Clearly here is a man who is saved, but has no works... so yes, his faith without works is dead... but he himself is saved...
Romans 11
6 And if by GRACE, thenit is no longer by WORKS; if it were, grace would no longer be GRACE.
his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; HE HIMSELF WILL BE SAVED, but only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians 3 13-15
James 1:21-25
21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
I think James is telling us that our faith is complete when we, not only hear, but do what God have commanded--obedience.
For example:
The question was asked: Is belief enough to be saved? And if we go by Scripture, the answer is yes and no.
Belief is absolutely apart of it, but what distinguish your faith from that of demons? If we only were to believe is that enough for eternal life?
When Nicodemus ask Christ how could one be born again, Christ answered
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit ............................ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life--John 3:5-6, 16
"Born of water and of Spirit"
Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.--Acts 2:38
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,--Romans 6:3-5
For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.--Galatians 3:27
Acts 8:36-38
36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.
"Faith"
Romans 10:8-13, 17
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” .............................. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Acts 22:16
'And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'
Acts 19:1-5
And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples 2 he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Acts 16:30-34
30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
Who are we believing? That Jesus is the Son of God.
Why are we baptizing? Because we believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
I think James is telling us that we must put our faith to action in order for it to be called faith. He used the example of Abraham in Genesis 15:6 when God made a covenant with Abram and God said that his faith was counted to him as righteousness...but Abram did not have children then, but take a look at Genesis 22:12, this is what God said to Abraham after He had already made a covenant with him in Genesis 15:6 and told Abraham of the promises that lie in wait for him, God then tested him and said this in Genesis 22:12
And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; l for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.
Our belief in Jesus being the Son of God I think initiates our faith and then our obedience, I think solidify it.
Please, don't misunderstand, we are not "working for our salvation" Christ have already done what was necessary for us to enter the Kingdom of God, we are only being obedient to His word, for we must be hearers and doers of the word.
Remember James said
2:18
But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Our faith should be active. If you look at the original context in James, you'll notice that James didn't say we are working towards our salvation but that we are showing our faith by being obedient as a hearer and doer to the implanted word.