What are the gospel commands, obedience to which is necessary for salvation? Here we simply must look for the Biblical teaching that specifically connects obedient human acts with the receiving of salvation (i.e., justification as the forgiveness of sins, and regeneration by the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit). And when we study the twelve New Testament texts that talk about the meaning of baptism (see above), we must conclude that baptism is the climactic act of obedience to the gospel, following the three that precede it thus:

• FAITH: believing with the mind that certain things about Jesus and salvation are true, and believing in (or on) Jesus as an act of will by submitting to Him as Lord and Savior.
• REPENTANCE: changing our mind and attitude toward sin, specifically coming to hate the sin that exists in our own lives and committing ourselves to get rid of it.
• CONFESSION: audibly admitting before witnesses that we do indeed believe the gospel truths about Jesus Christ and have surrendered ourselves to Him.
• BAPTISM: being immersed into a state of union with Christ, at which moment we receive forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ and regeneration of our spirits through the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

These are the gospel commands, and obedience to them is NOT “works” or “works of law” (as Paul uses the term). I.e., they are not deeds we do in response to law commands applied to us by God as our Creator; our obedience to them is what God as our Redeemer has specified to be the conditions we can meet in order to receive His gift of saving grace. This is the grace system, not the law system (Romans 6:14).

From an article by Jack Cottrell.  Full article is found here
http://jackcottrell.com/uncategorized/is-baptism-a-work/