Do I take it that we agree that a man or woman does not go to the Lake of Fire because of lack of faith in the truth? Your answer is quite important, because doctrinally it sends every fetus, infant and child who died to eternal torment.
But to your questions.
- All judgments by God, or Jesus Christ are based on WORKS. That they are written in books is not for God's memory. It is for ours.
- A person cannot avoid "hell" by their works. A person cannot avoid anything. It is up to the sovereign, All-mighty, All-knowing and All-seeing God whether a man or woman avoids "hell". That is what a Judge is for.
I know you won't do it, but once you should sit down with a concordance and find every instance of Gehenna, perdition, destruction, Lake of Fire and/or Second Death, and read it. You will find that in every case the man who lands there, does so because of what he DID. Then, if you do this, something else will suddenly dawn on you. That is, a Christian can be affected by the Second Death. In Revelation 2:11, our Lord is talking to the Church at Smyrna. The word "Church" in the Bible leaves no doubt who is meant. "Ekklesia", the Greek word, means; "the gathering of the called out ones". Within this word is no space for the common Christian idea it is a building, club or organization along worldly pattern. If an unbeliever is present at a "gathering of believers", the Bible does not count him as part of the Church. There are NO false believers in scripture. There are only believers and unbelievers.
So when our Lord addresses the CHURCH at Smyrna, ONLY BELIEVERS ARE MEANT. And Revelation 2:11 implies that a BELIEVER can be "hurt of the Second Death". Now, unless you are (i) precise with God's Words, and (ii) are clear why a man goes to the Second Death, you have a big problem. Those who BELIEVED, and were members of a Church, CAN STILL BE TOUCHED BY THE SECOND DEATH (which is used interchangeably with the Lake of Fire). It is no good answering that they were false believers because, as I said, that does not exist in the Bible. One is either a Believer, or an Unbeliever. It is no good saying that their BELIEF was poor or non-existent because they had endured "tribulation and poverty" for it (v.9).
So, I think you will agree that BELIEVING the truth will not save you from the effects of the Second Death. But then ... how shall we answer this that Ephesians 2:8 says that we are SAVED by FAITH? The Smyrnians BELIEVED but ran the danger of being hurt of the Second Death. How so?