This is the message of the Cross-death and resurrection. This is the message that we sometimes feel we have to soft pedal in order to attract people, because people don't want to die. Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. When you accept Him as your Savior, He becomes your Lord. His being Lord does not depend on your acceptance of the fact, but upon that acceptance hinges the success of your Christian life.
Some people think of salvation as a subjective experience.
You do experience salvation, but salvation is not an experience. It is not how well we understand that truth, or how much we are moved by it. Salvation becomes effective when, in response to the Holy Spirit, we place our dependence on the Divinely-revealed substitutionary work. Christ's work for us on Calvary is a completely objective reality. It is a reality that is accomplished without reference to our experience.