Right, but works without faith is dead. Just as faith without works is dead. Both depend on the other.
That is a misinterpretation of what JAMES meant.
He said AFTER YOU ARE GENUINELY SAVED [past tense] you will exhibit the kind of LOVE that is easily identified by the SPIRITUAL FRUIT, which is your works, {also see: 1 John 3:14-19}. If you really WERE NOT SAVED, that LOVING Example, will not be there.
You cannot have JAMES CONTRADICTING OTHER WRITERS of the NEW TESTAMENT. Let me show you what I MEAN:
James 2:20-24 (HCSB)
20 Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless?
21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected.
23 So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.
24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
And you would take those verses alone and say, "SEE THERE, we are too SAVED by our WORKS and Faith."
NOT SO FAST! First of all, I want to examine this portion of Scripture, and then I want to take you to some parallel portions of scripture.
WHEN DOES THOSE ABOVE VERSES SAY THAT ABRAHAM WAS SAVED ? ? ? IT SAYS that ABRAHAM was CREDITED to him for RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHEN HE BELIEVED GOD. HE BELIEVED GOD, WITHOUT DOUBTINGLY, LONG BEFORE HE EVER OFFERED ISAAC ON THAT ALTAR. So what was that verse 21 ALL ABOUT? It is the REAL EVIDENCE that ABRAHAM's SALVATION was Genuine LONG BEFORE he offered up Isaac. IN FACT, ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD COULD RAISE UP ISAAC IF HE DID OFFER HIM AS A SACRIFICE AS GOD HAD ASKED. AND HE BELIEVED GOD, LONG BEFORE ANYONE OF THIS STORY TOOK PLACE. IT IS NOTHING MORE THAN, "I AM WILLING TO SHOW YOU THAT MY FAITH WAS GENUINE FROM THE MOMENT THAT GOD PUT FAITH IN ME, WHICH IS THE MOMENT I WAS SAVED, by the works that I know do.
Now let's look at the Parallel verses:
First we need to go to a verse that shows Abraham's FAITH, long before this particular story:
Hebrews 11:8-11 (HCSB)
8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going.
9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.
10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the One who had promised was faithful.
So, LONG BEFORE ISAAC WAS BORN, ABRAHAM had that Faith that was Credited for Righteousness.
Hebrews 11:17-19 (HCSB)
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and he was offering his unique son,
18 the one it had been said about, Your seed will be traced through Isaac.
19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead, and as an illustration, he received him back.
Romans 4:3-5 (HCSB)
3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.
4 Now to the one who works {for his salvation or to add to it}, pay is not considered as a gift, but as something owed.
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous,
his faith is credited for righteousness.
Notice that FAITH is Credited for Righteousness, LONG BEFORE any works can be shown. Therefore WORKS are NOT part of SALVATION, but rather the FRUIT OF LOVE or OBVIOUS EVIDENCE, that YOUR SALVATION was REAL from the first moment that GOD placed FAITH in your Heart [human spirit] when you HEARD the WORD with understanding in your HEART, not with the brain you have between your ears.
Galatians 3:6-7 (ESV)
6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?
7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.
Notice, that DOES NOT MEAN WE BECOME SPIRITUAL ISRAELITES.
It simply means we become the offspring of Abraham's Faith.