: According to Reese, the Book of James not only confirms the communal good works practiced in Acts but commands believers to continue them. Its message remains urgent and relevant for Christians today.

Introduction

It might seem odd to follow our last study on the practice and teaching of good works in the book of Acts with a study on the same subject in the book of James. There are, after all, many biblical books between Acts and James. But it only seems unusual until we understand that James, the author of the book and also our Lord’s half brother, became the de facto leader of the Jerusalem church soon after its inception. We see James in this leadership role when Peter, after escaping from prison, tells a messenger to “go tell James and the brothers” that he was free. We also see James exercising leadership in the Jerusalem council (Acts 15) where he gave the final judgement on whether Gentile believers needed to follow the Law of Moses. And later, in Acts 21, when Paul returned to Jerusalem from his missionary trip, James was the first person he saw and reported to. Paul even called James a “pillar” of the church, along with Peter and John (Galatians 2:9).

But not only was James influential, the Book of James itself had a massive influence on the early church due to the nature of its intended audience: “the twelve tribes scattered among the nations,” that is, all Jewish believers throughout the Jewish diaspora. Many of these believers probably came to faith in Jesus at Pentecost, for we are told that at that time “there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:5-11)

Thus, the Book of James was a circular letter that was meant to be copied and disseminated to Jewish Christian converts in the early Jerusalem church who had returned to their homes and started churches of their own. (Acts 8:1-3, 26-40) This view corresponds with the general scholarly consensus that the Book of James was written between AD 40-50, just a few years after Pentecost and making it the earliest New Testament book written, earlier even than the gospels or Paul’s epistles.

I conclude, then, that when we study the Book of James, we are studying a book that was written by the Lord’s half brother who became the head of the Jerusalem church, and which was read in James’ contemporary Jewish Christian communities throughout the known civilized world.

Thus James is a very important book indeed.

The book of James tells us whether our view of the early church in Acts as having a major focus on communal good works that should be emulated by all believers everywhere is correct

Clearly, what James writes in his epistle about communal good works — and he writes about them at length — provides a valuable context for what we have already learned about communal good works in the early church from the Book of Acts. But first we need to address an important question.

When it comes to the subject of good works, do James and Paul contradict each other?

In spite of the fact that the Book of James carries the imprimatur of of the brother of our Lord Jesus and was widely read throughout first century churches, the book today carries far less influence among conservative Christians. We can lay the cause of that diminishment in stature at the feet of Martin Luther, who in 1522 in his preface to the German New Testament called the Book of James “an epistle of straw, because it contains nothing of the nature of the gospel.” Ever since, the book has been looked at with suspicion because it is seen as undermining the doctrine of justification by faith alone. This is primarily due to one passage in particular: James 2:14-26.

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

^“But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.  You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?  Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Clearly, this passage seems to contradict Paul’s statement on justification in Romans 4:1-4.

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”

Latter, Luther softened his view of the book of James while other reformation leaders concluded that James’ and Paul’s views on salvation and good works actually complement each other…but the damage to the book’s reputation remains

Fortunately, though Luther called the Epistle of James an “Epistle of Straw” and a “disputed book,” he later changed course and contended that James and Paul are looking at justification from different perspectives: James from the perspective of justification before people and Paul from the perspective of justification before God. ““Therefore we must distinguish,” Luther writes, “between Paul and James. The former teaches justification through faith without works, while the latter teaches that a man is justified by his works and not by faith only. This means that James is not talking about justification in the sight of God, as Paul is, but about how we should demonstrate our justification before men by our works.” (Luther’s Works, Vol. 26, p 226)

Other reformers arrived at a similar consensus about James and Paul: that we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that remains alone. Saving faith always results in good works.

But while these views resolved the issue, it did not erase the damage. To this day the Book of James is avoided by many believers and the topic of good works in the Christian life is almost completely ignored in evangelical churches.

What the Book of James does is raise good works to a place of prominence, something today’s Christians need to do as well

As we will see later, this lack of teaching, knowledge, understanding, and practice of good works in today’s churches has resulted in incredible pain and suffering on the part of the believers these good works are meant to help, and has brought disrepute on the church to the point that it has been completely marginalized in contemporary culture.

Consequently, this series of posts on good works is meant to help reverse all of that.

Communal good works in the book of James

One would think that if communal good works are as important as we think the Book of Acts says they are, then we would also see a major emphasis on communal good works in the Book of James as well. And we do. The passages in James that teach explicitly about communal good works are James 1:22-25, 27; 2:14-17; 3:13; 4:17.

James 1:22-25 – This passage tells us that the prerequisite for doing God’s good works is having an eager desire to do what God’s word tells us to do and not just listen to it (or read it) and then forget it

James 1:22-25 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

At first glance, this passage seems to say nothing about communal good works. James is simply emphasizing obedience to the word of God. However, immediately following this exhortation on doing what God’s word says, James follows it up by giving two examples of what he means, both of which are taken from the Book of Isaiah.

The first example James gives of doing what the Bible says is James 1:26, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” This verse seems to be a clear reference to Isaiah 6:1-6, where Isaiah, upon seeing firsthand what the holiness of God really means, feels deep conviction about his speech. Apparently Isaiah had a foul mouth.

James is saying, “When you hear Isaiah 6:1-6 read aloud, don’t just listen about Isaiah’s foul mouth and then forget about it. Do what it says. Stop cursing!” (An idea James expands on at length in James 3:3-12.)

James 1:27 – This is the second of two examples that James gives from the Book of Isaiah that illustrate what it means to do what God’s word tells us to do and not just listen to it (or read it) and then forget it

James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

The second example of the importance of doing what scripture says and not just listening to it is James’s definition of genuine religion in James 1:27. This verse seems to be a clear reference to Isaiah 1:17,18, only in reverse order: The phrase “religion that is pure and faultless” parallels verse 18 in Isaiah 1, and “look after orphans and widows” parallels verse 17 in Isaiah 1.

James is saying, “When Isaiah 1:17-18 is read aloud, don’t just listen about learning to do what is good and then forget about it. Do what it says. Go find a widow or orphan and take care of them.”

It becomes clear from James 1:27 that, when James reaches for a positive example of doing what the Word of God says and not just listening to it, the first thing that comes to his mind is the command to do  the communal good work of ministering to widows and orphans.

James 2:14-17 – How do we know whether or not a person has genuine faith? By their good works

James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

In this passage, James describes useless faith, dead faith. What good is it if someone “claims” to have faith but has no deeds? James asks. Clearly, James is writing about justification, not in the sight of God, but of others. And the particular “deed” James uses to describe what he means is a situation that requires a communal good work: a brother or sister who is without clothes and daily food. In other words, a fellow believer who is homeless and on the verge of starvation. Not doing something about this is evidence of dead, useless faith; mere mental ascent, but not a faith that motivates us to take action.

James 3:13 – This passage also validates Luther’s view that “James is not talking about justification in the sight of God, as Paul is, but about how we should demonstrate our justification before men by our works.”

James 3:13 “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

“By their fruits you will know them,” Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:20. Jesus is not talking about public piety, like attending church, serving on the church board, giving large sums of money to the church, and praying out loud (Matthew 6:1-18). He is talking about whether or not our good works actually meet the needs of those in the church who need them the most: widows, single moms, and fatherless children, among others. That kind of good life and that kind of humble service are evidence of a “wise and understanding” person.

James 4:17 – This passage is telling us that not doing the good we know we should do is sin because the result is intense suffering on the part of the people who should have received our help, bringing disrepute on the gospel

James 4:17 “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

The good that we know we ought to do, as James has already stated, is to take care of widows and orphans (James 1:27), and to meet the needs of fellow believers who are unclothed and without food (James 2:14, 15). James is saying that when we see these situations in our church and do nothing, we are sinning.

A question for us to ask ourselves

I have two examples that illustrate what not doing communal good works when we should looks like, and what doing communal good works the way God tells us to looks like.

Example #1

Imagine an elderly widow, I’ll call her “Helen,” who has been widowed for many years. She has no children and no other relatives. She is in poor health and her house is in need of repairs. Helen is a Christian and, like herself, she has a neighbor who is also a Christian, but who attends a different church than hers. He is a law abiding, tax paying, church attending, family man.

Unfortunately, even though Helen’s neighbor has lived next to her for many years, he has done next to nothing for her. His Bible tells him to “love his neighbor as himself” (Mark 12:30-31), but he has not loved Helen, his neighbor who has deep needs, as himself. Instead, he rarely speaks to her and barely knows her. His Bible tells him to “lay down his life” for Helen, his fellow believer in extremis  (1 John 3:16), but he has not sacrificed anything for, let alone his life. And his Bible tells him to “plead Helen’s cause”  (Isaiah 1:17), but he has not sought out anyone else to help him meet her needs.

Example #2

Two soldiers became close friends during WWI, so close, in fact that, since both of them had widowed mothers, they promised each other to care for the other’s mother if one of them died. As the war progressed, one of them did die. So after the war, the surviving friend found his friend’s widowed mother, moved in with her and cared for her for thirty years until she died. Unfortunately, his new “mother” was a very unpleasant woman to live with. She was cantankerous and domineering. Nevertheless, the friend forged ahead and faithfully cared for her, even when she descended into dementia.

So what would James make of these two examples?

With respect to our imaginary example #1, clearly, Helen’s neighbor fits James’ definition of dead, useless faith. Her neighbor has made a profession of faith and attends church, but his faith is lifeless, loveless and irrelevant to his widow neighbor and spiritual sister who lives just steps away from his front door. He knows what the Bible says about his widowed, Christian neighbor, but he does not do what the Bible says. Instead, like the religious leaders in the parable of the good Samaritan who ignore the dying Jew, he shows callous disregard for his neighbor. To this man, James would say, “What good is your faith?”

When it comes to Example #2, you may already know the identity of the faithful friend. His name is C. S. Lewis, one of the most famous Christian apologists of the twentieth century. We see in his example someone who willingly obligated himself to care for his friend’s widowed mother, and then he kept his promise when his friend died in war, even though Lewis suffered serious duress over a period of thirty years as a result. James would say that Lewis obeyed Scripture and showed the genuineness of his faith  “by (his) good life, by (his) deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

So here’s the question: which example best describes our faith, example 1 or example 2?

Conclusion

Not only does the Book of James validate our assertion that the Book of Acts intends for all believers everywhere to practice the communal good works we see the Jerusalem church doing in Acts 2 and 4, it is an actual example of James, the leader of the Jerusalem church, explicitly exhorting Jewish believers throughout the then civilized world — many of whom had returned home after participating in the early Jerusalem church in Acts 2 and 4 — to continue practicing the same communal good works in their locations as well.

And down through the millennia, the Book of James still speaks loud and clear to the church that it should be doing communal good works too.

This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.

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