My last post about the freeness of grace generated a lot of conversation. Every time I teach or write on the wondrous grace of God that is ours in Christ Jesus someone invariably replies, “Even the demons believe!” For some reason they must feel that referring me to James 2:19 will cause me to recant, or at least to qualify my claim that the gift of eternal life is conditioned only by belief.
I won’t.
Not because I don’t want people to disagree with me, but because I don’t think that James 2:19 teaches that the demons’ belief unravels the promises of God that those who believe in Jesus receive eternal life.
Here are five reasons why James 2:19 doesn’t rock my grace boat:
1) The Greek verb translated “believe” and the noun translated faith mean simple trust. And that simple translation, “trust,” works fine in this sentence.
2) When I believed in Jesus Christ, I trusted in Him as the One who made payment for my sins. The demons haven’t trusted in God as the One they are going depend on. They rebelled openly in His very presence.
3) What the demons believe, or trust in, if you read carefully, is that God is one. Well of course they tremble and fear. They trust in the absolute truth that God is one and that they are living in rebellion against Him. This explains why they spoke openly with the Lord Jesus in the Gospels. They knew who He was because He had tossed them out of heaven.
Let me illustrate the difference between what the demons believe about Jesus and what we believe as New Testament Christians. I’ve voted in a number of presidential elections. Sometimes my candidate, the one I trusted in, won. Often, the one I didn’t trust in won. Every time my candidate didn’t win, I still “believed” that he was the President. I trusted in the fact that he had power over my life, I just didn’t believe in him as a good President. In the same way, the demons “believe” that Jesus is God, they just refused to trust in Him and what He said about their place in the universe.
4) The specific context of the “dead faith” discussion of James 2:14-25 is the contention by some that we Christians can believe that God will take care of the poor and needy, but we really don’t need to do anything to demonstrate to them that our God really cares. James’s point is clear: Faith that just claims promises for others is dead or useless to them. James 2 is a call to prove to a watching world that our God gives us power to live selflessly, not a call to prove that we have really “believed” in Jesus as our Savior.
5) The laminated promises of God overwhelm the very few verses that have been used by legalists to challenge the freeness of the Gospel.
Christian, you can be sure of this: When you believed in Jesus Christ, you received eternal life (John 6:47) … and it was absolutely free (3:24).
Question: Do you see the difference between believing something about a person and believing in that person?
Great post!! Thanks
You’re welcome, Roger. All for grace and mercy.
Exactly. Excellent response. This verse also helps us understand what James means by faith/believe: mental assent only without a volitional component. They agree with the facts, but will not rest/trust in them.
Great insight, Bill. Nice to meet you. All for grace and mercy.
Question: Do you see the difference between believing something about a person and believing in that person? Absolutely! Here is a great story of how God hits people over the head with the truth until they get it. Some of us are more stubborn then others.
The Gay Community and That One Time Jesus Called Me the ‘N-word’ http://www.prodigalmagazine.com/jesus-called-me-the-n-word/
“Now you know what it sometimes “feels” like to be gay. Now you know what the gay community has to face from family/neighbors/the church.”
Same could be said – “Now you know what it sometimes “feels” like to have had an abortion. Now you know what women have to face from family/neighbors/thechurch.”
Same could be said – “Now you know what it sometimes “feels” like because I am poor. Now you know what poor people feel when they are accused of being lazy and needing help from the government.
Hate begets hate, intolerance begets intolerance. Love and acceptance begets love and acceptance.
Used this argument with someone and they were dumbfounded. Simple question: “What DO the demons believe?”
It’s amazing how superficial predispositions are when challenged with truth….READ the CONTEXT.
A few thoughts. When Lucifer & his followers “fell,” they stopped believing in Yahweh as God. Now they tremble because of their error. This, however has nothing to do with people. Every demon believes that every human that believes in Jesus as the granter and guarantor of everlasting life that can never be lost, have that life. The basis for that, is that Jesus died on the cross to pay for all of the sins of humans. There is nothing in the Bible about Lucifer & his followers. Since no humans go to the lake of fire because their sin has not been paid for, we techinically go to hell because we do not believe in Jesus for everlasting life, and not to “pay” for their sin. Humans go to hell with sins paid for but not forgiven because they do not have eternal life. The penalty has already been paid for. On the other hand, I think Lucifer & his followers will actually “pay” for their sin in the lake of fire. If faith is being persuaded of the truth, the demons have a lot more sound doctrine than we do. There is nothing wrong with their faith. There is no salvation for demons. That is why they tremble.
Hi Donald–I appreciate your reply. I disagree on a few points, but that’s okay with me. I’d love to think this through with you. My first impression from your comment is that it is a possibility, but I feel as if you’re reading a lot of theology into James 2:19. I prefer my simpler view that we just look at the context and ask what the demons believe: God is one. The oneness of God sure explains their fear and trembling when they met the Lord Jesus, the Second Person of the Godhead, when He walked on earth. I think they tremble for the same reasons every unbeliever will tremble at the Great White Throne: They know that Jesus is God and that He has all power. They have irreversibly rebelled against Him.
Context is the great explainer of most challenges to the freeness of the Gospel. Thanks for the comment, Dan.