James 2:17 Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. ASV

17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. KJV

17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. LITV

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                                                         Commentary

Faith in isolation, all by itself, saves ~No~ one according to James. Therefore, the Reformation cry of "sola fide" is not Biblical. James under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is saying that "sola fide" is Death!  vs 26.
  Now... follow closely; James in his discussion of Faith here is undoubtedly referring to that which happens in the Mental Faculty for that's what Faith is. Faith is the act of the Intellect whereby it accounts a given proposition to be according to reality. In otherwords, to "have faith" means to Believe something... the earth is flat; Jesus is God; Sanniee Closs is a jolliee ol' elf; All have sinned; etc. Believing those statements is no more than a mental activity  which anybody can engage in. This is why Scripture declares that even the unregenerate can believe the Gospel because all men, regenerate or not, are rational, thinking creatures with the ability to Believe.  Now James here is telling us that it is possible to have faith and yet be lost... because he talks about dead faith which saves nobody. In contrasting true faith that is indicative of salvation with a dead faith that indicates lostness he does not make a distinction between Head knowledge and so-called Heart knowledge. Nor does he distinguish between Faith and Emotions. There's no such thing in the Bible as "heart knowledge". All knowledge resides in the head, which is the Intellect; the Mental Faculty. James knows nothing of any such thing as "heart knowledge". Neither does he refer to one's Emotions.  What he is contrasting is Head knowledge all by itself, which is a dead faith, with Head knowledge and ~Works~, which demonstrates true, saving faith.  James' argument is not... show me your faith without your heart knowledge. Neither is it... show me your Faith without your Emotional experiences. Rather it's ... show me your faith without Works and I will show you my faith... not by my heart knowledge or my emotional excursions but By my ~works~. vs 18. James does not say... Head knowledge without Heart knowledge is dead faith. Nor does he say Faith with no emotional content is dead faith. He says Faith without ~Works~ is dead faith. So the truth taught here by James is.. Faith without Works is dead; not faith without Heart knowledge or the Emotions. The Gospel is justification by Faith apart from works... wherein true works necessarily follow. But Faith without one's Emotions is still faith and can be demonstrated by Works, not by how one Emotes. Heart knowledge, of which there is no such thing in Scripture, is a phantom while faith based on one's Emotions is a  disguise of Mysticism and Mysticism is anti-christian.

James

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