Now read what
Romans 4:4 says relative to that.
Romans 4:4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
You still don’t get it. Paul’s emphasis is always that Christians do not have to do the works of the law of Moses. In that day many Jewish converts insisted that believers still had to circumcise and keep tha law of Moses.
It got so bad that all the apostles assembled a council in Jerusalem to deal with the huge controversy in Acts 15.
Paul worked hard to counter that claim about the need to still keep the law of Moses - thus he repeatedly makes reference to the fact that we do NOT have to keep the law of Moses nor do the works of the law of Moses.
When you read all of Paul’s epistles, it’s clear that when he mentions works, the law, works of the law, the law of Moses, or works of righteousness, he’s always talking about works of the law of Moses, a specific body of old covenant law with 613 laws, statutes, and commands, that all had to be kept for their righteousness.
To whit:
Deu 6:24 And the LORD
commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.
Deu 6:25
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
Thus when Paul says we are saved by grace through faith, not of works, he is specifically speaking about being saved by grace through faith, not by works of the law of Moses.
Romans 4:4 is thus talking about ‘to him who does the works of the law of Moses’, it’s not counted as grace, but of debt’ - meaning trying to be righteous by obeying all the statutes and commands of the law of Moses - which are no longer required under the new covenant.
Paul is clear we are not justified by doing the works of the law of Moses.
We dont have to sacrifice animals, keep ceremonial laws, new moons, seasons, feast days, or any of those 613 laws, statutes, and commands that are in the law of Moses.
Whereas James is not talking at all about works of the law of Moses for justification - he makes clear that the works that justify all men, are completely different from the works Paul emphasizes that we are NOT required to perform.
You can’t compare apples and oranges - you can’t quote Paul on being justified apart from works of the law of Moses, to prove we aren’t justified by works of love, in helping the needy, which James says fulfills the royal law of love, and perfects our faith, and makes it a living faith that saves, instead of a dead faith that doesn’t save.
He warns that if you’re not a doer of the word, instead of a being pew-occupying, do nothing hearer of the word only, who does not fulfill the Royal law, you deceive yourself right into hell, just like
those Jesus sends to hell as workers of iniquity, because they ignored those who were hungry, naked, poor, sick and in prison:
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
What was their sin? They were not doers of the word, but were hearers only, and deceived themselves right into hell as workers of iniquity, by ignoring the need to fulfill the royal law of love, thus were never justified by the works of love and obedience., and their dead faith could not save them.
Works of the law of Moses are irrelevant in the book of James, therefore quoting Paul regarding works of the law of Moses, is equally irrelevant, and is comparing apples to oranges, and reaching a wrong conclusion.