That's what I am sensing.
We believe that we ARE saved. We have eternal life. We are sons and daughters of God and nothing can change that.
We believe that our sanctification is a follow-on process in which we are becoming more Christ-like as the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, gentleness, meekness, faith, self-control all are playing out in our lives. Absent of those fruits, which one might see as works just be careful to recognize that it is a result of the Spirit's work in our lives not our own efforts, one is not not saved. By their fruits you shall know them applies both to the false prophets and in general. If one doesn't have the fruit of a life changed by the Spirit, no matter how much one "says" they are a Christian, doesn't make it so.
So, ultimately, we see works as a result of our salvation and the justification for calling ourselves Christians. They are not the cause but the result of salvation.
You, the Orthodox, view the entirety of salvation as a process of becoming more like Christ. While there are some scriptures that indicate a process within the life of the Christian whereby we become more like Christ, there are still many other Scriptures that speak of a one-time event. We already have forgiveness of sins, we already have eternal life, we already are redeemed by the blood of Christ Jesus. It's not the end of the story of our life as Christians, but it is the end of our salvation. It's a done deal. The rest is where we become what we were saved for- to become more like His Son. The orthodox call that part salvation and I would presume that to not attain this Christ-likeness or theosis means one didn't end up attaining salvation? Or am I wrong there about what Orthodoxy teaches?
"The orthodox call that part salvation and I would presume that to not attain this Christ-likeness or theosis means one didn't end up attaining salvation? Or am I wrong there about what Orthodoxy teaches?"
Yes and no. It really isn't that simple. So very few people attain a complete similitude to Christ in this life that one can only hope that something less, in God's mercy, will cut it. I think its a safe bet that Orthodoxy would hold that unless one attains some similitude to Christ, then one is the vine which bears bad fruit and is destined to be cut down and burned. We believe that we all have access to the same grace. Some respond, become like Christ and love God and so God's love is paradise to them. Others don't respond and grow to hate God. His love is an eternal torment to them. Same love, different effect.