What actually happens when someone is saved, in plain terms.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. That's Ephesians 2:8-9, and it rules out two wrong ideas at once. You didn't earn this by being good enough. And you can't lose it by not being good enough after the fact. It was never about your performance. It was about what Christ already did.
Christ died for sin and rose bodily from the grave. That's not a symbol. It's the actual basis for salvation, and no amount of personal effort adds to it or was ever needed to complete it.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14 doesn't say sin stops existing. It says sin stops owning you. Before, obeying God was compulsion at best. After, it's a heart that actually wants to. That's the real difference, and it's why salvation changes how a person lives, not just what they believe on paper.
This is the same ground covered in more depth on our About page. If you just experienced this yourself, start with I Just Got Saved.