James 2:
"21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."
Note, James does not say, "Abraham had faith, and maybe someday he'll accumulate enough good deeds to complete his faith and save him".
I became a Christian in the 7th grade. I had been thinking over what I had been taught for a while. One day, several kids - older and bigger - wanted to fight me. I decided that God didn't want me to fight, so I took a pretty thorough beating.
I've always considered THAT to be the moment of salvation for me. In retrospect, I'm not a pacifist. In fact, I spent 25+ years in the military. But at that moment, I believed God didn't want me to fight, and IN FAITH, I obeyed.
"...and his faith was made complete by what he did." Not 'will be made complete', and not, 'is in progress' - but "his faith was made complete by what he did."
For some, that moment may be marked by baptism. For some, going forward on an altar call. For me, it was getting beat up. Frankly, baptism would have been easier...cleaner, too!
That is inherently James' reflection upon what Abraham had done in life.
But how would it look to Abraham, while he was alive?
I believe my faith is being made complete by what I am doing and what I will do.
James has the benefit of a perfect hindsight view of Abraham's life. But while Abraham was alive, he could only know what he had done, what he was doing and what he hoped to do.
And how could he know his faith would in sum at the end of his life have been made complete by what he had done? He could hope, but how could he know?