Good works are the actions God prepares for those who belong to Christ; they do not earn salvation but grow from the new life He has given and make it visible.
We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Works are ruled out as the ground of salvation and required as its fruit — the two are not in tension, because they answer different questions. A tree is not made alive by its fruit, but a living tree bears it; so the good works of the believer are the visible shape of the life he has received.
See in Scripture: Ephesians 2:8–10; Matthew 5:16; Titus 2:14; James 2:17–18