I do, however, believe they taught two reasons to live holy lives: one is to give glory to God, and the other is to make our witness more sound.
For instance, Paul wrote that he worked as a tent maker to make his witness and his teachings have more appeal. It's the same for his celibacy -- so he can be more focused on God's work. Neither of those were requirements, but they were supplements.
The reason I like the Old Testament transition to New Testament argument for sola fide is I tend to think twice before putting a lot into one-liner verse interpretations. To me, context is soooooo important.
So I'd argue that my conduct today doesn't relate to my salvation --- except how my own experiences might impact my own faith in the future. I say my conduct today has a large impact on the faith of the people around me, as I witness to them and they need to know that the Christians around them have a faith that's worth living. That includes both non-Christians and people who are already Christians. (Evidently I lean a bit Arminian instead of Calvinist.)
For what it's worth, though I'm Protestant I've never heard one sermon or read one teaching that says we shouldn't live our faith. So don't take my faith alone argument as a choice between faith or works. You could say us Protestants teach both faith and works like Catholics do, only we say it the works doesn't relate to salvation. We think it leads to pride in our works, which is very dangerous. Salvation is a grace thing -- why we call it "salvation" instead of "reward".
And so we are to disregard all of the parables of our Lord in which he warns us of our judgment according to our deeds? And of course we have this from Paul:
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
You said that well.
Also, by your fruits you shall know them.
As Christians following God’s word, our actions should be noticeably different than the world’s, but it is still by faith we are saved.