You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Parallel translations
- WEB You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
- KJV Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
- NKJV You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
- NASB You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
- NLT You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believing that God is one is good, but even the demons believe that and shudder. Mere intellectual assent is not saving faith.
Overview
James grants that orthodox belief in one God (the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4) is right, but warns that bare belief is not enough—demons share that conviction and tremble. Saving faith is more than mental agreement with true facts; it is a wholehearted trust that transforms life. Right doctrine without surrendered obedience leaves one no better off than the demons.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 31
- Luke 4:34“Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
- Mark 1:24“What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
- Matt 8:29“What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
- Acts 16:17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”
- Deut 6:4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.
- Gal 3:20A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one.
- Acts 19:15Eventually, one of the evil spirits answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
- Mark 5:7And he shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!”
- Isa 44:8Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.”
- Zech 14:9On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth—the LORD alone, and His name alone.
- Isa 46:9Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
- Isa 44:6Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.
- 1 Tim 2:5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
- Isa 43:10“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.
- Mark 12:29Jesus replied, “This is the most important: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
- John 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
- 1 Cor 8:6yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist.
- Rom 3:30since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
- Isa 45:6so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
- Eph 4:5–6one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
- Isa 45:21–22Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.
- Rev 20:10And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- 1 Cor 8:4So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Rev 20:2–3He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
- Jude 1:6And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
- Jas 2:8If you really fulfill the royal law stated in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.
- Mark 7:9He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.
- Jude 1:4For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
- Jonah 4:4But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”
- Acts 24:25As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”
- Jonah 4:9Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The wisdom from above and the royal law of love are the life of those who belong to 'our glorious Lord Jesus Christ' — faith in him made visible in works.
How James 2:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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