Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Parallel translations
- WEB You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
- BSB You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
- 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 4:34Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
- Mark 1:24Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
- Matt 8:29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
- Acts 16:17The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
- Deut 6:4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
- Gal 3:20Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
- Acts 19:15And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
- Mark 5:7And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
- Isa 44:8Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
- Zech 14:9And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
- Isa 46:9Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
- Isa 44:6Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
- 1 Tim 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
- Isa 43:10Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
- Mark 12:29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
- John 17:3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
- 1 Cor 8:6But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
- Rom 3:30Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
- Isa 45:6That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
- Eph 4:5–6One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
- Isa 45:21–22Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
- Rev 20:10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
- 1 Cor 8:4As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
- Rev 20:2–3And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
- Jude 1:6And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
- Jas 2:8If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
- Mark 7:9And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
- Jude 1:4For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Jonah 4:4Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
- Acts 24:25And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
- Jonah 4:9And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
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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.
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Original language
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