I’ll now address some of the objections you’ve made, to wit:
This is
prooftexting (eisegesis).
Your objection was not based on the scripture presented but on a doctrinal bias. You've obviously decided
beforehand what the scripture
should say, so any verse that says the converse should be discounted.
Mental assent…a mere acknowledgement that Christ died for our sins or a verbal proclamation, a statement of faith, or perhaps a shout from the rooftops that “Jesus is Lord” is insufficient to be saved. What is missing from your analysis is the conversion and regeneration of the heart that comes with faith. That is, when the Spirit calls us we are “born again”, and without this regeneration we are not truly saved. (John 3:3). That is why many will come claiming they did great works in the name of the Lord, but Christ will rebuke them, saying “I never knew you”.
So what of works? Works is how we know our faith is real. In other words, works are not the
cause but the
evidence of our salvation. James is not contradicting Paul, and Paul is not contradicting James. Works are a natural outcrop or fruit of the Spirit, but they do not justify us before God. How can they, when they are God’s works and not our own? (James 1:17) If they were our own work they would be consumed at the time of testing (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)
James never contradicts Paul’s dogmatic statement that salvation comes from
faith alone. James simply states that if we have faith the Spirit is working within us, and we will have works to show for it. So works are the fruit of our regeneration, but there is no work we can engage in that will cause us to be saved. That work was done on the cross.
It's very late and I don’t have much time to go into serious detail on this at the moment, but I think it would help if you consider the audience the apostles are addressing. James is addressing mature believers…those who already claim to be Christian. As such he challenges them, telling them point blank that if they have faith but not works their faith is dead. Paul on the other hand has a different audience. They are not believers but want to know how it is they might be saved. For these, a fulhearted belief in Christ is all that’s necessary for them to be born again. (Acts 16: 30-31; John 3: 1-21)
I find your assertions a bit conflicted. When BilliardsBall stated there were over 150 verses stating belief in Christ alone was sufficient for salvation, you immediately claimed it was a “numbers game”:
You can send 1,000 more verses on works, which of them undo/explain verses that say, "salvation is not of/has no part of/is contrary to/is apart from" works?!
But when I pick out a particular verse, you call it “cherry picking’:
So too many verses is "playing the numbers", and focusing on a verse or two is "cherry picking"!
This seems inconsistent to me. Perhaps there's a magic number or formula that will help us hit the mark with you?
I think we've done this. All you need do is look at the scriptural audience.
For those who are looking to be saved, it is belief in Christ. This alone gets you saved by allowing a Spirit of regeneration in the believer. However James tells us not to be deceived. If we are
truly saved (he is talking to believers) then our faith in Christ will bear fruit, through works of the Spirit. This attests that our faith is alive and not dead
("By their fruits you will know them").
God promises our good works will stand the test of time. They are the "evidence" or a manifestation of our salvation but never the cause. Each saved person will receive their reward, but there are some saved who have no reward, whilst others will experience a dizzying compounding of effort.