I’m sorry, am I correct in reading this as saying that good works are necessary for salvation? I thought that had been proven to be bad theology some centuries ago.
NO, that is not what this is saying. Jesus said, by their fruits you shall know them. Fruits are our works, they do not save, they are the evidence that we have received His grace and are now seeking to do that which Jesus taught, as well as Paul, to imitate Christ, to follow in His footsteps.