Salvation as a Christian is rather easy. Salvation started with the birth of Christ, His life, His death, and finally His resurrection. Christ came and was the ultimate sin sacrifice for all our sins. That is those committed in the past before he was born, those committed while he was alive, and those committed after his death and resurrection.
John 3:16 New International Version (NIV)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
You have heard it said many times, say this prayer
“God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for You up until now. I have been living for myself and that is wrong. I need You in my life; I want You in my life. I acknowledge the completed work of Your Son Jesus Christ in giving His life for me on the cross at Calvary, and I long to receive the forgiveness you have made freely available to me through this sacrifice. Come into my life now, Lord. Take up residence in my heart and be my king, my Lord, and my Savior. From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow You all the days of my life. Those days are in Your hands. I ask this in Jesus’ precious and holy name. Amen.”
or
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
and you will be saved, but is that all there is to it? The answer is yes and no.
Yes you must pray something like what is written above. It does not have to be those exact words, but you must acknowledge before God and Christ that you have sinner. You must acknowledge that Christ was born, lived, died for your sins, and was resurrected and sits at the right hand of God. Invite Jesus into your life to both govern and rule, and ask the Lord to fill you with the Holy Spirit. Remember you are being honest with the Lord about yourself, who Christ is in your life, and what you need from God.
No in that you simply pray those words and everything is okay and you can go back to doing what you were doing before. In other words it does not end with that prayer, but that is just the beginning. You cannot keep your known sin and expect salvation and it does not mean that you are perfect either. It means you are striving to do what Christ has commanded you to do and that is:
Matthew 22:34-40 New International Version (NIV)
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
and
Matthew 28:16-20 New International Version (NIV)
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
So yes salvation is easy, but can be very difficult and challenging to implement. So ask yourself this question: Do I want eternal life with Christ in heaven where there is no pain or suffering or do I want eternal life in Hell where there is? I pray that you chose the first, but remember that is only the beginning. Your life will change, but it may not be easier and in fact Christ even said that your life may become more difficult.
Matthew 10:21-23 New International Version (NIV)
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Ultimately you and you alone have to make the choice to be saved or not, God will not do it for you. I pray that you will make the right choice and live to the full potential that God has planned for your life.