I've been gone for a week and lost track of this thread. I see that James has been quoted a few times in discussing faith vs works. It's often overlooked that James was written to saved Jews. It wasn't written to tell how to get saved. It was written to tell what do AFTER being saved. The statement that faith without works is dead is telling those already saved that they need to do works for the Lord rather than just sitting on their butts doing nothing.
How would you teach this concept? If you were instructing new Christians, how would you train them to view the quality and or quantity of their works and white degree of impact on their salvation with those works at? Are you saying that the salvation of a human being is ultimately defined by the works that they do?
James was a Jew who wrote to Jews under the Mosaic Law, James 1:1. As he was under the gospel of the kingdom, faith plus works were bound together for Jews. Salvation by faith alone (the gospel of grace later by Paul) was unknown to the Jews at that time.
Since James was written between 45-50 AD and is one of the earliest books, James had no knowledge or understanding of Paul’s gospel of grace yet. James zealously believed in the Mosaic Law and having faith plus works, James 2:18. Old Testament salvation required required faith and works, and James was written like an O.T. Book to Jews, not Gentiles. The salvation doctrine by faith alone was unknown before Paul was commissioned by the ascended Lord. Since Paul, we are now saved by having faith alone in the finished work of Jesus.
Paul clearly teaches that the covenant of Grace was what saved Abraham. He quoted what Moses was inspired to write, “Abraham believed God (the promise of the messiah and the forgiveness of sin) and it was COUNTED to him as righteousness”. Abraham was saved by grace. Imputation, while not named, was taught in Genesis. Paul simply expanded on the teaching in his writings.
