Alive to God
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 6:11)
How does God
see faith?
Is faith simply a conceptual thing or does it define actual choices? This question has clear answers in the Gospels.
Jesus interacting with people
In the Gospels there are several instances where Jesus makes conclusions about the actions of certain people. In Luke seven, a sinful woman shows love and care to Jesus. In Matthew nine a woman wants to touch His garment and believes she will that way be healed. In Luke 17, Jesus heals ten people but only one comes back to thank Him and praise God. In each of these instances Jesus does respond to their actions and declares that they have faith. It is noteworthy that this statement is recorded several times altogether in different situations.
These and other examples show that Jesus does not teach that faith is a conceptual thing, idea or thought. Rather, it defines actions.
Jacob 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jacob hits the nail here brilliantly. It is impossible to show faith without works. There would be nothing to show. There is always works of course - works and actions determined by priorities. But not always in accordance with the teachings of Jesus.
Faith in parables and teaching
Matthew 7:24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
There is more than enough in the Gospels to conclude that faith means life, in which Jesus' words have the priority in actual life choices. Faith can not be only hearing. In that case "doing" would reveal the actual faith to be somewhere else.
Luke 10:25-28 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
After that description it would be quite absurd to argue that faith is anything else than life as concrete as it gets.