It is astounding that even people who claim to believe that the entire Bible is from God continue in this gigantic misreading of Paul's letters. His own letters, and many texts from the rest of the New Testament, clarify that Paul was not saying that people receive eternal life by grace (i.e. free gift) only, no matter what their deeds are (good deeds and bad deeds). Consider for example that Paul explicitly clarifies that certain kinds of deeds can disqualify from eternal life:
"Or do you not know that unrighteous people will not inherit God's kingdom? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malakoì,* nor arsenokoîtai,* nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor the abusive, nor the rapacious will inherit God's kingdom." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, CFB)
What Paul was focused on, when he made a distinction between salvation by grace and salvation by works, was the Israelite model of salvation from the Old Testament, where works (circumcision, sabbath-keeping, food purity, etc.) were the condition for becoming part of God's chosen people. Why was Paul focused on this? Because there were preachers telling churches that they had to have these Israelite works to be Christians.
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Notes
* The Greek term malakós (plural: malakoí) has a large number of senses (refer please to Liddell Scott Jones for a description of these). It is not clear what sense, or senses, that St. Paul means here in 1 Corinthians 6:9. The immediate context and the New Testament give the best support for the sense of "cowardly".
* The Greek term arsenokoítes (plural: arsenokoîtai) refers to men engaging in coitus (laying together sexually) with men.
CFB: Scripture quoted from the Christ Family Bible. Copyright © 2017 by J.J. Thomas. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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