2:18

Nevertheless, someone will say: James here introduces an imaginary “someone” to further his point on the relationship between faith and works. He apparently has in mind “someone” responding to an objector who insists that works are not necessary in order to demonstrate true faith. To answer that objection, the imaginary “someone” presents this challenge: ‘You may claim to show me your supposed faith without works, but I will show you my faith by my works.’ The point is: Any person who claims to have faith but who has no works to show his faith in action would not actually have real faith. His supposed faith would be a mere sham. However, because the original Greek text does not use quotation marks, some translations present this dialogue as if “someone” is objecting to James’ argument and James himself replies. Regardless of how the dialogue is understood, the point is the same: Real faith is shown by works.