Sounds like another case of hyper dispensationalism and faith "of" Jesus Christ vs. faith "in" Jesus Christ. 
Is faith WITHOUT works dead to GOD or Is faith WITHOUT works dead to man?
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I'll take the faith of Jesus Christ to justify me any day over my wavering, pathetic faith. One word makes all the difference in doctrine...individual faith and works...Christ's faith and works.
Sounds like another case of hyper dispensationalism and faith "of" Jesus Christ vs. faith "in" Jesus Christ.
Agree.
Death means separation of existence.
If James says, "faith without works is dead" he is saying Works are to Faith what the Body is to the Spirit.
The body displays the life of the spirit (breathe).
Work displays faith.
The only way I can display that I am alive is with my body.
The only way that I can display that I have faith is by my works.
If I have no works, does that mean that I have no faith? No it does not!
That would be like saying that if I die physically, I would no longer exist.
The truth is that I have eternal life, so though I may lose my body, I am still very much alive.
If you have faith but no works, you simply cannot demonstrate to another that you have faith.
"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 (James 2:18)."
To be effective, to be able to demonstrate our faith, and to earn rewards, we must have works.
This is the correct understanding of James, it is not about false professors which is the Lordship Salvation view which is incorrect and superimposed on the text.
He is admonishing his brethren in Christ to put their faith to work.
Death means separation of existence.
If James says, "faith without works is dead" he is saying Works are to Faith what the Body is to the Spirit.
The body displays the life of the spirit (breathe).
Work displays faith.
The only way I can display that I am alive is with my body.
The only way that I can display that I have faith is by my works.
If I have no works, does that mean that I have no faith? No it does not!
That would be like saying that if I die physically, I would no longer exist.
The truth is that I have eternal life, so though I may lose my body, I am still very much alive.
If you have faith but no works, you simply cannot demonstrate to another that you have faith.
"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 (James 2:18)."
To be effective, to be able to demonstrate our faith, and to earn rewards, we must have works.
This is the correct understanding of James, it is not about false professors which is the Lordship Salvation view which is incorrect and superimposed on the text.
He is admonishing his brethren in Christ to put their faith to work.
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Galatians 2:16 - knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith IN Jesus Christ, even we have believed IN Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith IN Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Verse 20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by falthough IN the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Verse 20 - I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by falthough IN the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
The "in" puts all the work on the believer to prove he is justified. Justification comes through the faith of Christ. The believer is justified the moment he believes, no works necessary. I'm relying on the finished work of the cross to justify me, not my works.
Our works will be judged at the JSOC. Rewards are at stake, not justification.
Our works will be judged at the JSOC. Rewards are at stake, not justification.
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Glad you brought up Romans 3.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
I'll add Galatians 3.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
I'll add Galatians 3.
22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
Faith without works is dead to both God and man, except perhaps to the most gullible of men, but God is never fooled. It's really very simple, anyone can claim they believe anything, but their works shall prove what they really believe. A good example is the parable of the seeds. Those that claim to have faith but no works are like the seeds that fall among the rocks and the weeds. They might have a little faith at first hearing the glorious truth of God, but at the first sign of pressure or persecution they wither, and their faith is dead. Or they might have at first heard the truth of the glory of God and believed truly and maybe even grown a little in it, but for their love of the world they are choked out by the weeds and their faith consequentially dies.
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Same audience as James, the nation of Israel scattered during the time of Jacob's trouble.
1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Joel 3:2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
1 Peter 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
Joel 3:2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
No, God always knows before they were even born. Consider King Saul. King Saul had faith in God at the first, but King Saul's works continually prove to both God and man that he does not really have faith in God, as Prophet Samuel points out to King Saul after his wicked work of sparing the Amalekites and making sacrifice of the bounty he took instead of utterly destroy like God told him to. Even into the end Saul tries to communicate with God while being in the midst of excommunication, and works wickedly again trying to consult Samuel and God through a witch, to which both God and Samuel both pronounce his ultimate doom.
It is a huge difference in doctrine. Whose faith justifies? Christ or the individual believer? If you say the individual believer, then works become part of the the justification process. If this is true, a man is not justified by believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, but by works. That becomes a messy doctrine emphasizing man's works. No thank you.
Philippians 3:
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
No works don't prove your justification or salvation, that is a whole other subject. Works prove your faith. So again, in the example of King Saul, when he disobeyed God by refusing to utterly destroy the Amalekites, but rather took a spoil of them, this constitutes a wicked work that proves he does not really have faith in God because he did not obey the commandment of God. Saul even attempts another wicked work, that is, he tries to do sacrifice of the spoils that he took to prove he has faith in God, yet God is not fooled by this, nor is Samuel, who says "what then is the bleating of these sheep in my ears?" So Saul's works proved that he has no real faith to both God and Samuel as he will prove over and over from that point forward through his wicked works.