Note that Saint Paul is not opposing faith and circumcision to each other. One can be circumcised and still believe, but failing to be circumcised does not exclude one from the family of faith. Saint Paul does not suggest that faith and works are incompatible, but he contrasts faithless works to a faith in a pure form, which may or may not include specific works. These remarks apparently gave rise to misunderstanding even in apostolic times, and so Saint James clarifies: “Show me your faith apart