Not to oversimplify the topic, but I believe faith can be boiled down into two categories: (1) Faith that responds and (2) faith that doesn’t. There are surely other concepts of faith, but they all fall into one of these two categories. We will consider only one other, and it is an extension of faith that doesn’t respond. I would like to consider them using a slightly different phrase. 

Consider the imagery from James: 

“What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:14-18). 

How can a person argue they have faith but not be doing anything? Faith without action is dead faith… We must conclude there are different types of “faith.” To what type is James referring? A living, obedient faith—that’s how one can be justified before God; a faithful faith, a faith that gives life to action. That my friends, is good sense. 

James illustrates: “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless?” (vv. 19-20). Since there are indeed, different types of “faith”; to what type is James referring here? A disobedient faith, a dead faith—that is, a faith that recognizes, accepts, is fully convinced, and yet, does not do anything with that information. This faith gives no rise to action, it is unresponsive, it is dead and brings death. They have enough sense to “tremble” (NKJV), but not enough sense to do. Trembling disobedience is just bad sense. 

James continues, “Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected” (vv. 21-22). What if Abraham had heard God’s request in Gen. 22, believed God’s request, but simply ignored the command altogether? This an extension of dead faith, but one that is so common it warranted being addressed separately. This is ignoring faith, it is still dead, and it still brings death, but it ignores the realities of faith and all that it demands. It almost sounds funny to say, but at least the demons had enough sense to tremble before the Almighty. This category has no sense at all. To ignore the reality of God’s existence, and therefore the innate desire for a relationship with Deity is senselessness. 

Perhaps I’ve missed it somewhere. Perhaps I’m wrong. But, as I see it there are only three possibilities: Good sense (obedient, faithful faith, living faith); bad sense (disobedient faith, dead faith—sees truth but doesn’t respond to it); or no sense at all (ignore it all—choose the ostrich approach, where you bury your head in the ground and pretend none of it matters). 

I would be amiss if I didn’t state, that Biblical faith is an all-encompassing concept that when spoken of positively, always includes the ideas of action, doing, trusting, allegiance, fidelity,  faithfulness, and the like (see Heb. 11). 

Choose wisely which will characterize you.