You started your query with acts performed, baptized, believed the creeds ... I can only respond with what I am aware of, that as Abraham I believed God, God's Promise FIRST. His Promise is 'Believe on Whom He sent for your salvation and you shall be saved.'
There are three 'tenses' to salvation. First saved from the penalty for sin; justification issued by the Supreme Judge, an action ONLY God can perform for it is against His Holy Righteousness that our sin places us and Only the One offended can give exoneration.
The second tense is being saved from the power of sin, the habituation of sinning. This tense, this phase is a cooperative effort, whereby we new borns sense God;s abiding Spirit in our alive human spirit and follow His urgings to resist the temptations that before we fell for. when we were born again, in that instant His taking up residence in our spirit generates a sensitivity to what offends HIM, and our will which has been redirected then feels that offending and desires to not be an offense. We literally have a sensitivity to what our soul (not our spirit, our behavior mechanism soul of mind, will, and emotion) is tempted by. That sensitivity must originate from what became our reality when GOD Justified us.
Allow me as a man of 75 years, forty plus of which have been post Justification. When I was in my twenties I was drawn to pornographic anything. I felt no guilt at oogling the nudity or the sexual 'implications'. After I was Born Again I immediately had a negative reaction to female nudity and or 'implications'. I did not sex was bad, I sensed that I was allowing something to pull me into temptation which The Spirit in my Spirit deemed 'restricted, not wholesome for my baby status in Christ. It has been a rough and sometimes sad process to grow in Grace and Knowledge, but He has not left me or foresaken me once I began conforming in tiny ways to the Character of The Christ, to the finction of His character in me always seeking tovercome the temptation power of my soul's uncharacteristic behavior for a member of God's family. Has the temptation power of porn disappeared? No, but it cannot overpower me because I do not 'ping' to nudity, it is just nudity.
A further example: my son visited me a couple of months ago and we found a series available from Amazon Prime network which looked promising, a series based on the Tom Clancy character of Jack Ryan. We started the first episode and in the episode a woman is displayed from the right and behind, nude and about to involve with her Muslim husband. I was very uncomfortable with that but it passed quickly. An other episode had a sudden scene of nudity and implied sexial interaction. My sensitivity to porn was activated immediately and I would not allow my eyes to look at the TV and I turned off the episode. Do not want to be exposed to such coming into my behavior mechanism through my eyegate.
Before you jump to dismissing the reaction to my son being present, as if I would not look away and click the episode off if my son was not there, too, I can assure you that the Presence of His spirit in my spirit also guides me to stay away from such stuff now because it offends HIM in me. I cannot sin without sensing that offense to His Presence in me.
The third tense of salvation is a future being saved from the Presence of The man of Sin coming with the wrath of the Lamb ... yes, I am referring to the Rapture, which removes the Body of Christ Believers from the Earth where the man of sin will be in power over all the Earth for a seven tear season.
+++ Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.+++
what Does this Bible verse mean to you - in the context of being saved?
1) There is false assurance of salvation and there is real assurance of salvation. God does show us this in his word.
2) Catholics tend to deny assurance of salvation, protestant tend to lean to heavily on it without understanding fully
3) Salvation/justification is God’s choice, not ours. My human ears never likes to hear that, I think I should have some input in the matter.
4) Work out your salvation with fear and trembling means you have it now exercise it. But it takes Gods Spirit to do it right.
5) How do you know you have real assurance of salvation vs false assurance of salvation? Having the question is a good starting point........................... but God does have much to say on the matter in his word.