We know that faith without works is dead but if a faith is dead, there is in implication that it was once alive. I don't believe James was talking about dead in the sense of a stone or a butter knife or anything else that was never alive. We don't use the word dead that way and I don't think James was using it that way either. When we say something is dead, it's normally something that used to be alive.
That would mean a faith which is now dead because of zero works was once alive despite zero works. If that's the case, then for a period of time, we have a case of living faith with zero works. From that perspective, works appears to be something which sustains a faith that initially started out with no works at all. Works becomes a type of fuel which (among other things) keeps the faith from dying. Works are still necessary but the first burst of living faith can occur without works.
NOT EXACTLY CORRECT. That is a false assumption, when in reality they were never really Born Again (eternally spiritually alive). Look at these verses and you will find that the human spirit is dead from natural birth on because of the inherited sinful nature from Adam, until hopefully the Holy Spirit finds fertile soil in that heart and births that human spirit into eternal life:
John 3:5-7 (NASB)
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5 [/SUP] Jesus answered,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (natural birth) and the Spirit (spiritual birth) he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
[SUP]6 [/SUP] "That which is born of the flesh is flesh (natural birth), and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (spiritual birth).
[SUP]7 [/SUP] "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
Colossians 2:13-14 (NIV)
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13 [/SUP] When
you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature,
God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,
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14 [/SUP] having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
1 John 2:19 (NKJV)
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19 [/SUP] They went out from us, but
they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but
they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
[SUP]21 [/SUP] "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
[SUP]22 [/SUP] Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
[SUP]23 [/SUP] And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
THAT I never knew you is a reference, that moment the Holy Spirit comes into your heart birthing your human spirit into ETERNAL LIFE, and it is not Eternal if you can lose it.
John 3:36 (ISV)
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36 [/SUP] The one who believes in the Son
has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.
The verb tense of "disobeys" implies a continuous lifestyle of disobeying, for GOD knows none of us are perfect. By the same token, the one who continually strives to obey, does so because that obedience is spawning out of the LOVE OF GOD that was poured into our hearts, the moment the Holy Spirit entered our hearts, enabling us to genuinely BELIEVE.
John 5:24 (ISV)
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24 [/SUP]
"Truly, truly I tell you, the one who hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Romans 5:5 (ISV)
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5 [/SUP] This hope does not disappoint us, because
God's love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
The definitive difference between a genuine Christian and one who only thinks he is, is that
LOVE OF GOD HIMSELF, being in our hearts, which produces an ON GOING DESIRE TO OBEY HIM. NO, IT IS NOT OF OUR WORKS, IT IS A WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN OUR HEARTS.