The salvation that Christ brings is not limited to our eternal consequence. Jesus has taught us how to live the fullest, most meaningful life. Sin is what happens when we fail to believe Jesus is telling us the truth about that, or lack the willpower to follow through. The world will be better off, and you will be better off, if you just listen him. So, in my mind, it is better framed not as works, but as life, and how to live it.
"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms … disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes… . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
--Thomas Jefferson