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If you read any of the four gospels, you will see that the primary concern is with the identity of Jesus Christ and his mission. The gospel (which means good news) is that Jesus came to die for the sins of the world so that "whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). But the "belief" here is not mere intellectual assent. Even in the Bible, it's written "Even the demons believe--and shudder!" (James 2:19). So, beyond just intellectual assent, it's also a personal submission and placing of trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)
I think there are a few questions that I'd ask of anyone to really get a sense of what they believe and whether they have a "saving faith":
- Who is Jesus?
- What did he die for?
- Why did he need to die?
- Why was Jesus resurrected?
- If you're at the gates of heaven, and God asks why he should let you in, what would you say?
These questions I think highlight the main elements of what Christians believe w.r.t. salvation. (Catholics and Protestants will also differ on some details).
Always happy to talk more. If you're interested, I encourage you to go visit a local church and chat with some of the people there.
So the heart of it is his actual trust and belief? And if a person does not have that belief, then actions like his (paraphrasing) "I don't really think this is true, but I hope it is" aren't sufficient?
This seems consequential, since a person doesn't have much control over what she believes or doesn't; but she does have some control over what she does. A person can sign up for something by force of will, but not believe in something by force of will, using the usual definition of "will".
I've never been clear on what "counts" wrt Christian salvation.