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There are many Christians that are very concerned about if a person is "saved" or not. They even go so far as to make a decision whether or not a person is saved. The amazing thing about make such a decision is that doing so is obviously contrary to the Bible that these so-called "Bible believing Christians" hold so dear. No one can judge whether a person is saved or not except for God alone (cf. Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 6:37-42).
The criteria that these Christians use to decide if a person is saved or not varies from church to church, and even from person to person. The term usually thrown around in this decision is born again. What they mean by the term born again may also very, but usually they mean committing oneself to Christ by praying the sinner's prayer. This is also unbiblical. Born again really means being baptised (cf. John 3:5).
Some Christians insist that baptism is necessary to be saved, while others believe you can still be saved without baptism. There are even the extremists, such as the Campbellites, that believe that you must be baptised according to their understanding of baptism in order to be saved. They actually believe that everyone not baptised the way they baptise is going to Hell.
The strange thing about believing that baptism is necessary to be saved is that many of them also believe that one can only be baptised when one can has faith as an adult. This conflicts with that idea that baptism is necessary to be saved because they do believe that unbaptised children of believers are saved. As they mature, at what point does a child become unsaved because they are not baptised yet? As well, is an adult that plans to be baptised but dies before doing so saved?
Such questions are unnecessary in the Catholic Church. Catholics believe that anyone can be saved; even someone who's never heard of Jesus.
God does not save one person and not another. Through a person's response to God, he decides for himself if he is saved or not. God judges based on that person's decision. A Hindu that has never been exposed to Christianity, but leads a good and moral life will still be saved. It would be unthinkable that a God of love would condemn a person to Hell just because he had the misfortune to be born and raised in a non-Christian environment.
This does not mean that everyone is going to Heaven. Those that do not respond positively to the Will of God make the decision not to be with God, which is Hell. This could even be a baptised Catholic that regularly, but not sincerely, receives the Sacraments.
There is no "yes" and "no" answer to the question, "Are you saved?" This is because the question has three tenses, one of which cannot be answered. The first can be answered because it is in the past. One can say that he was saved through the death, Resurrection, and Redemption of Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 4:12, Ephesians 1:7). The next is in the present and can also be answered. One can say that his is being saved through ongoing conversion (cf. Philippians 2:12, 3:12-14, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27). The Last, however, is in the future, and can therefore not me honestly answered. One can only say that he hopes to be saved when Christ comes again (cf. Matthew 25:31-46, Philippians 3:11, Revelation 20:11-15).
In general, if you are asked the question, "Are you saved?" you can say, "Yes!" If you want to confound the person asking the question, explain why.
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