To begin, what is salvation? It is being saved from death. Ultimate death. Salvation means when the container we are inside, the human animal body that we possess dies, we, our spirit/soul will continue.
Without our salvation, we are useless to the Creator. We either cease to exist, or we suffer in some sort of hell. I have not become comfortable with that issue. My human senses tell me a loving God would not waste resources by torturing souls forever and ever. But I am not God. I only know not being saved is really, really bad, no matter how you look at it.
Meanwhile, being saved means when these earth suits we are in perish, we continue. We live forever, and from what I can determine, in a heck of a better place/situation.
Essentially, salvation is what most religions are seeking, or should I say selling? The price for salvation though, differs. For many, it is human good works. Sacrifice or more.
Modern Christianity though, says that we do not have the power to save ourselves. It isn’t just a calculation. If you commit 23 billion and 12 good deeds to 23 billion and 9 bad deeds, you get into Heaven. According to what I read in the Bible, one would have to be perfect, not sin even once. So, even if you had 23 billion and 12 good deeds and only 1 bad deed, you are tainted and are not going on after your animal body dies.
Romans 3:23 reads, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.“
It is also not the degree of sin one commits. If you never murdered someone, but did lie and steal, you still are not saved. Gossip and jealousy are sins too. All of the possible sins do not have points assigned to them. Murder is 100 points. Battery is 50 points. Robbing someone is 25 points. Any sin, no matter how slight, disqualifies us from Heaven.
So, in these sinful bodies, in our human condition, it is impossible for anyone to not sin.
So, what do we do? From my studies, the only option is Jesus Christ. If you deliberately believe in Christ and give all of yourself to Him, let Him rule in your life, then you are saved. It isn’t enough to just believe that Jesus Christ exists, I think you must believe in Him as God and Savior. The darkness believes Jesus exists, but they are not saved. (James 2:19) You must willingly turn your life over to Him.
Something happens when you do this. The Holy Spirit which is God in some quantum physics form maybe comes into you. Not your body, but merges into your spirit, your soul, the energy that is you. You are changed. The Holy Spirit is integrated into your energy force. Forevermore, you are saved.
You still live inside an animal body with fight or flight emotions and you will continue to struggle with sin, though certainly, you will control yourself better. Your entire thinking changes and you have spiritual power that you never had before. You are changed.
As an example, I thought that I accepted Christ as my personal savior when I was nineteen. However, I did not experience the spiritual change inside. I wanted to be a Christian, I thought I was a Christian, but my life essentially was unchanged. It was not until I was 40 years old that I was flat on my back in so many ways that my heart reached out and begged Jesus to take over my entire self. Then, and only then, dd I experience a true change in my overall thinking and self-view. There are things I did before I was saved that I could never do today. That sort of change. So, salvation is more than just a commitment to Christ. It is a filling of the Holy Spirit into your spirit, your soul.
When I consider salvation, that is what I think of, that is what I believe.