It’s not that we have to earn our salvation. It’s that in order to be free from sin, we actually have to be FREE from sin. I’m not saying anyone is going to achieve that in this life aside from Jesus, but it’s our duty to present our members as instruments of righteousness unto God, not as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. If we do the latter, we’re the slaves/employees/servants or whatever of SIN. If the former, we are servants and offspring of God our Father.
God HAS saved us (in Jesus Christ) from our sins. We need to cooperate in the ongoing manifestation/out-working of this salvation as we are taught of the Holy Spirit. “All these who are being led by the Spirit of God, these and none but these are the (mature) sons of God.” So long as we are little children, we are still GOD’s little children–but let’s at least aspire to grow up and become His mature daughters and sons, qualified to represent the family of God to the world. I’m not really certain that the “gracers” and the “worksers” in this thread would truly disagree with one another if we understood one another. The grace enables us to mature into the works, and the works show the fruits of the working out of grace. We do not “go to heaven” as spoiled bratty children still trying to bite our older siblings, making messes we refuse to clean up and grabbing for the best piece of chicken so the other little piggies don’t get to it first. That would not BE heaven at all. Not to us, nor to anyone else. This is a journey. As we make the journey into God’s grace, we become more and more like Christ. Getting there isn’t a reward for becoming perfect in love. Becoming perfect in love IS getting there.