I am not asking you if you just read it. I am asking you to read it again and yet do not read it with your OSAS lens or glasses on. Just let the text speak for itself and ask yourself the questions while you read it. Ask yourself while you read the text, and say,
“Does this sound like James is talking about how to ‘get saved’ or does it sound like he is talking about how one is living out their faith”?
For example: How do you understand James when he says the following words?
”Blessed
is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12).
The way I understand this is not how to get saved but I see it as living out your faith. We have to endure temptation and resist sin when we are tried, whereby we will receive the crown of life (salvation) as the result. This truly shows we love God and not our own sin or selfish ways. One is only fooling themselves if they say they love God and or they are saved and yet they are still holding to the idea they can justify sin on some level. Jesus warned about how even looking upon a woman in lust can cause our whole body to be cast into hellfire bodily (Matthew 5:28-30). Jesus did not end the sermon on the Mount with Him teaching to just believe on the finished work of the cross. Jesus did not end his sermon about how we do not need to worry about all the sins He just mentioned that can destroy your soul in the afterlife. That was not the conclusion He made. Just read Matthew 5, 6, and 7.