From the ArcaMax Publishing, Bible Verses Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/bibleverses/s-572448-148892
Faith Without Works Is Dead
Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then
observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something
wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do
them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut
faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he
placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that
faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in
works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of
"believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set
right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and
acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a
person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith
fruitful in works?
The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding
God's spies and helping them escape - that seamless unity of believing
and doing - what counted with God? The very moment you separate body
and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you
get the same thing: a corpse.
James 2:20-26 The Message