James uses justification in the asense of vindication and not as a declartation of righteoueness
Oh really? That would be you reading into Scripture what you want to find there. Now it is you who is changing the meaning of words to fit your interpretation.
"You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." James 2:22-24
"What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due." Rom 4:1-4
Both of these passages quote the same passage from Gen 15, and both make a similar but slightly different point, but they do not contradict, but enhance the other point made. Romans says that salvation is received through faith (belief), and that it is not a wage or something deserved as a debt payment, but is a gift. James says that our actions perfect and make complete our faith (belief), and that we are not saved by our faith alone, but by our faith made complete by our actions.
One cannot use one verse of scripture to deny many. That is an extremely poor way to handle scripture
What you mean here is that if one passage of Scripture refutes your preconception of what other Scriptures mean, you can forget that the one passage is even in Scripture, and ignore the lesson that it teaches because it really does not mean what it says. THAT is the "extremely poor way to handle scripture"!
We cannot ignore a Scripture just because we don't like what it says. If one passage says one thing and another says something different, then we must examine them both (and possibly many more) to find the truth. Yes, the passages you list below all only mention belief (pistis - which is faith, not intellectual assent), but we must assess HOW faith saves, and that is explained in the many passages you want to bury and ignore: Acts 2:38, Matt 28:19, Mark 16:16, Eph 2:8-9, Rom 10:9-10, Acts 22:16, 1 Pet 3:21, Col 2:11-14, Rom 6:1-7, John 3:5, Eph 5:25-27, and many others. These passages explain the connection between our actions, our faith, and our reception of salvation.
scripture refutes you as faith saves
John 3:14–15 (KJV 1900) — 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (KJV 1900) — 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:36 (KJV 1900) — 36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
John 5:24 (KJV 1900) — 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 5:25 (KJV 1900) — 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
John 6:40 (KJV 1900) — 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:47 (KJV 1900) — 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
Ephesians 2:8 (KJV 1900) — 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Acts 26:18 (ESV) — 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Romans 3:25 (ESV) — 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Romans 3:27 (ESV) — 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Romans 10:8–9 (ESV) — 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Galatians 2:16 (ESV) — 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Not just an important part and you cannot deny faith of itself is sufficient for salvation without denying scripture
You repeating the same exact thing does not change the Scripture's response to your false assertion. Faith without action is meaningless. Faith is not a passive, inactive, 'mental only' thing. Without action faith is dead. So without action, faith cannot save. As James says,
"You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone." You will notice that this is the ONLY place in all of Scripture that the phrase "faith only", or "faith alone", or any similar phrase is to be found.
That would be an assumption
Born of water has been interpreted multiple ways
You cannot just assume the one that fits your theology.
No, not an assumption, but the interpretation that fits with ALL of Scripture.
And we know for a fact it is not a true statement that one not born of water cannot experience the kingdom of God
remember the thief on the cross
The thief on the cross was promised salvation BEFORE the NT age. He was given salvation while Jesus was still alive and was able to change His will as He wanted. The thief is not an example of salvation under the NT. Under the NT, one is not saved without being born of water and the Spirit.
further the gentiles had received Life and the Spirit before water baptism thus were Christs and in his kingdom
That is your assumption, and is not supported by Scripture. The Gentiles in Acts 10 received the miraculous gifts of the Spirit, but did not have the indwelling yet, nor did they received forgiveness and justification until they were born again in water baptism.
Sorry that is assumption. first it ignores the fact no one in the old covenant had received the Spirit in the new covenant manner
The Spirit was not yet given John 7:39
It does not ignore that fact. It makes the point that the Gentiles in Acts 10 received the Holy Spirit in the same way as Moses, David, Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist, and all the other OT saints did. They did not receive the indwelling until they were born again in water baptism.
second nowhere does scripture ever speak of old covenant believers as receiving the Spirit
I just showed you three places where Scripture says that OT believers had the Spirit. If they had the Spirit, then they received the Spirit.
Third in the New testament the use of the phrase receive the Spirit never clearly refers to just receiving a gift of the Spirit and not the Spirit himself
That phrase is not defined by Scripture. It can mean the reception of the miraculous gifts or it can mean the reception of the indwelling. It is in the context that we find which was received. Most of the places in Acts that it is used it refers to the miraculous working of the Spirit.
