I hear a lot of word games played by works-salvationists. On a different Christian forum, one member continuously makes this claim:
"We are not saved by works of the law or good works, but by the obedience of faith" implying we are saved by acts of obedience that are produced out of faith, which are good works, so his argument is moot. Another member stated:
"It's not works of the law or works of merit but works of obedience that help to save us." I've heard all kinds of sugar-coated double talk (word games) from works-salvationists over the years.
In James 2:14 we read of one who
says/claims (key word - profession of faith) he has faith but has
no works (to
evidence his claim). That 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.
So, James
does not teach that we are saved "by" works. His concern is to
show the reality of the faith
professed by the individual (
James 2:18) and
demonstrate that the faith
claimed (
James 2:14) by the individual is
genuine. Simple!
