[metmom]

Romans 4:5-8 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

[annalex]

That passage at most explains that sometimes faith alone can count for righteousness. The example though is of Abraham who by faith crossed the desert. But crossing the desert is works. So this is not a doctrinal statement: it is there to prove that Jewish rituals did not save Abraham, but his faith did. In contrast, the statement in James 2 is from the passage entirely devoted to this question and St. James decides the Protestant position is heretical and teaches directly against it.