How is a person saved?

This may seem an obvious question, but until Martin Luther came along, ideas of how to be saved were much different. Martin Luther had searched for the assurance of salvation by following the Church's teaching to the letter, but he still felt miserable. When a wise mentor assigned him a Bible class, he started studying the Scriptures. As he was reading, he realized that the key to salvation was Christ's death on the cross. He realized that man can only be saved by his faith in what Christ has done. His doctrine is of justification by faith alone. Good works cannot save a person. He doesn't argue that good works aren't important, just that they don't save a person. There are plenty of nonbelievers who do many good works, and yet, because they haven't trusted in Christ to take away their sins, they have no assurance of salvation. Needless to say, this view clashed with the Catholic church's doctrine of justification by faith and good works, as Bruce Shelley puts it, "the demonstration of faith through virtuous acts, acceptance of church dogma, and participation in church ritual". (p.239). That's where the doctrine loses it for me, and I suspect for Luther. Many of the church rituals of the time were not Biblical, Martin Luther found. So how would participating in them save a person? Salvation is supposed to be a gift, and we can do nothing to earn it. Good works are important because it shows to the world that we have been saved. Good works do not save a person.

Thank God I have not been saved by anything I've done...to me, all the bad things I've done would far outweigh the good. But I don't have to worry about my past sins keeping me from God, if I've turned from them and repented, God has forgiven and forgotten.