The Arminian interpretation of this verse (view one above) is as follows. If a person claims to be a Christian but gives no evidence of true faith by the way he lives, he may never have been saved or he may no longer be saved. One Reformed view (view two above) is that if a person claims to be a Christian but gives no evidence of true faith by the way he lives, he was never saved.103The third interpretation (view three above) is that if a person claims to be a Christian but gives no evidence of true faith by the way he lives there are two possibilities. He may not be saved, or he may be saved, but he is not living by faith.
James just dealt with the Christian who professed to love others but by practicing personal favoritism demonstrated that he did not. Now he raised the larger issue of the believer who gives no evidence of his faith in the way he lives. He began by questioning the vitality of that faith. The form of this question in the Greek expects a negative response. If we translate it, "Can that kind offaith save him,"or, "Can suchfaith save him,"we may mislead the reader. The same construction exists in 1:2-4; 2:17, 18, 20, 22, 26; and 1 Corinthians 13:4 where the addition of "kind of"or "such"gives a more obviously improper translation. The presence of the definite article "the"with the abstract noun "faith"emphasizes the noun. James was saying that faith without works cannot save a person. Works area condition for some kind of salvation.
This statement seems to contradict Paul's affirmation that works are nota condition for salvation (e.g., Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 11:6; et al.). However, Paul and James were talking about different aspects of salvation. This is clear from James' earlier assertion that his Christian readers (1:18) would be able to save their "souls"(better "lives") if they obeyed God's Word (1:21). Jesus also gave similar warnings that if His disciples did not continue to follow Him they could lose their "souls"(i.e., lives; cf. Matt. 16:24-26; Mark 3:4; 8:34-37; Luke 9:23-25). He used the same Greek word as James did to describe the life (i.e., psyche). The translation "life"for "soul"may mislead us, however, into concluding that only the physical life is in view whenever we read this word (psyche). Rather it is the total person that psychedescribes, not just our eternal life (cf. 1 Pet. 1:9). Any aspect of our life may be in view, and the context will help us determine what it is.
In verse 14 James returned to his thought in 1:21-22 about saving one's life from death. His point here was that faith is no substitute for obedience. Orthodox faith without good works cannot protect the Christian from sin's deadly consequences in this life (i.e., a deadening of fellowship with God at least, and at most ultimately physical death; cf. 5:20; 1 John 5:16). That faith cannot save him from God's discipline of him as a believer. Good works in addition to faith are necessary for that kind of deliverance (salvation).104
"It would be difficult to find a concept which is richer and more varied in meaning than the biblical concept of salvation. The breadth of salvation is so sweeping and its intended aim so magnificent that in many contexts the words used defy precise definition. Yet these difficulties have not thwarted numerous interpreters from assuming, often without any contextual justification, that the words used invariably mean deliverance from hell' or go to heaven when you die.' It may come as a surprise to many that this usage of salvation' (Gk. soteria) would have been the least likely meaning to come to the mind of a reader of the Bible in the first century. Indeed, in 812 usages of the various Hebrew words translated to save' or salvation' in the Old Testament, only 58 (7.1 percent) refer to eternal salvation."105
