James 2:17 — 'faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead' — the quality of faith is in question, not the quantity of works

James 2:17 is the main point of the section. Mike emphasizes: works indicate the quality of your faith, not the other way around. The question is not 'do you have enough works?' but 'is your faith real/alive?' Dead faith is faith that doesn't motivate action. Faith is still the salvific instrument — but is the faith a living faith or a dead one?