Nope. Love is not great because it remains, it is great because God is love and we can establish that love and faith are two different things from 1 Cor 13.
Faith alone doesn't save, faith without works is dead:
James 2:26
As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 2:17
So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead.
The works that must accompany faith are the works of love without which faith means nothing.
1 John 2:4
If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Matt 25:
37Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?
38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?
39When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’
40And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
This is judgement day and what we see is judgement based on works and not faith. You can not turn these passage to mean otherwise. Jesus says they were righteous because of what they did.
I had already previously mentioned that love is the greater quality of the three because God is love and it outlasts them all. Long after faith and hope are no longer necessary throughout eternity, love will still be the governing principle that controls everything that God and his redeemed people/saints are and do. We will not need faith and hope throughout eternity in our glorified bodies in the presence of the Lord.
Faith IN CHRIST alone saves (Romans 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Philippians 3:9)
In James 2:26, the comparison of the human spirit and faith converges around their modes of operation. The spirit (Greek pneuma) may also be translated "breath." As a breathless body emits no indication of life, so fruitless faith exhibits no indication of life. The source of the life in faith is not works; rather, life in faith is the source of works (Ephesians 2:5-10). We are not saved by faith + love/works.
In James 2:17-20, "faith without works is dead"
does not mean that faith is dead until it produces works and then it becomes a living faith (which is like saying that a tree is dead until it produces fruit and then it becomes a living tree) or that works are the source of life in faith or that we are saved by works. James is simply saying
faith that is not accompanied by evidential works is dead. If someone
says-claims they have faith but
lack resulting evidential works, then he has an
empty profession of faith/dead faith and not authentic faith. Simple!
1 John 2:3-4 seperates the genuine believers from the make believers/says I know Him but... You continue to confuse the root of salvation (FAITH) with the fruit of salvation (WORKS) and the end result is salvation by works.
After a superficial reading of the parable of the sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46) "on the surface" these verses seem to suggest that salvation is the result of good works, yet all scripture proves itself right and non-contradictory when compared with the totality of scripture. This passage has to be taken alongside the whole of scripture. Jesus was not advocating salvation by works. That would be contrary to (Romans 4:4-6; Ephesians 2:8,9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5) etc... One's works are an effect of (and therefore indication of) one's salvation status, rather than being a cause of one's salvation. The good deeds mentioned in Matthew 25:35-36 are merely the fruit that will be manifest in the lives of the redeemed. Those who are placed at Christ's right hand are not there based on the merits of their good deeds, but because the righteousness of God has been imputed to them (Romans 4:2-6; Philippians 3:9).
When works are mentioned in connection with salvation, the works are always the result of, not the condition of, receiving salvation. The stress is on works as a manifestation of one's faith (or lack thereof), not simply on the faith from which these works follow. So it is understandable that in this context, Matthew would stress the works that are a manifestation of faith in Christ, by which one receives eternal life.
*Notice how love for other Christians is an indication of one's salvation status: 1 John 3:10 - In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest:
Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. He who practices righteousness and loves his brother does so BECAUSE he is "of God" not to become of God. 1 John 3:14 -
We know that we have (past tense) passed from death to life, because we love our brothers (present tense). Loving our brothers is the result of, not the condition of passing from death to life. Doing good deeds is the result of and not the cause of being righteous. You have the tail wagging the dog. The cart before the horse.
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