Faith and Works
Faith without works is dead. Are Paul and James talking about different things? Are you saying that Paul is talking about how we are justified before God but James is asking what that genuine faith looks like? This is where the big error shows up: "looks like". The idea is, "It's not that your works save you, it's that, if your faith is real, it's going to show up in how you live." But that's just double talk because there is a saving work, emphasized 3 times in Romans 10:9-14a. Also, the works might not be visible. The metaphor is often used which says that we won't put our hands on a hot stove because we believe it will burn us. That's true. The basic concept is sound. However, that line of cause and effect does not translate to "looks like", which has crept in as a test of salvation and burdened countless Christians, subverting real salvation doctrine. Genuine faith does produce works, but works which are visible to others have t...