I reject it as an official doctrine that says any and all true believers will without exception never fall away.
I think the only believer who can make any kind of reasonable claim that they will never fall away would be the 4th type of soil believer in the Parable of the Sower. The 4th type of soil is the one in which Jesus said the word is retained and perseveres:
"15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." - Luke 8:15
Works have absolutely no power to earn a person a declaration of right standing before God.
Works have nothing to do with being justified (made righteous before God).
But they do have something to do with salvation in that the faith that justifies apart from works is the faith that works righteousness in a person:
"The only thing that counts (towards justification) is faith expressing itself through love." - Galatians 5:6 (parentheses mine)
If one's 'faith' does not find expression in the obedience of godly love, they probably don't have the faith that justifies all by itself apart from works. Saving faith changes a person because it solicits the indwelling Holy Spirit. Works are the evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit in salvation. No changed/ changing life means no indwelling Holy Spirit is present to cause that change in a person.
Faith apart from works is in fact the way through which a person is justified before God.
But it would be impossible to separate that faith from a life of works, and I think that's where the confusion comes in for some who think their 'faith that is alone' is the faith that saves.