...as long as we remain outside of Christ we are continually heaping up judgment against the day of wrath. The only way an unjust person can escape the day of God's wrath is to be justified. Unjustified = remaining outside of Christ.
Justified = proclaiming faith in Christ.
Proclaiming. Hmmmmmm......
Sounds like a "work" to me.
There is an old poem,
"I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. For poems are written by fools like me, but only God can make a tree." There is much truth to this. Everything we do on our own strength ends up flawed and empty. It's a big mistake trying to find the value of your life by achieving things.
That's why working for God's Love never works. The truth is: God is a poet. And you are His poem. As it is written in Ephesians, "We are His workmanship." In Greek the word for workmanship is "poi-ema," from which we get the word "poem."
Nothing you can do in your own strength can ever be as beautiful or as precious as who you are in God. In salvation, you are God's workmanship--- His poem. Stop struggling in your works and start learning how to be His work. Rest from your works, and rejoice in His works. You are the very poem of God. Get that right and your life will become beautiful poetry.