Saved by "Faith Alone"

There is no such "real" thing as "faith alone".

What we believe determines what we do.

It is the shift from non-faith to faith that alone determines the direction we go (like shifting a car's gears from Reverse to Drive). There are other things involved (having gas in the tank, turning the key, pressing on the accelerator, etc), so it's inaccurate from one semantic viewpoint to say "faith alone saves", as pointed out by the New Testament author James. But from another semantic viewpoint, the only thing that saves one from driving off the cliff and moves him forward into safety is shifting the gear from Reverse to Drive.

Faith is the fundamental difference-maker. In that sense, we are saved by "faith alone". But in a different sense, faith is never "alone"; what you believe determines how you act. And a mere mental acknowledgement without act-changing behavior is a "dead faith" that has no power to save. The demons believe that "God is one". But that's not an action-changing faith; it's only a partial "faith", that doesn't turn them around, that doesn't shift them from Reverse to Drive. Salvation requires a living faith, not a dead faith.

When one has the appropriate faith, that faith saves, and it manifests as appropriate action. It's not the faith alone that saves, but conversely, it's the faith alone that saves. It's just a matter of what is meant by the words. The "faith alone doesn't save" crowd has better wording, or at least a better "my wording is more specifically found in the Bible" argument. But don't wrangle over words; seek unity in the spirit, not in the letter, of what's being said, to strengthen the bond of peace.