Are you a Real Christian?

 ¹⁸ Someone might say, "You have faith, but I have deeds." Show me your faith without doing anything, and I will show you my faith by what I do.¹⁹ You believe there is one God. Good! But the demons believe that, too, and they tremble with fear.

 ²⁰ You foolish person! Must you be shown that faith that does nothing is worth nothing?²¹ Abraham, our ancestor, was made right with God by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar.²² So you see that Abraham's faith and the things he did worked together. His faith was made perfect by what he did.²³ This shows the full meaning of the Scripture that says: "Abraham believed God, and God accepted Abraham's faith, and that faith made him right with God." And Abraham was called God's friend.²⁴ So you see that people are made right with God by what they do, not by faith only.

 ²⁵ Another example is Rahab, a prostitute, who was made right with God by something she did. She welcomed the spies into her home and helped them escape by a different road.

 ²⁶ Just as a person's body that does not have a spirit is dead, so faith that does nothing is dead!"

So then, what are we to conclude after all this arguing from both sides of the issue?  The fact is both sides are correct, but not by themselves.  It is clear we are saved by faith and works(but works of faith) combined.  James here is extremely clear and he in fact is the only one who uses the word "alone" in his argument.

The "faith alone" camp, as well as the "works alone" camp are blinded by their own unbalanced pet doctrines and can only see through their own biased lenses.  The bible is all about balance and is all about incorporating all doctrine together, not one over the other.  Precept upon precept, line upon line to form a more complete picture.  Also all scripture has to given equal weight.  If one doctrine may have a dozen or so verses that speak to it, and another only has one or two, this does not diminish the one or two.

The doctrine that has less scripture attached to it, whether it be one or two, is just as important as the doctrine which may be attached to volumes of scripture.  In fact when we don't incorporate all scripture, it opens us up to the false teachings and biases of men who want to tell us what they think the scripture says, or even worse what scripture does not say, when it already has clearly told us what it says.

The leaven of the Pharisees and Nicolaitans is still at work today in many of the "big name" preachers of our day. We find them on not only Television, but also on so called Christian radio.  Only the discerning, Holy Spirit filled, real Christian, can sift through the swill that is being shoveled to the masses today through false teachers.  Many of these come out of  cookie cutter, brain washing seminary's, that no longer teach anyone to think critically or objectively at the scriptures, but instead only through the lenses of the particular ear tickling doctrines, that make us feel comfortable in our unrepentant sin.