Faith is active and visible, not something that just occures "in your heart".

I will skip point 1, because you missed my point all together. 2. "If dead faith is not faith at all then why is it called dead "FAITH"?" When a man dies, we still call him a dead man, but we know that he is not capable of doing anything anymore. to be able, and effective, he must be alive. Faith is the same way. We say dead faith, to denote what is dead. It is inactive and worthless, and is not really faith at all. Let him who has eyes see what is written. Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. Anyone who can read English will understand that when someone asks a rhetorical question, the answer is obvious. When James asks, "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. (James 2:14-17) He answers his own rhetorical question with another that proves his point. If we say to the naked and destitute, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled.", are they filled? NO! Are they warmed? NO! It is the same with faith, James says. "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." You take James 1:25 out of context. It does not contradict James 2. It restates it. Read 1:21-24. "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was." "BE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, deceiving YOURSELVES." If you only hear the word, but do not do what It says, you deceive yourself (about your spirituality, closeness to God, and salvation). 3. No, 1 Peter 1:9 says nothing about that faith being alive, because for it to be faith it must be alive (see point 1 above). This would be the same as saying that the Bible doesn't say that Zacchaeus was alive. It is obvious that he was alive, just as it is obvious that for the end of faith to be salvation, that faith must be living, and therefore active. Obviously this person is saved by this faith because the Word says so. But as you mention, it is the correct faith required to be saved. What kind of faith is that? The kind described in James 2 and Hebrews 11. Both say that the people were saved, not by what they thought or believed, but by what they DID. 6. Can you write your confession on paper? That, I believe, would fulfill the spirit of the command, especially if you were unable to speak. "Going in and out of the water by him/her self? That is the only way we read about how it was done in the Bible." The way they got into the water is immaterial. The man lowered to Jesus through the roof of the house by his friends did not get to Jesus on his own power. But he left Jesus restored. The same is true of our souls. We can come to baptism being carried in a blanket if necessary, but when we are immersed in the water our soul is resurrected from its lost state. In some places in Scripture we must follow the letter of what is written. In others we must allow the spirit of what is written to be heard. For example Rev 3:20 says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." In English this makes perfect sense. But in some cultures (forgive me but I have forgotten which one(s)) if a person knocks on your door, you know you don't know them. If a person you know comes to your door, he will stand there and call you by name. Therefore, to keep the spirit of this verse intact, the verse had to be translated to say, "Behold, I stand at the door and call you by name. ..." Does this change the meaning of the verse? No. In that culture, it confirms the meaning because Jesus is our friend. He knows our name, and will meet us on our cultural terms, just as Paul said, "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." (1Cor 9:19-22) 7. Where did I say that you can be saved without confession in any circumstances? I said if we do not confess Jesus, He will not confess us, therefore we cannot be saved without confessing Jesus (period). 8. Free can also mean open and available to anyone. But as I have said before, just as will a will and testament, conditions do not negate the freeness of an inheritance. As heirs with Christ, we must obey the Will that He left to inherit the blessings of that will. 9. You are confusing yourself. Faith includes actions in obedience to the commands of God. Without those actions, there is no faith. Therefore, we don't do something "apart from faith to gain salvation". Those commanded actions are part of the faith that brings salvation. And no, that is not earning salvation. That is being obedient to the will of our Lord and Master. 10. So you do not agree with James 2:24? "You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." You do not believe in the inspired Word of God? What does justified mean? It means, "Theology. to declare innocent or guiltless; absolve; acquit." (1) So then James is saying that a man is made innocent and guiltless by works, and not by faith only. How will I know that you lie about your belief? You don't obey the commands of the one in whom you claim to believe. Just as Luke 17:6-10 concludes, "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'" 11. No, we are not under the Abrahamic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant was a renewal of the Abrahamic Covenant. The same Covenant was renewed over and over again with each successive generation from Abraham through Jesus' death. At Jesus death, that Covenant was fulfilled and completed. From then on, we have been under a New Covenant. The Old Covenant is still there for us to use as a reference to see the character and personality of God, but we are no longer under any of the dictates of the it. You are right that Abraham was justified by faith before the Law of Moses was issued, but what does Hebrews 11 and James 2 say about Abraham's faith? Both say that he was justified by what he DID, not just what he believed. If he had stayed in Ur of the Chaldees when God sent him out, he would not have been the father of the promise. If he had believed God, but stayed in camp and refused to sacrifice his son, he would have been cut off from the promise. It is by what he DID that he was justified and pleasing to God. In conclusion, I know it is unpopular to believe that we have any responsibility to do anything to receive salvation. The vast majority of people believe, as you do, that there are no actions required on our part to receive salvation. But that does not change the Word of God. If, as we must do, we take every verse (in context), and read the Word with an open mind without our own preconceptions, the only conclusion we can come to is that before God will save our immortal souls, we are required to obey His commands that He says lead to salvation. These acts in particular are to Hear the Word, Believe It, Repent of our sins, Confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and to be Baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the remission of our sins. Rom 10:14 - Hear, Believe John 3:16 - Believe 2 Cor 7:10 - Repent Matt 10:32 - Confess 1 Pet 3:21 - Baptized Rom 10:9 - Believe, Confess Mark 16:16 - Believe, Baptized Acts 2:38 - Believe, Repent, Baptized As you can see from the list above and reading the associated verses, these actions are commanded to be done before salvation is given. They do not earn salvation, any more than flying to France to be at the reading of the will of a French relative that required you to be at the reading to inherit earns the inheritance. It is simply something that must be done to qualify to receive the gift. If you don't open the door, you cannot walk through it. If you don't unwrap the gift, you cannot use it. If you do not obey the command of God, you will not receive the salvation He has reserved for those who are faithful servants. References: 1. http://www.dictionary.com...