Can one believe and not do? I'd like to start with this verse:
Luke 8:15 "But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."
An "honest and good heart" will inevitably come to the knowledge that every word of God in the 66 books of the Holy Bible is true, and believing the gospel of Jesus Christ, it will inevitably (not by choice) bring forth fruit with patience. Compare this to the seed of a fruit-bearing tree which when sown in a good ground will produce good fruits by nature, not by choice, but by God's design.
Mark 4:26-27 "And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how."
The seed of the fruit-bearing tree has a will of its own. Once it is sown in a good ground, it knows to spring up and grow, and bring forth fruits in its season. Likewise, the word of God, when sown in the good ground of an honest and good heart also has a will of its own. It knows to spring up and grow and bring forth fruits in its season, all the while, the born again believer knoweth not how. BTW, a good ground is a ground “by the rivers of water” (Psalms 1:3). It is a well-watered ground.
Proverbs 31:31 "Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."
The fruit of the Spirit is the works of faith. A born again believer will inevitably produce works of faith in the various stages of his life, not by his own choice, but because of his genuine faith in every word of God in the 66 books of the Holy Bible that causes him to walk contrary to his old nature.
John 1:14 "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
To believe in Jesus Christ is to believe in every word of God. Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh, and the word of God is the spiritual manifestation of Jesus Christ on earth. One cannot be decoupled from the other, even as your spirit cannot be decoupled from your physical body. Therefore, a born again believer is a faithful believer of every word of God in the 66 books of the Holy Bible.
James 2:26 "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
James compares a faith which is alive to a body which is alive, and contrast it with a faith which is "dead" to a body which is dead. Faith without works is like a body without spirit. A body which is alive will be evidenced by the presence of life, as much as a faith which is alive will be evidenced by an activity in the works of faith. It need not be compelled, and it cannot be faked. That is also to say, faked religious "works of faith" are not borne out of a believing heart, but are compelled from an unbelieving heart. Those so-called "works of faith" are dead works that do not last.
Thank you Max