OceanSide church of Christ

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JAMES 2:20

Victor M. Eskew

 

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead/

 

1.    Know

A.   Strong (1097):  to know :-  be aware (of)…perceive, understand

B.    Thayer:  …come to know, get a knowledge of, perceive, to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of

C.   Vine:  signifies to be taking in knowledge, to come to know, recognize, understand, or to understand completely

 

2.    Vain

A.   Strong (2756):  empty

B.    Thayer:  empty, vain, devoid of truth…metaphorically destitute of spiritual wealth, one who boasts of his faith as a transcendent possession, yet is without the fruits of faith

C.   Vine:  empty, the hollowness of anything, the absence of that which might otherwise be possessed

 

3.    Faith

A.   Strong (4102):  persuasion…moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession

B.    Thayer:  conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined with it.

C.   Vine:  firm persuasion, a conviction based upon hearing; is used in the NT always of faith in God or Christ or things spiritual

 

4.    Works

A.   Strong (2041):  to work; toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication an act

B.    Thayer:  an act, deed, thing done:  the idea of working emphasized in opposition to that which is less than work

C.   Vine:  work…denotes every activity undertaken for Christ’s sake

 

5.    Dead

A.   Strong (3498):  dead

B.    Thayer:  one that has breathed his last…destitute of force or power, inactive,

inoperative

C.   Vine:  dead, inactive and barren