Salvation's Baseline

God's salvation is very simple. Believe and you will be saved. The baseline of salvation is "Believe in the Lord Jesus."
And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31 ESV)

If it is so simple, what then is the problem?
The problem is when someone says, "I believe", what does he or she means? Is it an emotional response of the moment? Even if it is an emotional response, will this eventually grow to become a core conviction over time? So the problem is conviction, the problem of the heart. (Rev Gerard once preached on three types of conviction, public, private and core.)

If we believe with our heart and confess our conviction, then we are saved.
If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9 NIV)

What if our own heart deceive us?
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9 NIV)

Then how can we be assured that our belief and conviction is true?
Two things - faith and works.

1. Our confession of faith:
We are saved by what the work of Jesus, by what He had done on the cross and nothing else.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV)

2. Our profession by works:
We are assured of our salvation by obeying and doing the will of God found in the Bible.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV)

Our salvation is by faith. Our assurance is by works.
Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds." (James 2:18 NLT)
Suppose someone disagrees and says, "It is possible to have faith without doing kind deeds." I would answer, "Prove that you have faith without doing kind deeds, and I will prove that I have faith by doing them." (James 2:18 CEV)