It's you who is twisting the scriptures. You still stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that James said, "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says-claims he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" What kind of faith is that? -- empty profession of faith/dead faith. (James 2:14-20)
You are obviously not understanding what is written or you choose to ignore the plain reading of scripture.The passage clearly says:
"
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons."(James 2:1)
It is established here that James is speaking to brethren who have the faith of the Lord Jesus.They believe enough to be called brethren.There is no mere nor empty profession of faith here.This is actual faith.
The letter is written to "brethren" (believers) and so are ALL the epistles, yet this does not mean that the hypothetical person being discussed in James 2:14 is a believer and it also does not mean that everyone being discussed throughout every letter in every book in the New Testament are believers either. It's not hard to find "nominal" Christians mixed in with a group of genuine believers and that goes for Christian Chat as well.
I never quoted the passage above to show that it was written to brethren.I quoted the passage to highlight the faith being referred to.It was the faith which allowed the persons referenced to be called brethren.It is not mere nor professing faith.You can't decide who is nominal or not,by your own mind.Neither can James and hence the reason for his admonition in this passage.He sets out clearly what it is that determines who is truly saved.It is not the one who only believes but:
"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."(James 2:24)
You are really having a difficult time grasping the truth here. Once again, in James 2:14, we read of one who says-claims he has faith but has no resulting evidential works (to back up his claim). This is not genuine faith, but a bare profession of faith. So when James asks, "Can that faith save him?" He is saying nothing against genuine faith, but only against an empty profession of faith/dead faith. Simple!
The use of the word, "say", in James 2:14,has confused you into thinking it provides a loophole for your false doctrine.The "saying" is the only evidence that you can have that someone believes.Can you say how else this can be expressed?Hence all who have so professed are viewed as brethren.No one except God can determine if this belief is genuine or not.But apart from being genuine or not,there is another test of this faith and this is the gravamen of James' teaching.Which teaching you refuse to accept.It says clearly:
"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is
dead, being alone."(James 2:17)
So whether it is mere/professing faith or real faith it is
dead without the appropriate works.This is borne out in the parable of the sower,as apart from those which fell on good ground, others also did believe but were hindered from producing the fruits(works) by various factors and hence were not saved.(Matthew 13:18-23)
False. James said says-claims to have faith and the lack of resulting evidential works demonstrates a spurious faith. It's so obvious if you would just open your eyes to the truth.
Dead faith is not living faith. James is discussing the evidence of faith (says-claims to have faith but has no works/I will show you my faith by my works - James 2:14-18), not the initial act of being accounted as righteous with God (Romans 4:2-3). Works bear out the justification that already came by faith. No works at all bear out a lack of genuine faith.
The faith is spurious and dead not because it was not faith but because it was not accompanied by the appropriate works.Read it again:
"Even so
faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"(James 2:17-20)
As was said above,there is no way to express faith except by initially professing.I will ask again;do you know of another way?How can you know who it is that really believes and who are deceivers who only claim to believe?The fact is you can't.However there is a test to even determine how lasting and effective is the faith of the person who really believes.Jesus said it this way:
"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him,
If ye continue in my word,
then are ye my disciples indeed;And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."(John 8:32)
And James supports this by saying:
"Ye see then
how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."(James 2:24)
As does the apostle Paul:
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey,
his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"(Romans 6:15,16
No, an empty profession of faith/dead faith that produces no works at all is not authentic faith IN CONTRAST with the faith of Abraham which was authentic faith that was evidenced by works. You seem to believe that all faith is the same except for the lack of works and cannot seem to grasp a deeper faith which trusts in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, which also explains why you have so much faith in works for salvation.
There is no contrasting of "faiths" in the passage.Abraham is being used as an example of what the faith they have should produce.There is no mention of non-genuine faith.You misunderstand/misrepresent the fact that all have to express their faith in a particular way.Again,can you show another way to do this apart from "saying"?How do you do it?As I wrote before:
He seals the case(or so he thought)by using the father of faith,Abraham,as the example for all that was said so far.
All had faith but the difference with Abraham was:
"
Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only."(James 2:21-24)
In James 2:21, notice closely that James does not say that Abraham's work of offering up Isaac resulted in God's accounting Abraham as righteous. The accounting of Abraham's faith as righteousness was made in Genesis 15:6, many years before his work of offering up Isaac recorded in Genesis 22. The work of Abraham did not have some kind of intrinsic merit to account him as righteous, but it showed or manifested the genuineness of his faith. This is the "sense" in which Abraham was "justified by works." He was shown to be righteous.
You are very selective with the scriptures and hence you ignore a statement which sheds light on your opinion above.James says:
"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God."(James 2:23)
fulfilled -plēroō
From G4134; to make replete, that is, (literally) to cram (a net), level up (a hollow), or (figuratively) to furnish (or imbue, diffuse, influence), satisfy, execute (an office), finish (a period or task), verify (or coincide with a prediction), etc.:
After the declaration to Abraham he was told:
"...
walk before me and be thou perfect."(Genesis 17:1)
After his act of obedience with his son God said:
"And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD,
for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because thou hast obeyed my voice."(Genesis 22:16-18)
And also:
"Because that
Abraham obeyed my voice,and kept my charge,my commandments, my statutes,and my laws."(Genesis 26:5)
What was said of Abraham in Genesis 15:6,was only fulfilled when Abraham obeyed later on.Hence:
"And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God...
And:
"Seest thou how
faith wrought with his works, and by works was
faith made perfect?"
(James 2:22)
Just as Abraham fulfilled what was spoken of him initially, in order to complete or make perfect his faith, James is urging the brethren who believe to do the same.He is not contrasting "faiths".