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