What Demons Believe

The resounding point in chapter two of the Letter of James is that authentic Christian faith is a dynamic reality, that it "works."  If we claim to have faith in Jesus but there is no meaningful expression of that faith in our actions, the claim lacks merit.  Faith without works is dead (vv 17, 26)--lifeless, useless, meaningless.  In other words, "faith" that does not lead to changed living is not true Christian faith.  And the heart that says "I believe Jesus died for me so now I can just live as I please because I'm forgiven and heaven's a done deal" is a heart that lacks genuine faith in Christ:  it is the heart of an unbeliever.  That's because real faith involves trust in and admiration for and a readiness to follow in the steps of the One we trust, the living Lord Jesus Christ.  Faith involves not only knowing truth but loving the God of truth.  No, that doesn't mean real Christians practice their faith perfectly--James is aware of that error too (3:2; cf. 1 John 1:8, 10).  But it does mean that true faith simply cannot be bottled up in the brain:  it must get out and get hands and feet and words--it must "work."


The folly of "faith without works" is driven home vehemently in 2:19:  "You believe that God is one; you do well.  Even the demons believe—and shudder!"  Notice that affirming truth does not add up to biblical faith.  If we say we "believe" that the Bible is true, and if we believe that there is just one God, one great creator God, and if we go on and affirm the doctrine of the incarnation and the deity of Christ and the truth of the sin-bearing work of the Son of God on the cross on behalf of sinners (etc.), that kind of mental assent, valuable as it is, does not save.  In fact, it does no more than what the demons do.  Satan and his vile cohorts acknowledge true information about God--his oneness, even his awesome majesty (note that they "shudder" at the thought of the true God).  But "believing" the facts is not enough, and that's because "believing" the facts is not what it means to have faith.  Authentic Christian faith involves trust, admiration, devotion, and praise; genuine faith necessarily engages the heart and arouses the will, but it is never be content just to sit in the mind affirming abstract information to which we tip our hat.
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