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

Ahh, the trunk of the tree may require a massive wind to bend, but the branches and leaves move under even the lightest breath of wind. You are correct that God searches the heart and knows our inmost being, but consider the parable of the brothers. Both are told to go and do. One says "No.", but he does. The other says "OK.", but he does not. Jesus then asks, "Which of the two did the will of his father?" Matt 21:28-32 Obviously, the one who said no, but later went, is the one who did his father's will. So Jesus finishes, "...and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him." Did they not believe, or did they not follow the actions demanded by obedience? Both. They did not believe, so they did not obey. James is very clear that we cannot earn our salvation. Only God can forgive sin, and only Jesus' Blood will wash it away (1 John 1:7). That then demands the question, "How do we come in contact with Jesus' Blood?" I will answer that later. First I will continue answering Con's comments. Can the dead build a house? Can the dead do anything at all? NO!! The dead cannot cause anything to happen. Thus "dead faith" is worthless and ineffectual at doing anything. Dead faith is not faith at all, and cannot save anyone or anything. An example I have heard is that a person believes that a chair will hold his weight if he sits on it. He then acts on that belief (thus has faith) by sitting on the chair. If he has no faith in the chair, he will remain standing. Thus faith is in the action of sitting (putting his fate as it were) in the strength of the chair. In this example, only the seated will be saved, because the Bible says that only those who are in Christ will be saved (Acts 4:12). NO!! James is asking a rhetorical question. The answer to the question is obviously, NO. His question tells us the correct answer. What profit is there in saying you have faith, but have no works? None. He then goes on to give an example. I ask you Con, if you have a friend who is living on the street and starving, but you stay in your home (warm and fed), and pray that your friend be warmed and fed, is he warmed and filled by your prayer? NO!! He is still hungry and cold, unless you bring him food and blankets, and bring him into your home. Action is required to help your friend. The same is true of faith. You can believe all day that your friend will be warmed and filled, but if you do nothing, he will not be. 1 Peter 1:9 says that salvation of your soul is the "end of your faith". This presumes that this is a living faith. If this faith were dead, then the end would not be salvation. It would be death. 2 Timothy 1:9 says we were saved according to His purpose and grace. We did not "earn" our salvation by our works. But we did earn Hell by our works. Thus our actions do have consequences. If we do nothing in response to God's calling, we will remain in our lost state. Rev 3:21 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." Does Jesus say here that anyone who hears His voice and sits quietly in his home? No, He says "and OPENS THE DOOR." How do we open the door? Again, I will get to that in a minute. You are correct that "Whoever" COULD mean the saved or unsaved, but continue reading the verse. "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." This means that if you refuse to confess that Jesus is the Son of God, He will refuse to recognize you as "His". Thus you will be lost (not saved) no matter that you thought you were saved or not. Confession of Jesus MUST take place before we are saved, because Jesus says that He will not confess us if we have not already confessed Him. Now, this verse does not say that confession is the only thing you have to do to be saved. It simply says that it is something that MUST be done before you are saved. I would agree with you that someone who has confessed that Jesus is the Son of God but still prays to gods or the saints would not be saved. They are like the demons mentioned in James 2:19. Even though the demons not only believe but KNOW that God is one, and Jesus is His Son, they will not be saved. The same is true for these people. Mute people are still able to "speak" through sign language, the lame are still able to move with the help of friends, etc. Nothing prevents people who need God's salvation from doing the things He requires of us if they are willing. While not part of this debate, I will answer this question, because I believe it is relevant to understanding. Babies do not need salvation. They are born SAFE. By this I mean that they are not born with what some call "original sin". We know this because God told us in the Old Covenant, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." (Eze 18:20) The child is not guilty of the sins of his father. He will only be held guilty of his own sin. Therefore, if he dies before he knows what sin is, he remains safe in the Arms of God. I do not know what the "age of accountability" is (I believe it is different for each person), but once we reach it we are LOST. Once lost, a person's only hope is Jesus. You are absolutely correct about 2 Cor 7:10. Repentance leads to salvation, but without it, there can be no salvation. Again you are right (and I have never disputed) that God is the power behind our salvation. You are correct that we have to believe. But we also have to obey. Without obedience, we will not be saved. Let me define a couple of words for you. Mercy is not giving someone a punishment which they have earned. Grace is giving someone a good thing that they do not deserve. Thus, mercy is not executing a murderer for his crimes, but setting him free of any punishment. Grace could be exemplified by not only not punishing him, but also giving him a million dollars. But you are wrong. There is nowhere that we are told it is a "free" gift. There are things we have to do to receive salvation. The New Covenant is the Testament (Will) of Jesus. The will left by a dying man frequently contains conditions. If those conditions are met, the living relative will receive the inheritance. If the conditions are not met, then the inheritance goes to someone else. It is the same with the New Testament. Jesus left us conditions to receive the gift of salvation. Those are minor, insignificant things in our eyes. But they are HUGE in the eyes of God. He says He will not save us if we don't do them. How do we come in contact with the Blood of Christ? How do we open the Door that Jesus created with His Blood? Romans 6-11 tells us. We are buried with Jesus IN BAPTISM, and thus into His death, so that we can be raised from the dead with Him at the Judgement. When did the "old man" die? IN BAPTISM. When were we united with Jesus? IN BAPTISM. Gal 3:26-27 repeats this when it says, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." When did we put on Christ? When we were baptized INTO Him. Now I will explain why baptism, repentance, confession etc do not earn our salvation yet still must be done to receive it. Luke 17:6-10 says, "So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, "Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea," and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, "Come at once and sit down to eat"? But will he not rather say to him, "Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink"? Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 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." What does this mean? Among other things, it means that even when we have done everything that we are commanded, we still don't even deserve a "thank you" from God, much less salvation. Yet,if we do not do what is commanded, then we are not just unprofitable servant, we are unfaithful servants. Unfaithful servants will not be saved. They will be cast out where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. My question to you is, have you obeyed the commands of the Most High God? He tells you clearly that you will not be saved unless you have obeyed all of His commands. Yes we will continue to sin after we are saved, but that is where the continual cleansing of the Blood comes in. But for It to continually cleanse us, we must first be washed in It. We are not washed in the Blood until we are buried in it in baptism. I know it is unpopular in today's society, but then the Bible tells us that the road to Hell is wide and easy, but the road to Heaven is narrow, and there will be few who are willing to walk it.