When a person makes the decision to live their life by the teachings of Christ, will they be saved? Do they have to understand that decision? What about a retarded person who cannot understand their decision, can they be saved? Why about little children and babies, can they be saved?
You are buying into a single type of Protestantism as the only possible Christian doctrine on salvation. There is a great deal more variety in Christian Soteriology than the typical fundy flavor.
My own Church, for example, only “requires” assent of those capable of giving assent, and only so far as their capacity permits them. Likewise, capability does not merely refer to basic intellectual capacity but also takes into account life experience, according to some theologians. Thus, somebody who grew up where Brother Bubba-Joe-Jim-Bob Kotchapie praised the frequent beating of children to “drive the devil out of 'em” and practiced this policy on his own family with gusto would likely be cut a bit of slack when facing final Judgment regarding rejection of a “Christ” that was essentially a demonic perversion of the Savior.
As St. Theophan the Recluse wrote to a student: