Why did God save us according to His purpose and not our works?

God saved us according to His own purpose and grace, not according to our works, because His holy calling and grace were given in Christ Jesus before the world began. Believers are not an accident in time; they exist according to His divine and eternal purpose.

Les teaches from verse 9 that salvation is not according to our works but according to God's own purpose and grace. That grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. He emphasizes that this is past human understanding: believers are recipients of His grace, and God knew about us before anything was created. We are not an accident in time but are according to His divine and eternal purpose. Les then connects this to Romans 5, where the believer has peace with God and access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, because the work of the cross has settled everything.

2 Timothy 1:9

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Are we saved and called according to our works or according to God's own purpose?

We are saved and called with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to God's own purpose and grace. That purpose was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began, already in the mind of God and predetermined in His counsel.