Have we Protestants gotten faith and works wrong? The only place I can find the words "faith alone" is in James where he completely contradicts the Protestant mantra. "You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone." (James 2:24 NIV) Everybody knows that Luther added the word "alone" to Romans 3:28. It wasn't there. It was his interpretation, an interpolation.
Perhaps at least on this point Catholics and Orthodox got it right, even if they got many other things wrong. I know that many Protestants falsely accuse them of works salvation. They don't believe that at all. I'm not talking about works of the law. That's clear. I'm talking about good works like caring for the poor, as James clearly explains. Perhaps we can't actually separate faith and good works. Perhaps they go together inseparably. Perhaps faith can't be alone, but must be a living faith, alive with good works. Even the thief on the cross showed his faith by a good work, the good words he spoke.
We are judged by our works. We are saved by grace through faith indeed, but it seems that it must be a living faith, alive with good works, not a dead faith without good works. Perhaps Catholics and Orthodox are right, faith and good works are inseparable and never alone (James 2). Perhaps Protestants are also right, in that a branch can only bear fruit after it has been grafted into the vine (John 15).
