We do believe that salvation is achieved when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior into our hearts. I don't even mind calling it a fast track because it is scripturally based, and it is so simple. How many times did Jesus forgive a person's sins or confirm true faith based on only one thought, or even one sentence?
We have the centurion in Luke 7. After the expression of one thought by the centurion, we have Luke 7:9 -
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel."
That was it. If Jesus says you have faith, then you have TRUE faith and are saved. It sounds to me that Jesus believed that the centurion was one of the ones given to Him by the Father. Do you agree?
I'm sure there are many examples of this, but one more example is the thief on the cross. His complete salvation was fully attained based on one statement of true faith. It was simple, and I, for one, believe that it was meant to be simple.
P.S. It absolutely is available to you too. :)
Catholicism teaches that faith in Christ is the foundation of our salvation indeed, and that all the work, liturgical or charitable, that we do is the outcome, -- the fruit, -- of that faith. The many passages, including those that you cite, point to that. However, there are equally many passages that point to the fact that the faith needs to be tested, nurtured and firmed up by works. When Christ was asked directly what is necessary for one to be saved, His response was to follow His commandments, do works of charity, then drop everything and follow Him. Another time Christ said that unless we were charitable to the least of us, He would count a lack of charitable work as a rejection of Himself. Christ also warned against mere proclamations of faith, for example in the parable of the two sons, and against taking rest in the presumption of salvation in the parable of the unprofitable servant. Clearly such devotion is only possible if it is fueled by faith. So we do not conradict the Protestants when they say that we are saved by faith, but we insist that this faith must be sustained and formed by good works -- liturgical and charitable
You mention the Good Thief. But note that he went, even though in a very short time period through all the essential steps of ordinary salvation: he suffered (which gave him baptism of blood, an admissible alternative to baptism of water), he repented of his sin, he did good work by protecting the innocently accused Christ, he professed faith, he communed with Christ, and he asked to be saved.