Galatians 5:6
Galatians 5:66For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.
JWs cite "faith working through love" to argue that faith and works are inseparable — that faith without obedience (field service, meeting attendance, organisational loyalty) is not saving faith. The verse is used to counter the Protestant emphasis on justification by faith alone by showing that Paul himself connects faith with active works of love.
— just two verses earlier — says those seeking justification by law "have fallen away from his undeserved kindness." Whatever "faith working through love" means in verse 6, it cannot mean that law-keeping grounds justification. The Greek energoumene ("working") describes faith's own inherent activity — like saying "an engine running on petrol." Love is what living faith naturally produces, not an additional requirement bolted onto it. The distinction matters: works in the final judgment (Matthew 25, ) are evidence of living faith, not the basis of the verdict. The sheep in Matthew 25 are declared "blessed by my Father" before their works are recited — and they are surprised by their own works. Works flowed unconsciously from a transformed nature; the judgment reveals what grace already accomplished.