[S I M T A N]

They are not my beliefs. My arguments here are based on your scriptures. I don't believe nor disbelieve your scriptures. I don't interpret them. I quote them as they are written. You cannot tell me James didn't oppose Paul when the text clearly shows that. James' arguments in James 2 were against the notion of sola fide.

If you say James and Paul were on the same page, you're being intellectually dishonest.

In reply to your previous posts some time back regarding the controversial sola fide principle, I gave a blow-by-blow explanation of the problematic verses. But you didn't address the issues I raised, such as people not reading James's verses in context or reading them out of context. Whatever I'd written about the sola fide issue time and time again, you just passed it over. You misinterpreted those verses, and your stock reply would be "Christians say no need to be obedient to God's law," and "Can disregard God's commandments," which of course is completely unscriptural.

When James says that we've been born again and justified by faith, he doesn't think we're born again by our works. A person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. James was replying to errorists who mistakenly thought that if they had faith, they didn't need to show their love by a life of faith (James 2:14-17) He countered this error by teaching that true, saving faith is alive, showing itself to be so by deeds of love (James 2:18,26). The author of James taught that justification is by faith alone and also that faith is never alone but shows itself to be alive by good deeds that express a believer's thanks to God for the free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. James actually stressed the necessity of good works as a consequence or "fruit" of faith.

The crux of the matter is that people can't earn their salvation by keeping a set of rules because Jesus removed the law as a requirement for achieving righteousness with God (Rom 10:4). This doesn't mean we can celebrate, discard the law and have no misgiving about sinning. In Christianity, faith and works go hand in hand. The essential truths of the gospel are simple enough for a youngster to understand them. It's quite clear that Jesus taught justification by faith alone. Sola fide is a central biblical distinctive, if not the single most important doctrine to get right. This is the doctrine that makes authentic Christianity distinct from every other religions, including yours.

For people like you who preach salvation by works, I can only conclude that they do not believe that sola fide is the only alternative to a damning system of works-based salvation.