It always has its foundations in the past. In daily Christian living there is actually no conflict between faith and works. To the faithful Christian, one is impossible without other. Paul never means dead faith, faith and works entwined. When James wrote that faith without works is dead, he meant that true faith will prove the works.
Faith works better when there is no natural hope.
Jesus didn't divide men into those who had faith and those who did not, but into those using the faculty and those refusing. The belief in any truth in any ground belief is what is beyond the sphere of the senses. Trusting in God's testimony is receiving all that God has given to us. Faith viewed philosophically must be regarded as lying at the base of all knowledge. The devils believe and tremble.