Your point is well taken.
I just wish somebody could answer me how you reconcile the salvation of Dismas with the goat and the sheep parable. I know they can’t be contradictory but nonetheless they seem at odds. I am not asking the question rhetorically - I really would like someone to answer it. One thought I had is that the sheep and goats are those not covered by the blood of Christ but that doesn’t square up too well with the treatment of the sheep.
I think one must approach the scriptures with humility and an eagerness to learn anew. And listen to other viewpoints.
The believer's rightness before God is not based on his/her own merit, that rightness is based on Christ's merit and that merit is accessed through faith that God bestows as a gift. After that the good works we do in faith are creditable, but not as righteousness for salvation but as doing our Father's will. Apart from Christ we can do no works pleasing to God.