Essence or alignment

All these years I've been transfixed by the question of whether humans are essentially good (divine) or essentially bad (fallen and cut off from God). It's a question defined by the traditions - eastern, esoteric, and new agey vs the abrahamic monotheisms. 

It's kind of the wrong question though. For all practical purposes it's a question of how are you aligned now? Where is your attention and focus? What is your intention (in the fullest sense if will and inclination/leaning)? What fruits are you manifesting?

Jesus and Paul said that all you have to do is believe (I.e. put your attention on, turn towards, intend) and you will be saved. That turning in belief is enough to open to spirit - it's irrelevant if before that you were fallen or ignorant. The effect after that is the same. And Jesus and Paul both insist that the truly important thing is what you do on a continuing basis - there will be a judgement (the true will be retained in the kingdom, the false discarded). So what fruit is your intention bearing? Just inner bliss that is more dissociation than transformation? Or inner transformation expressed as external transformation of the effect you have in and on the world?