Grace – the receiving of unmerited benefit or reward; a gift that is exceedingly generous beyond reason.
To pay for a gift is to slander the giver. To attempt to qualify for the receipt of a benevolent contribution already given to you is contemptuous to the provider.
God makes it very clear in correctly distinguished Scripture (Rightly Divided). God said we are Justified by Grace.
I Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
The Law is the opposite of Grace; you cannot mix them; you can have one or the other, but not both.
Galatians 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
The Law requires works, and God explains the difference by contrasting Works and Faith.
Romans 4:4-5 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. [5] But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Israel is not the Body of Christ; the Body of Christ is not Israel. Works are a requirement to Israel under the law; the law is not to or for the Body of Christ under grace. Examples of Israel’s requirement for works include:
Matthew 19:16-21 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? [17] And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. [18] He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, [19] Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [20] The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? [21] Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Notice, that for Israel, the issue of works is in addition to faith and is two-fold; In times past as well as the time following the Dispensation of Grace.
Works are a corporate issue (ye), not just an individual requirement.
It is not so in the Dispensation of Grace. For the Body of Christ in the Dispensation of Grace, salvation is by grace, through faith, plus nothing. Not only are you not required to do the law and works, today, in the Dispensation of Grace, you are forbidden from doing the law and works. In the Dispensation of Grace, if you attempt salvation by doing the law and works, you are completely in unbelief and contrary to God; therefore, salvation is not available to you, not at all.
This is not to say that you should live as a reprobate. However, it is saying that if you attempt to qualify for salvation based on your lifestyle, salvation is not available to you. Israel had a lifestyle requirement in order to prove their faith; they served God through fear and by works. In the Dispensation of Grace, the Body of Christ is motivated to serve God because of love and appreciation for the salvation that they have already received through faith without qualification; to do works thereafter in order to prove their faith is simply unbelief. Members of the Body of Christ have a changed lifestyle, not because they are trying to prove that they have salvation, but because through the application of rightly divided Scripture, they are naturally going to be a peculiar people changed by God, having a renewed mind and rejecting religion.
Romans 6:14-15 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. [15]What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
II Corinthians 5:14-15 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: [15]And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
You cannot claim the Grace of God and then list requirements (laws) to qualify for that Grace or to retain that Grace, which is what religion and Christianity does.
Galatians 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
I Timothy 1:6-7 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; [7]Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
See also Christian, Dispensation, Faith, Law, Ye