But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! — James 2:18–19 (ESV)
Why would someone say, in response to James’s point about the necessity of works, “You have faith and I have works”? That doesn’t fit.
It sounds odd in English. What the hypothetical “someone” is saying in Greek is like, “One person has faith and another has works.”
But then he talks about the demons having faith. That’s creepy. Even demons have faith?
Yup. As if James’s argument isn’t already strong enough, he takes it up another notch by noting that demons have faith too. Yet they aren’t saved—and they know it.
And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” — Mark 1:23–24 (ESV)
Obviously, that faith cannot be saving faith.
Okay, I’ll ask the obvious set-up questions. Why isn’t it? Is it that the demon didn’t exactly say the words, “Jesus is Lord.”? Is it that the demon had faith without works?
The answer is that the demon effectively said that Jesus is the Lord but he didn’t confess Him as his Lord. So, it’s anything but a confession of faith.
In fact, the demon’s words are the exact opposite. They’re cleverly scripted to oppose Jesus’s agenda (by revealing His deity, which Jesus doesn’t want people to know yet).
So, in a way, that was a “work,” but for the “other side,” right?
Exactly. So, the first thing Jesus does is silence him.
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” — Mark 1:25 (ESV)
Jesus has the power to force the demon to do His will because He’s the Lord.
And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. — Mark 1:26 (ESV)
So, in a sense Jesus is his lord, because He can force him to do whatever he wants.
But the demon clearly doesn’t want to obey, so he’s not a member of Jesus’s kingdom. That’s why he says, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
Do not miss how harsh James’s point is here. He is directly comparing demons to people who have faith without works.
So, James is saying that they’re as bad as demons?!?
No, they’re not as bad as demons, but they’re as unsaved.
Wow! That’s downright nasty.
Is it? They’re in great danger.
If James gets their attention and they avoid disaster as a result, is his style a good thing or a bad thing?
What I don’t get is that their future is no better than a demon’s. Make sense out of that.
It’s basically a binary result. You’re either in or out.
Are there absolutely no gradations of outcome?
Yes, there are, but the main division is still binary.
This is way too advanced a topic for now, but I do want to clear up a common misconception—demons do not “run” hell.
Many popular books, even Christian ones like The Screwtape Letters, show demons running hell.
Yes, but they’re all comedy or lessons about things other than hell. Screwtape is great teaching about human nature, but it isn’t meant to be taken literally. The scripture references about hell all show the demons being torturees, not torturers.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” — Matthew 25:41 (ESV)
Same thing for Lewis’s The Great Divorce. It’s obviously not meant to be an accurate portrayal of hell.
So, what does the Bible say about hell?
There are a few vague images about fire. It’s not what the Bible says will happen, but what won’t happen that’s the key.
The damned are “cast out” from paradise (Matt 22:13, Luke 12:5, Luke 13:28, John 6:37, John 12:31) and the door is shut (Matthew 25:10, Luke 13:25).
We can’t really envision heaven or hell with any precision. Suffice it to say, hell is worse.
No surprise there. See you tomorrow.
