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Are we saved by faith alone, or by faith plus works?

Inferred

No single verse settles it; the conclusion is assembled across texts and leans one way.

Salvation is by grace through faith — not earned by works — but genuine faith produces works; the two apostolic voices are answering different questions, not contradicting each other.

Multiple Tier 4 texts explicitly state that justification is by faith apart from works of the law, and no same-or-higher-tier text contradicts this. James 2:24 does not contradict it — James is denying that bare, inactive "faith" saves, not that faith itself saves. The conclusion that these two positions are compatible requires one inference step: that "justify" in James means "show to be genuine" (vindication before others) rather than "declare righteous before God" (forensic justification). That step is supported by James's occasion but is not stated outright in the text.

What scripture leaves unaddressed: The text does not resolve whether "justify" in James 2 is forensic (declared righteous before God) or demonstrative (shown to be genuine before others) — that distinction is the inference step on which the harmony of Paul and James depends, and the text does not state it explicitly.

Key texts:
Romans 3:20Tier 4 · Apostle
“Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:28Tier 4 · Apostle
“We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”
Romans 3:31Tier 4 · Apostle
“Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.”

…and 24 more verses weighed in the full analysis.

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SAM answers from primary-source texts only, weighing each verse by its authority tier. Every quotation is verified word-for-word. How the method works →

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