<p>2:18 <i>Yes, a man will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works and I, by my works, will show you my faith</i>- The man is implying that if James has faith and he has works, then between them they should be accepted. Thus the man was effectively advocating salvation by works, whilst agreeing that faith was also important- although not essential for him personally to develop. This sounds like the reasoning of the wavering Jewish believers. James replies that faith and works are indivisible, that true spiritual works cannot exist without faith. Thus it is irrelevant for a believer to think that he must concentrate on developing 'faith' or 'works' as independent things- what God looks for is 'faith-works', i.e. a faith whose very nature leads to works; a faith that <i>works </i>by love (Gal. 5:6). Thus the works follow as an inevitable corollary from the faith, and therefore are not consciously performed. Therefore James reasons that a wise man will &quot;shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom&quot; (3:13). &quot;You believe that there is one God&quot;- the fundamental truth of Judaism which the Christian Jews prided themselves on- &quot;the devils (demoniacs) also believe, and tremble&quot; (v.19), alluding to the sick often trembling before their cure. This may refer to the many incidents of curing of demoniacs in the Gospels, all of whom were parabolic of the hopeless state of the Jewish system. More significantly, James is referring to the fact that many people during Christ's ministry had had the faith to be cured, but only a handful had responded with the works which a word based faith should have produced- as opposed to the intense hope and belief in personal betterment which the people had. The other person in the conversation is described as a &quot;vain man&quot; (v.20); &quot;vain&quot; meaning empty headed or minded, referring to the demoniac state of v.19. We saw in 1:26 how the man who did not have the word in his heart to control his tongue was also &quot;vain&quot;. The man referred to here in 2:20 was without faith, and thus without the word, seeing this is the basis of faith. Faith without works is barren (v.20, Gk.). This is in the context of v.21 speaking of once barren Abraham (Rom. 4:19 implies he was impotent when Isaac was conceived) being &quot;<i>our</i> father&quot;, as well as that of Isaac. Faith <i>with</i> works is therefore spiritually fruitful. Faith <i>without</i> works being barren or dead may hint at the deadness of Abraham's body and Sarah's womb (Rom. 4:19). Despite having produced Isaac, their faith and works were only completed by the offering up of Isaac. Until that point, they were still effectively 'dead' in God's sight, not being totally proven.</p>