James 2:14-17

14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Faith without works is kind of like sheet music that has been composed but is never played. It may be a masterpiece and the musician may have it memorized, but if he never plays it, it may as well be random marks on paper. On the other hand, I think that good works apart from faith are just as dead, like the musical instrument being played without the sheet music, this can produce only noise. I tried to use the concept of this passage from James with works and faith reversed to illustrate further:

"What does it profit my brethen if someone says he does good works but does not have faith? Can good works apart from faith truly help anyone? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you gives them the things that are needed for the body, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the soul, what does it profit (will they not be in need again tomorrow)? Thus also good works by themselves if they are not inspired by faith are dead."

In both the original passage and my modified one, the person giving the assistance feels better about themselves, but allows the suffering person to remain in great need. So good works and faith must go together to achieve the genuine article-- where there is smoke there is fire, but also when you have a fire there is smoke. Or something like that.