That one line in James...

So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself. James 2:17

My friend and I had a spirited conversation today on this quote(among others). The ripple effect that this single quote from scripture has with denominational Christians is staggering. How can you remove this from scripture? How can you say it is "built on straw" or not essential(or even contradictory?)
One can cross reference the following:

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

James 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

So we disagreed. I believe that if you accept the gift of Grace, through Christ, that the works of that Grace are the fruits of belief in Christ. Only a faith working in love can be a saving faith. But then we also disagree on the meaning of faith. I think it goes further in that the bible came from the Church. The Church did not come from the bible. It is much deeper than semantics, it is the structure of salvation and if that salvation is definitely assured. If we could agree to disagree, it might not be an issue. She passionately believes what she believes and the same can be said of me. So it gets heated and then we switch the topic to something girly and it blows over for a few days. I don't think I will ever be convinced that Luther was justified in wrecking the place. He should have just gone to the beach somewhere with a fruity umbrella drink for some R&R.