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Salvation is God's way of restoring the personal relationship between Himself and all of us humans to the level enjoyed by Adam and Eve as illustrated in Genesis chapter 2. Then in Genesis chapter 3 this personal relationship was broken when both Adam and Eve rebelled against God. We know from numerous verses in God's Word that because all humans rebel against God (sin), and that He loves us humans so much, He has provided, through His infinite mercy and grace, a way for all humans to be a part of His infinite kingdom or family. Not only just a part, but a major part. He gives us the ability to become a part of His personal family for eternity. As a true Christian, a personal part of God's family, we will become the bride while Jesus, His Son, is our groom [refer to "Jesus"]. Yes, as a true Christian we all will have a marriage relationship with God's Son Jesus. That is a very real and personal relationship with God. Possibly more of a relationship than Adam and Eve had with God in the Garden of Eden.
Salvation is the regeneration of our inner soul with the in-dwelling of the God's Holly Spirit. John 3:3 "... I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (from New International Version)
With God in us [refer to "Holy Spirit"], then we automatically become "God's Temple" as stated in 1 Corinthians 3:16 "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?" (from New International Version)
The minimum requirement for salvation, to be a personal member of God's family, is illustrated in Luke 23:39 - 43. This is the account of the 2 thieves on either side of Jesus that were also being crucified. They both were hurling insults at Jesus until one of them realized his error. Then, all of a sudden he proclaims it and is immediately assured by Jesus that he will be in paradise also. Obviously this man met all of the requirements. First, he realized his error (sin), and secondly asked Jesus to be with Him. All we really know about this man is that he was a thief, found guilty and sentenced to die on the cross.
So, step 1 is to realize our error and repent (apologize to God). The next thing he did was to vocalize his new realization. So, step 2 is to take some sort of action. Or, more importantly, don't just sit on it, but do what you need to do to impress upon God that you mean what you say. And finally, step 3, the man asked Jesus for salvation. Since Jesus isn't showing Himself visually, then our final step is to pray for salvation or ask Jesus in prayer.
Another aspect to salvation is whether a person, due to their intellect are automatically ‘saved'. In John 9:41 "Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin' ..." and in John 15:22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. ...". In these two verses Jesus is actually being sarcastic to the Pharisees (church leaders), but these versus do emphasize the fact that a person can't sin if they don't know what sin is. We can then equate the same level of knowledge regarding salvation. If a person is mentally ill, mentally handicapped or just too young to know, then they too are in reality "blind" to the existence of God. We should always keep in mind that God's Word is written to all of us that are intellectually able to comprehend. Not that we know everything that God's Word is trying to tell us (even the Angels don't know [refer to "Angels"]), but we are able to grasp the important aspects in God's Word.
The other aspect to this accountability for ‘salvation' is in regard to those that have never heard about the one true God. The answer is actually quite simple
Salvation is not permission to sin. We may no longer be under the law, but we must still abide by the law [refer to "Law of God"]. Plus, with God in us [refer to "Holy Spirit"], this does not mean that we will automatically be materially blessed or get rich. It does mean, though, that we might be more prone to be blessed more often and/or acquire more wealth, but that would be God's will alone. Note that God still expects us to commit sin and to receive the earthly consequences for those sins.
Another miss conception is working toward salvation. God's Word does not allow for working toward salvation. Salvation is by God's grace alone, the only thing that we can do is through faith, believe in His Son, Jesus, as our personal savior.
The world has a tendency of taking simple tasks and making them difficult. God's plan of salvation is one of these simple tasks. Unfortunately, a lot of religions and/or churches seem to add worldly extras to the salvation equation. Whether it is going forward in front of a large group with your profession, baptism, praying to a specific person, or any number of possible acts, these actions are not endorsed or mentioned in God's Word. A couple of them may be good things to do and not considered sin, but they are definitely not what God requires.
Simple and to the point. Salvation is God's grace available to all humans. The Holy Spirit guides us in realizing our rebellion against God (sin), helps us in our repentance, provides us the ability to have faith in God's Son (Jesus) as our only Savior and finally helps us in our prayer to God for salvation.
Once saved, the new Christian becomes a personal part of God's family. God's Holy Spirit becomes a permanent fixture in that person's being. Eternity with God is also assured. With all of this, the book of James tells us of many good works that we should and will be doing as evidence of our salvation.
You are or You're Not - http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/questions/theology/youareoryouarent.html
Grace as a License to Sin - http://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/discipleship/061129.html
Dynamic Salvation - http://ldolphin.org/dynsalv.html
Salvation of Babies - http://paracleteforum.org/archive/email/apologetics/babies/dialogue.html