I'd like to tell you a personal story about salvation that may help your definition.

We lived in the Mojave Desert for four years. I spent some time alone on the desert and enjoyed the silence and freedom. One afternoon I borrowed a motorcycle and drove into the desert looking for petroglyphs. I drove along a dirt road as large as a freeway that turned onto a smaller roadbed and finally to a road no larger than my cycle's footprint. I was driving along a dry lakebed, eventually, I came on a very old hand-dug well. The road went around and I didn't. My rear wheel slipped on the sand and I went down. I had broken two bones six places around my transmission.

I needed to be saved.

First, I needed to realize I couldn't help myself. I was going to die without help. I couldn't stand and I couldn't wiggle 40 miles to the nearest house. I couldn't pick the cycle up with one foot and in shock. When the engine died, I realized I couldn't save myself.

Romans 3:10 as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; 3:11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 3:12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one. "
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Next I need to realize someone cared. I would have come close to crazy if I didn't realize the sheriff had a group of men that looked for people. The Sheriff Rescue Squad would be coming to find me. My job was to be in as good a condition when they found me as possible.

I watched the sun move across the sky and the moon rise. About eight hours after my fall, it was dark and the temperature had fallen about 50 degrees from mid-eighties to freezing on that early March evening. I saw some lights around midnight come over the rise many miles away. I knew they were looking for me. I was humbled to know they had gotten out of bed to look for me and would be at work early the next morning. I could do nothing to help myself, but needed to wait.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The lights stopped and they quickly blinked. Someone had walked from the driver's seat to the front of the vehicle and was using the headlights to see my tracks. They did this every quarter of a mile or so for another hour. I continued to watch them come closer and closer. Finally, I could hear the radios just over the dry well.

I got ready, I got my energy, I shrugged off the pain and I pushed myself to sitting position just long enough to scream at the top of my voice, "HELP!" They heard me and in an less than a minute they were beside me. I was saved. It took four more hours to warm me, put my leg in a splint, extract me from the remote location the ambulance couldn't reach and get me to the nearest hospital. I needed to ask for help.

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; :10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. . . . :13 for "Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved."

I was in a situation where I could not save myself. I needed to realize my condition. Others had to care enough to come. My salvation came from others. All I could do is be thankful and say, "Thanks." This is my physical salvation experience that closely parallels my spiritual conversion. It happened once, it happened at a punctiliar time. I can point back and say, this is the day I was saved. Spiritually, in March of 1953. physically in March of 1979. Can you point to a day in time you chose Christ as your savior? If not today should be the day for salvation.

2Corinthians 6:2 For he says, '"In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.'

Hope this makes sense and helps in defining salvation.