“What doth it profit?”
The full verse · James 2:16 · KJV
unto , , be ye ; ye those things which are to the ; doth it ?
Asked by
James: "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" (James 1:1), teaching that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26)
The Scene
To answer his question "can faith save him?" (James 2:14), James pictures "a brother or sister" who is "naked, and destitute of daily food" (James 2:15).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionJames wants his readers to feel how empty words can be. Everyone would agree that wishing a hungry person well, without giving food, does nothing. Gill describes the speaker as "wishing them all prosperity and happiness, inward and outward," and then says plainly, "these will neither warm them, nor fill them." Barnes notes that what the needy person wanted "was not good wishes or kind words merely." Once the reader answers this easy question, James can apply the same answer to faith.
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe answer is obvious: such words profit nothing. James applies it at once: "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (James 2:17). Faith that only speaks is like a blessing that never feeds anyone.
Historical Context
The world behind the words"Be ye warmed and filled" refers to the two needs James named: the person was "naked," meaning poorly clothed, and lacking "daily food" (James 2:15). James uses the same question here that he opened with in James 2:14, "what doth it profit?" The repeated question ties the picture to the point: empty words to the needy and empty faith before God are the same kind of thing.
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThis little question shows how closely James ties faith to love. The test of faith in this picture is not a creed but a cold, hungry brother or sister. James takes seriously "those things which are needful to the body" (James 2:16), and so he asks what words alone could ever do for someone who needs a coat and a meal.
The same concern runs through the letter. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction" (James 1:27). Faith that is real moves toward people in need.
Look Closer
What was wrong with saying "Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled"?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, You see the needs around me; whose need have I answered with words when You were inviting me to help?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Why is it sometimes easier to offer kind words than real help?
- Tell about a time someone met a practical need in your life. What did it show you about God's care?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Kind words matter, but they are not enough when someone is hungry or cold. When you see a need you can meet, let your faith move your hands as well as your mouth.
This does not mean you must meet every need you hear of, or that prayer and encouragement are worthless. James's picture is about a brother or sister standing in front of you, whom you could help and do not. Start there: with the person God has put in your path. Scripture's own application: 1 John 3:17-18
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?”
“But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”
“Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?”