Works, works, works. They will buy you nothing but heartache. The good works are reflection of something that has already happened to the individual they do not cause the change.
James 2:20-21 ...O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
No he wasn't. He was already saved by Grace through faith. The willingness to sacrifice Isaac only showed his faith.
Hebrews 11:8 By Faith Abraham obeyed...
Rom. 4:2-4 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
You are right of course, but at some point faith must become a verb.
The passage in James 2 refers to Abraham's sacrifice; the passage in Romans 4 -- to his circumcision. If you exclude the role of good works, such as described in the Sermon on the Mount, your argument is with the scripture not me.