This will be my last response on this thread. To answer the question - Yes, a dead body is a body. Likewise, dead faith is still faith. The question is, how can you turn a dead faith into a living faith? By doing āgoodā works? I would suggest that many people have tried that, which is why Jesus says, āOn that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.āā (Matt 7:22-23 RSV). Isnāt casting out demons a āgood workā? And yet, Jesus says He never knew these people. I would suggest that a dead faith can only be made alive in the same way a dead body can be made alive, which is through the mercy and grace of God. Eph 2:8-10 (RSV) says, āFor by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God ā not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.ā Notice that God has prepared the good works that we are to do, and this by the faith that He has given us. Also notice that the faith for salvation came before the works that God prepared for us to do. I would say that this clearly shows that salvation comes by faith alone (and that as a free gift from God). Just as life in the body is dependant upon God alone, so faith comes from God alone, and is not āearnedā or ādeservedā in any way.
Pax!
No, the question here is not how do we turn a dead faith into a living faith, the question before us is: can faith aloneā¦which James 2:26 is dead faithā¦save us? You agree that James 2:26 tells us: sola corpus = dead body; sola fide = dead faith. You agree that dead faith really is faith, but that itās dead, just like a dead body really is a body, just dead. Yet, you still cling to the belief that we are saved by faith alone. I understand why that was your last post, because you cannot explain that contradiction in your system of theology, can you? That contradiction being:
You agree, with James 2:26, that faith without works is really faith, just dead faith. And, you agree that a dead faith cannot save anyone. Yet, you believe we are saved by faith without works. Thatās why itās a Question Protestants Canāt Answer - it causes you guys all sorts of logical and scriptural consistency problems.
Regarding your āsuggestionā about the meaning of Matt 7:22-23, I have read it, considered it, and reject it outright. You seem to be forgetting Matthew 7:21, which states that āhe who DOES the will of My Fatherā will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Does ādoingā the will of the Father fall under the category of āfaithā or the category of āworks?ā And, remember Eph 2:10, that we āshouldā do the works which the Father has prepared for us beforehand? If the Father has prepared works for us to do, then we can rightly say it is Godās will that we do these works, correct? So, can we get into the Kingdom of Heaven if we do not do Godās by not doing these works? We do indeed do these works by the grace of God through the faith that we have (also by the grace of God), but we still have to do the works, or we are not doing the will of God for our lives. Donāt do the will of God, donāt get into the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 7:21).
By the way, the āactā of faith is, in and of itself, a work (see John 6:27-29). The problem with your argument, that faith comes before works and thereby āclearly showsā salvation is by faith alone, is that: 1) You are ignoring what you just admitted about James 2:26; and 2) you are looking at salvation as a one-time static event, rather than a process. Catholics do not believe our āworksā save us - neither our faith nor our works cause God to āoweā us salvation. Salvation is an entirely free gift of God, and this belief of ours is shown in our practice of infant baptism - the infant cannot have faith, nor do works, yet is saved by Godās grace alone. But, once we are saved by Godās free gift of of His grace, we have to respond, or we can indeed lose that salvation. Scripture says we must āabideā in Christ. How do we abide in Christ? By faith alone? Not according to John 15:1-6 and elsewhere. We abide in Christ by producing fruit, by keeping the commandments, by loving others. Is that faith, or works? It is works, undergirded by faith, and both by the grace of God. How do you say we abide in Christ? Faith alone? Please show me where the Bible ever states such a thing?
I admit that faith generally comes before works (with the notable exception of the āactā of faith itself - in which case itās a tie between the two), but that in nowise proves salvation by faith alone, since salvation is a process, at least, according to Paul: āWe were saved;ā āWe are being saved,ā āWe will be saved.ā Process.
