What does it mean to you to be justified by faith?
We have faith that Christ will save us, that is, that He will ask the Father for our forgiveness, and that because of His righteousness, His Father will agree. We don't have a merely intellectual assent to the declarative sentences, "Jesus is God," or suchlike. We have a specific mental image of Christ saving us in mind.
Basically, we ask Christ to save us, and it is up to Him whether He will (it is by His grace that He does so). He has promised to save all who ask Him to, though, so we can have hope that if we truly ask Him to save us, He will. Now, I also think some outward actions correspond to an insincere request to be saved (so to speak). So there is room for "expressive" works not as a cause of salvation, but a result of it (or, even more precisely, being virtuous
is the very same thing as being saved).
OK, then I have a couple of more questions if you don't mind? Why the Incarnation and why the Cross

IOW, why do you believe that Jesus had to 1. come here as a man and 2. die that horrible death on the Cross for us if it was not absolutely necessary for Him to do so?
God is perfect, so does perfect things, and the most valiant example of humility possible would be a being like God taking a form like that of sinful humanity, so it eternally follows that He would do such a thing. As far as the New Testament indicates, obedience unto death on a cross is a further refinement of that perfect humility.
I never said that it wasn't absolutely necessary for Jesus Christ to die on a cross as such, did I? I just said that it wasn't due to the logic of imputation that He had to.
Sorry but this op, topic, thread and these ideas are looking more and more like 'loop-de-loop's.....
i.e. the position(s) and idea(s) stated in this quoted post is not found in Yahweh's Plan, Purpose or Word.
Consider going back and discovering, if Yahweh permits, who taught you this and judge it according to Yahweh's Word (i.e. don't accept it because of whatever other reasons you believed it when you were taught this) .
I guess you think I haven't already done this?