Statement was made: “God refuses to save anyone who does not obey Jesus.” Is this accurate?

Who are those who obey Jesus, is it not the one who is saved by grace through faith in Jesus as Lord? If salvation by faith in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit as Guarantor of relationship precedes obedience via sanctification, what role, if any, does obedience play in the “initiation” of salvation?

Does obedience save or is one saved by grace (a gift that cannot be earned by obedience) through faith (trusting-believing) in Jesus as our Lord who died for us to pay our sin-debt we could not pay through our own effort?

Is obedience the key to righteousness with God or is faith the Key to God’s heart and obedience subsequent to faith the validation of one’s faith as true? Is a man or woman saved from the second death in Hell by their works of obedience or by faith, alone, in the atoning work of Jesus at Golgotha?

Some will respond that “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26) but I ask you, do works supplant or precede “faith” as the initiator of our salvation or are works “evidence” of our abiding faith “subsequent” to salvation by faith, alone?