What is Salvation?  

Salvation is the "saving' of a sinner from the righteous judgment of God. When someone appeals to God and seeks forgiveness in Jesus, his sins are forgiven. He is cleaned. His relationship with God is restored, and he is made a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

All of this is the work of God, not man. 

What are we saved from? 

We all are saved from damnation. When anyone sins, and we all have sin (Romans 3:2;6:23), we deserve eternal separation from God (Isaiah 59:2). Yet, because of his love and mercy, God became a man (John 1:1,14) and bore the sins of the world on His body on the cross ( 1Peter 2:24, 1 John 2:2). We are forgiven when we realize that there is nothing we can do to earn the favor of God and we put our trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Only Jesus can save us. The only thing we bring to the cross is our sin.

Salvation is a free gift from God (Romans 6:23)

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" 

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" John 14:6 

"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9-10