James 2:16

One of you. Without personal references the apostle tactfully highlights the inhumanity of such conduct, perhaps with actual occurrences in mind.

Depart in peace. A common form of farewell among the Jews, though not restricted to them (see Acts 16:36). It reveals, here, an offhand shirking of responsibility: “Depart, and may God or some friend provide for your needs.”

Be ye warmed and filled. Something more than faith alone is needed to clothe the shivering body and remove the pangs of hunger. To be given scriptural texts and godly precepts without the material help needed would be cruel mockery. The Greek implies that these church members suggested that someone else was to warm them.

Needful. That which is absolutely necessary for life was denied by fellow church members, who boasted of their “faith,” even though it is implied that they were able to satisfy the needs.

What doth it profit? This empty faith does not profit those who need material help. Nor does it profit the church member who loses another opportunity to help Christ in the person of one of the “least” of His “brethren.” (See 1 John 3:17; see on Matt. 25:41-45).