For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Be Betz
I believe it all depends on the circumstance. For ex. My father-n-law spent most his life not knowing Christ, not willing to even discuss Him. On his death bed, he received Christ, whole heartedly, fully conscious, & willingly. I witnessed someone, who used to speak every other word a swear word, to not swearing at all. When one walked into his room, those last 5 days of his life, you could feel the presence of The Lord there. My migraines would clear walking into that room, & return the instant I left. I have no doubt he definitely went to heaven. He had no time, to receive Christ, & do works for HIM! So he received, & was accepted!
Gary Creel
Why is there a controversy as to the answer to this question when the Bible says that the thief who died next to Jesus was saved, not because of any good works he did, but simply because he accepted Jesus as his Savior.
There was nothing special about the thief.
Gene Coleman
Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works? To me that question can be correctly answered both yes and no depending on whose works. If you are referring to faith plus an individual's willing submission to the works of the Holy Spirit you get one answer, but if you are talking about work resulting from will of man apart or separate from the Spirit you get another answer. To me James is talking about works that are the results of leadership of the Holy Spirit in 2:24.
James Kraft
Romans 4-5 says our faith is counted for righteousness without works.
George Fitt
Salvation is by grace, through faith, in Christ.
There are three aspects to salvation: Grace, faith and Christ.
Grace is undeserved, unmerited, unwarranted favor from God.
Faith is belief and trust in God as revealed in Scripture or by direct revelation from God.
Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He is the way, the truth and the life. No ones comes unto the Father except through Him.
The thief on the cross was saved by grace alone. Firstfruits, having been chosen before the foundation of the world, were also saved by grace alone.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV
Notice Paul does not include himself, because he uses the pronouns "you" and "yourselves." If Paul meant to include himself, he would have said "we" and "ourselves."
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14 is another example of justification by grace. The tax collector humbled himself and was justified before God.
Faith without works is dead, so we are not saved by faith alone. (James 2:24) Think of this as faith x works where works are {1,0}.
Or think of works as a switch or valve either passing faith or blocking faith.
So, salvation is not by faith alone, nor by faith plus works.
Salvation is by grace. Grace activated by faith. Faith activated by works. All in obedience to the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Ratan Aghamkar
There is not any dispute between Paul and James. Paul used the word "faith" for salvation, while James used good works as a witness of faith. You can not separate faith and works as we can not separate light from the sun. The sun stands for faith and light stands for good works. Both are co-related.