(The Protestant canon excludes Tobit, from which Polycarp cites, “alms delivers from death.”)
When you can do good, defer it not, because “alms delivers from death.” — Polycarp of Smyrna, Epistle to the Philippians 10
I would refer you to what Paul said of giving/remembering the poor. Could Polycarp be referring to alms can prevent starvation? Could Polycarp be referring to the Bema Seat of Christ in Heaven?
Paul taught and the Apostles wrote that clearly, faith/faithing in Jesus as Savior saves from spiritual death, that fiathing in Jesus results in being born from above.
The book of the Acts of the Apostles records clearly that upon believing in Jesus as Whom God has sent for our Salvation, these were immediately born from above, not saved later after striving to be worthy of God's Grace. To infer one must in any way earn that Grace is to insult the Gift of Jesus for when we are Saved by His Sacrifice it is He Who is due all the glory, not any act by us, so alms do not save a Saved, born from above member of the Ekklesia.
Therefore, search for another way to understand that passage, because Polycarp was directly taught by John and would not place any salvific value in behaviors, just the Grace of God in Christ. Polycarp's trust in this salvific reality was so great that as an old man he WALKED from Smyrna to Rome to oppose the heresies arising there and defend keeping the Lords TAble celebrated on Nisan 14 and not changed to the pagan holiday observance that was done on the Sunday called then by the pagans, Easter.