I am not saying that a genuine born again believer (who has God living in them) will not have a noticeable change or difference in their life.
I know you're not.
But again, while we may have passed from life unto death, our free will is not taken away and there are still warnings against how sin can destroy a believer's soul in the afterlife.
What??
Are you saying that a believer can go to heaven and still be affected by sin? Impossible.
Yes, you're right; our free will is not taken away. We can, and still, do sin through negligence, weakness or our own deliberate fault.
But I don't believe that a Christian who is IN Christ, abiding and walking in him, will deliberately plan ways to sin and rebel against God.
But if things are as you say, then we not expect to find verses such as these:
"But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;"
Hebrews 3:13-14.
"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him."
James 1:12.
"But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:13.
"...be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
Revelation 2:10.
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
Revelation 2:7.
"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."
Revelation 2:11.
"He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
Revelation 3:5.
"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."
Jude 1:21.
A number of those are about believers persevering and holding firm to the faith through times of persecution - i.e don't renounce your faith in hard times, don't deny Christ and try to save your life.
Anyways, the problem with your belief here is that you are saying that we are not saved by works (after being saved by God's grace),
We aren't.
We are saved from eternal death - which is the result of sin; separation from God - and can have eternal life through Jesus. Adam brought sin and death into the world; Jesus is the second Adam who has bought life and peace with God, Romans 5:12-21.
If someone accepts that Jesus died for them, repents and receives him as their Saviour, they are saved from eternal death; saved by HIS work on the cross, Romans 5:1, Romans 5:11, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. If they died soon after accepting Christ and being born again, they would be reconciled with God, saved from eternal death and have eternal life.
Anyone who doesn't die immediately after receiving Jesus will want to spend the rest of their time on this earth serving him. We will have struggles against sin, the world and the devil; we may give in, be overwhelmed, start to doubt and so on. But while we may be separated from God for a while, he doesn't give up on us; Romans 8:38-39 says that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Jesus also said that no one can snatch us from his Father's hands, John 10:29 - we can walk away from his Father's hands, but not be snatched.
We didn't have to DO anything to be created by God, we didn't have to DO anything to be loved by God, Romans 5:8; we don't need to DO anything to be saved by God - except to accept what Christ has already done.
and yet God does the work through us in the sense that you cannot help it.
No, we CAN help it; we can give ourselves to God, keep on being filled with his Spirit and ASK him to work through us. In other words, we can be willing to speak to a complete stranger, but God will direct the conversation - even onto matters of faith, if we let him.
So works are needed as a part of salvation,
JESUS' finished work on the cross has achieved our salvation - his is the only work that matters or means anything.
OUR works are like filthy rags - useless without Christ.
You can sit back and not worry about obeying, and make no effort and hope that God will do the work one day through you.
That's not how it is.
We serve and obey God, but sit back and not worry about "results", or that everything depends on us.
It's not about hoping that God will work through us, but trusting that he will. And that doesn't mean that God forces our arms and legs to go where we don't want to go or do what we don't want to do. He doesn't force us to do anything - we love and serve him because he loved us and gave himself for us.