As has been previously mentioned, faith produces works, or else it is dead and useless.
James 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. NIV

Jesus said very plainly that thoughts and words alone were not sufficient to please God, but rather doing the will of God.
Matt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." NIV

And again, Jesus said that loving him means obeying his commands. Conversely, not obeying his commands means not loving him.
John 14:23-24 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. NIV
Did Jesus command baptism? Most assuredly he did. He commanded his apostles to baptize every follower (disciple), and teach every disciple to obey all of Jesus' commands.
Matt 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." NIV
Back to the semantics, I do not call baptism an act (work) because the Bible doesn't call it that. Being baptized is, however, necessary for obedience, and obedience is required for recognition by Jesus (doing the Father's will, obeying Jesus' commands).

Paul calls baptism a burial (Romans 6:1-4). When a corpse is buried, what work has it done? Paul refers to emergence from the water as a resurrection. No man besides Jesus has the power to raise himself. Only God's power can raise a person from the dead. Buried and raised, what work has the dead man done? But without the process, in which God works, there is only death and rotteness.

Jesus calls baptism a new birth (John 3:1-8, 1 Peter 1:3, Titus 3:5). When a child is born we say that the mother has "labored." The child has been through and ordeal, but what work has he done? The mother, the father, the doctor, the midwife, others may work when the baby is born, but the baby isn't working.

Salvation calls for obedience motivated by faith, and baptism is part of obedience. But the work is done by others, primarily by God, and not by the dead sinner, not by the reborn child of God.

Notice when Peter talks about Noah and baptism, he doesn't refer to Noah being saved by building the ark, he refers to Noah being saved by what God did, by the waters of the flood, just as Christians are now saved by the waters of baptism. For Noah, there was more at stake than drowing. For us there is more at stake than getting wet.
1 Peter 3:20b-21 ... God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, NIV
Baptism is not about "earning" salvation. It's about surrendering to God, accepting God's commands, admitting our own need, acknowledging that we are dead and unable to produce life. Being baptised is giving up the old to receive the new.