The Bible says "..believe and be saved" but you say believe and still lost until you accomplish a list of additional requirements after we believe. Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, is not condemned, has everlasting life, receives remission of sins, shall be saved (John 3:16,18,36; Acts 10:43; 16:31) but you say believing is insufficient which is really saying that Christ's finished work of redemption is insufficient to save you as He is the object of our faith (belief, trust, reliance) in receiving salvation. You believe/have faith in "water and works" and not exclusively in Him, so you don't believe in Him which means you have not yet repented either. Whatever we are trusting in for salvation, that's what we BELIEVE/HAVE FAITH IN.
Repent precedes believe in Him/believe the gospel to receive eternal life. Repent and believe the gospel. It's not believe the gospel then repent afterward to become saved. Repentance is a change of mind about our sinful position and need for Christ to save us along with changing our mind about any form of self-trust in human works, religious tradition, etc. followed by a trust in the finished work of Christ which alone has the power to save us. Either we are trusting 100% in Christ to save us or else we are 100% lost.
As I already explained in a previous post, in Matthew 10:32-33, the broader context of this passage relates to the fact that the Pharisees had continuously denied Jesus while the disciples spoke about Him in every city they visited. We might paraphrase His teaching this way: "Whoever confesses me before men (such as you disciples), I will confess him before my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before men (like these Pharisees do on every occasion they get), I will deny him before my Father in heaven. Those who confess Jesus are those who recognize Him as being the true Messiah and trust in Him alone for salvation. Those who deny Jesus (and those who give mere lip service confession) but refuse to trust in Him alone for salvation place themselves beyond any possibility of salvation, since salvation is found only in Him (John 10:9; 14:6). The word for "deny" is an aorist tense. This points to the fact that Jesus is not talking about a single instance of denial (as was the case with Peter, who actually denied Him three times - Luke 22:34), but is referring to life in its entirety. Hence, the person who throughout his life denies Christ (as was typically the case with the Pharisess and includes unbelievers who may even give mere "lip service confession" - Matthew 7:22-23, but lack saving faith) will be denied by Christ before the Father.
In Romans 10:9-10, confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead is not two separate steps to salvation but chronologically together. Romans 10:8 - But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, in your mouth and in your heart" (together) that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, (notice the reverse order from verse 9 to verse 10) - that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Confess/believe; believe/confess. 1 Corinthians 12:3 - Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except BY the Holy Spirit. There is divine influence or direct operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person when confessing Jesus as Lord. This confession is not just a simple acknowledgment that Jesus is the Lord (even the demons believe that), but is a deep personal conviction, without reservation, that Jesus is that person's Lord and Savior. So simply believing in our head (and not in our heart) that God raised Him from the dead does not result in righteousness and simply reciting the words "Jesus is Lord" from a check list of steps not by the Holy Spirit is not unto salvation.
*Romans 10:10 says confession is made unto salvation, yet your formula says, confession is not made unto salvation, but unto baptism, which is then made unto salvation, in contradiction to Romans 10:10.
He who believes and is baptized will be saved" (general cases without making a qualification for the unusual case of someone who believes but is not baptized) but he who does not believe will be condemned. The omission of baptized with "does not believe" shows that Jesus does not make baptism essential to salvation. Condemnation rests on unbelief, not on baptism. So salvation rests on belief. NOWHERE does the Bible say "baptized or condemned." If water baptism is absolutely required for salvation, then why did Jesus not mention it in the following verses? (3:15,16,18; 5:24; 6:29,40,47; 11:25,26). What is the ONE requirement that Jesus mentions 9 different times in each of these complete statements? BELIEVES. What happened to baptism? *Hermeneutics.
So the 4 step formula of mere "mental assent" belief + self reformation + lip service confession + water baptism does not = salvation. It equals unbelief. Faith in Christ alone for salvation = saving belief.
Is that what Paul said in Romans 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9? So how many works must we accomplish and add to Christ's finished work of redemption in order to help Him save us? Show me where the Bible says "saved by works." Who obeys Him? The saved or the lost?
When we place our faith in Christ for salvation, we then become "servants of obedience unto righteousness." You left out "servants of obedience" unto righteousness. Romans 6:16 - Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. In Romans 6:16, there is a contrast here between servants. We are either servants of sin unto death (lost-unbelievers) or else we are servants of obedience unto righteousness (saved-believers). If Paul wanted to teach that we are saved based on our obedience/works then he simply would have said in Ephesians 2:8 that we have been saved through faith and obedience. In Romans 5:1, Paul would have said that we have been justifed by faith and obedience, but of course, that is not what Paul said.
Believers serve Christ because they are saved, not to become saved. You have the cart before the horse. Believers don't serve Christ their entire lives as lost unbelievers in order to some day finally become saved by works. What James means by "faith only" is an empty profession of faith that produces no works. That is not what a genuine believer means by salvation through faith in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8,9). Christ saves us through faith based on the merits of His finished work of redemption "alone" and not on the merits of our works. It is through faith IN CHRIST alone (and not by the merits of our works) that we are justified on account of Christ (Romans 3:24; 5:1); yet the faith that justifies is never alone (solitary, unfruitful, barren) if it is genuine (James 2:14-24). Simple!
You need to read verse 6 and 7 together. 1 John 1:6-7 - IF we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But IF we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Walking in darkness is descriptive of lost unbelievers. Walking in the light is descriptive of saved believers. Only saved believers are in the light. Acts 26:18 - to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. 2 Corinthians 6:14 - Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? Lost unbelievers walk in darkness, not in the light. Saved believers walk in the light, not in darkness. IF confirms these positions in verses 6 and 7.
Salvation by works is not obeying Christ. Who teaches faith only, per James? What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? (vs. 14). What kind of faith is an empty profession of faith? A dead faith. By the way, James DOES NOT teach that we are saved "by" works. His concern is to show the reality of the faith professed by the individual (James 2:18) and demonstrate that the faith claimed (James 2:14) by the individual is genuine. I will SHOW you my faith by my works. Show, not establish. Big difference! Man is saved through faith and not by works (Romans 4:5-6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; 2 Timothy 1:9) yet genuine faith is substantiated and confirmed by good works (James 2:14-24). This is the balance that you have out of balance.