Faith involves belief and action. James 2:20-22
No, faith OUGHT to involve action. That was James' point.
Listen closely to James 2:18
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."
I will point out that I moved the second quote mark from after the first "deeds" to after the second "deeds". I did this because the verse makes NO SENSE where all the translations place that second quote mark.
The "someone" actually says the whole verse: you have faith; I have deeds. Show me (the someone) your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith BY MY DEEDS.
iow, the "someone" begins by noting he has deeds. But the next sentence shows that he says that he can "show you" his faith BY HIS DEEDS.
This "someone" is addressing another who "has faith". So the "someone" is challenging the other person to show him his faith without any deeds.
The point is; a believer cannot show their faith apart from their deeds.
And that was the example James gave in v.15,16.
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.
16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?
iow, it isn't any good. Words don't meet needs. Actions do.
Paul's message to Lydia, the first Gentile European, and her family included the need to be baptized in water. (Acts 16:9-16)
No, read the text:
14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
There is NOTHING about "the NEED to be baptized". She simply WAS baptized. You are misreading the text.
Paul's message to the Ephesus disciples included the need to be water baptized in the name of the Lord as well. (Acts 19:1-6)
First, these 12 hadn't received the Holy Spirit, and didn't even know the Spirit existed. All they were aware of what John's baptism of repentance. So Paul had them baptized in the name of the Lord. But there is NOTHING in the text about baptism being required for salvation. They were Gentiles, and like the Gentiles in Acts 8, they didn't receive the Spirit by water baptism. They received the Spirit by the laying on of hands.
Paul's message to the jailer and his household included the need to be water baptized. (Acts 16:33)
Why do you always insert the word "the need to be" where there is NO such wording. When the jailer asked Paul what he MUST DO to be saved, Paul's answer was the gospel: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. That's it.
The fact that they WERE baptized doesn't prove that it "is required".
Paul did preach baptism. In addition, he explained what actually occurs in the spiritual realm when people are baptized into Christ. (Romans 6:3-6)
Let's take a peek into what Paul preached, shall we?
1 Cor 15-
1 Now, brothers and sisters,
I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand.
2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of
first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
11 Whether, then, it is I or they,
this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Paul begins by reminding the Corinthians what he had preached to them in v.1. In v.2 he tells them they ARE SAVED because they possessed the gospel that he preached.
Then, in v.3 Paul lists what he considered of
"first importance". And he ends this segment by saying "this is what we preach, and this is what you believed".
So Paul was acknowledging that they were saved (v.2) because they believed (v.11).
Now, please point out where Paul included water baptism that he preached to the Corinthians.
Mark 1:1-5 makes the point that the gospel includes the need to be water baptized.
1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God,
2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” —
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”
4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
Huh? This is about John's baptism, not "Christian baptism". It has no relevance to Christian baptism.
This is Paul's view of John's baptism in Acts 19-
3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
Pretty clear. John's baptism had nothing to do with salvation. It was about repentance that led to a change in behavior. That does NOT save. And note that even the water baptism Paul administered didn't result in the 11 receiving the Spirit. It was AFTER the baptism that Paul "laid his hands on them" and THEN they received the Spirit.
So none of the verses you quote help you out.
