by Zane Hodges, excerpted from Grace in Eclipse

It is quite true that Paul taught justification apart from works. But he did not teach Christian living apart from works. Nor did he affirm that those works flowed inevitably from justifying faith. Instead, Paul instructed Titus:

This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men (Titus 3:8).

Here too, as we might expect we meet the harmony between Jesus and Paul. The maintenance of good works is an effort—not an effort unassisted by God—but an effort nonetheless. It is the labor of building a life that is securely founded on the rock of divine truth. It is good and profitable to construct a life like that. It is calamitous not to do so.