What Is Saving Faith? | James 2:14-26

September 2nd, 2025

What Is Saving Faith?

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?
James 2:14

James 2:14 asks a pointed question. The form of the question in Greek demands a negative answer. No—such a faith cannot save.

That raises the vital issue: what exactly is saving faith? In every generation, the church has been plagued with false substitutes. People profess faith, but their lives show no fruit. They may claim to be Christians, but their faith is lifeless. James calls that “dead faith.”

The Reformers gave us a helpful framework for defining true, saving faith. They broke it down into three Latin words: notitia, assensus, fiducia. These aren’t cold academic categories—they are the biblical anatomy of real Christianity.

1. Notitia – Knowledge

You cannot believe what you do not know. Saving faith begins with knowledge.

Paul says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Before anyone can trust Christ, they must know who He is and what He has done. They must know they are sinners, separated from God by nature and choice. They must know Jesus is the eternal Son of God who lived a perfect life, died for sins, and rose again.

This knowledge is not exhaustive. A child can be saved without a seminary education. But saving faith is never blind. It is always grounded in the revealed truth of God’s Word. As Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

A vague hope that “there’s something out there” is not saving faith. General faith is not biblical faith. Notitia is the content of the gospel that must be known.

2. Assensus – Belief

The second component is belief. You must not only know the truth, you must assent to it—you must believe it is true.

James confronts the shallow version of this belief head-on: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:19). The Shema from Deuteronomy 6 declares, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” James says, “Great, you affirm monotheism. So do the demons. And they tremble.”

Demons are Trinitarian. They believe in the historical facts of God’s existence and power. But their belief does not save them. Intellectual assent alone is insufficient. Mere agreement with facts does not reconcile a sinner to God.

Sadly, many churchgoers stop here. They say, “I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. I believe the Bible is true.” But their lives show no transformation. That is demonic faith, not saving faith.

3. Fiducia – Trust

The third component is where salvation lies: trust. Fiducia is a personal reliance on Christ alone. It is the difference between saying, “I know airplanes fly, I believe they fly,” and actually boarding the plane.

Saving faith casts the whole weight of your soul on Christ. It surrenders self-reliance, renounces works-righteousness, and says, “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling.”

Jesus called it coming to Him: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Paul called it boasting only in the cross: “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Fiducia is not a leap into the dark. It is a step into the light of Christ, trusting His promises, staking your eternity on Him.

What Saving Faith Is Not
James’ rebuke strips away the false versions of faith that lull people into false assurance:

Not repeating words.
- A sinner’s prayer recited without heart repentance is not saving faith.
Not baptism.
- Baptism pictures salvation; it does not cause it.
Not a change of mind or religion.
- Swapping philosophies is not salvation.
Not a life-altering event.
- Crises can wake us up, but storms and car wrecks do not save.
- Martin Luther was terrified into a monastery by a storm, but he wasn’t saved until he saw Christ in Romans 1:17.
Not sincerity.
- You can sincerely believe the wrong thing.
- Sincerity does not save.
Not family heritage.
- Faith is not inherited.
- You are not a Christian because your parents were.

James calls these counterfeits what they are: dead faith. They may look impressive, but they have no breath of life.

The Evidence of Saving Faith
So how do you know if you have saving faith? James gives the answer: fruit.

William Perkins, the Puritan, put it this way: “Look to the fruit and there you shall find the root.” The root of faith is invisible—it is in the heart. But the fruit is visible in works. Faith without works is dead because faith without fruit is no faith at all.

True faith is steadfast in trials (James 1:2–12).
True faith resists temptation (James 1:13–18).
True faith obeys truth (James 1:19–27).
True faith loves your neighbor impartially (James 2:1–13).

These four marks, which James has already laid out, prepare us to understand his climactic argument: faith without works is useless. Works do not create faith, but they always accompany it.

The Heart of the Matter
Saving faith is not about checking religious boxes. It is about a transformed heart. It is about loving God with all your heart (new desires), all your soul (new satisfaction), all your mind (new meditation), and all your strength (new obedience).

That great commandment becomes the plumb line of true Christianity. Any “faith” that bypasses love for God and neighbor is counterfeit. True faith breathes obedience because true faith has the Spirit’s life within it.

Conclusion
Christian, do you have notitia? Do you know the gospel? Do you have assensus? Do you believe it to be true? But most importantly—do you have fiducia? Have you trusted Christ with your whole being?

Faith without works is dead because faith without Christ is dead. But when you know Him, believe Him, and trust Him, your life will bear fruit. You will love God. You will love your neighbor. And you will be able to say with Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1:12).

Saving faith is Christ alone, received by faith alone, producing works that glorify God alone.

Posted in Articles, Church, James
Posted in James