Could not the opposite also be true? People want to be judged merely on their faith so that they don’t have to be concerned with actually doing anything...aka Luther...
Reading the abridged version of Luther? LOL!
John 3:14-18 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Works are not required for salvation for two reasons. One is that works don't save. The sin debt we owe has already condemned us and no amount of works can attain forgiveness for us. Without the shedding of blood, there is NO forgiveness of sins.
The other reason is that until we are saved, our righteousness is as filthy rags in God's sight. So even IF they could, they are not good enough because they have to be the perfect works of the Law as perfect as Jesus did.
Additionally, once we have the righteousness of Christ credited to out account, there's no works that we could add that would even begin to compare to those.
Jesus became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.
We are forgiven and declared innocent judicially therefore God is free to treat us as if we had never sinned, even though both He and we know that we do.Forgiveness isn't forgiveness if it is any way compensated for.
Living a life of holiness out of gratitude for what Jesus did for us, does not change our standing before God when we are forgiven and those works do not contribute or detract from our being saved. We are saved regardless.