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That is not what dead faith means and nor should one line be pulled from context....and you make an awful lot of assumptions about those know eternal life is a gift not based on self works but on the work of Christ!!
The reason there is so much resistance to what Fran is saying is because the church is incapable of understanding works as the obligatory footprints of faith. They think faith and works are two completely distinct and separate things in life and so they think it entirely possible to live a full, long life with all arms and legs, and mouth working and you can get to the Judgment with nothing but a cold, dead, empty OSAS confession of faith in Christ and not have a life characterized by righteous work and Christ will usher you into the kingdom. That's not even remotely true. Many will be sorely surprised on the Day of Judgment to find out that James was not lying when he said dead faith (faith without works attached) can not save.
The only place that works and faith are distinct and separate is in justification. You are not justified by works. That is impossible. You would have to have been a perfect person, according to all of the law, to be justified by what you do. This truth the church knows quite well. The problem is, they think justification by faith apart from works means they do not have any obligation to purposely and consciously walk in good works because as they love to say, "salvation is soooo not of works", which it isn't, but they don't realize if they truly had justification apart from their works their life must prove the presence of that justification. They boast and they brag about how powerful God is in salvation in saving works-less people but don't seem to realize that that belief also shows God to be so pathetically unable and powerful enough to cause their faith to manifest itself in a life of righteous living.
The only place that works and faith are distinct and separate is in justification. You are not justified by works. That is impossible. You would have to have been a perfect person, according to all of the law, to be justified by what you do. This truth the church knows quite well. The problem is, they think justification by faith apart from works means they do not have any obligation to purposely and consciously walk in good works because as they love to say, "salvation is soooo not of works", which it isn't, but they don't realize if they truly had justification apart from their works their life must prove the presence of that justification. They boast and they brag about how powerful God is in salvation in saving works-less people but don't seem to realize that that belief also shows God to be so pathetically unable and powerful enough to cause their faith to manifest itself in a life of righteous living.