"Earning" Salvation, or "Deserving a Gift"

A man who lives in out-state New York, asked a question regarding salvation:

Why ask for something not deserved, if you have the will and ability to deserve?

 This is how I replied:

You cannot deserve a gift. If you earn it, it's not a gift, but payment for services rendered, and if it is a gift, then you have not earned it, and don't deserve it.
Ponder the 10 commandments for a bit, because they are examples regarding obedience to God's Law, which is summed up as "You must self-sacrificingly love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and you must self-sacrificingly love your neighbor, even as though they were yourself." So, anytime you do anything (anything at all) purely for yourself, that is a violation of that Law, and, if you take the 10th commandment seriously, then even just wanting to do so is also a violation of God's Law. Any single violation disqualifies you from earning salvation. Everyone who is not God violates God's law all throughout their lives ("for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"). Add to this the fact that God is the provider of salvation and not a recipient, making it clear that, since salvation is already intrinsic to Him, even God does not earn salvation (since He has no need to, already being in possession of it), and it should be clear that no one at all earns salvation.
Salvation is a free gift, given to all who believe Jesus Christ. Paul puts it rather succinctly in his letter to the Romans, "If you profess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." So, it's not even a matter of asking; if you believe that Jesus is the Lord and Creator of all, and speak that out, you've already got salvation, asked for or not.

 Comments are welcome, of course.