Maybe you are asking yourself, what is this “salvation” Christian people talk about, and why do I need to be saved?
To find the answer to what and why we need salvation, we need to first look at what sin is. We tend to think that sin is doing illegal or criminal things, but actually, sin is more than that. Sin is inside of us, in our hearts, not just the outward things we do. In the beginning, in the garden of Eden, Satan tempted Eve by telling her that she could be like God without keeping His commandments.
The first sin
We read in the Bible: Then the serpent said to the woman: “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5) He tempted her with pride, essentially saying that she was good enough on her own, without God.
Basically, it is the same thoughts and ideas that we as human beings are told today. That we can have everything we want without God, that we are good enough on our own. So sin is that rebellion in our hearts, that says that we do not need God. Of course it is also all the things and actions that the rebellion has led to.
None of us are perfect
The truth is that we are never able to be perfect, like God is perfect, on our own. We all make mistakes, we all fall in sin. The Bible tells us: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ). Maybe you like to compare yourself to others, whom you think are worse than you. But think about this – if an exam requires 100% to pass, does it really matter who got 80% and who got 60%? You both fail the test.
In the same way, we all fall short of God’s perfect standard.
None of us are able to be perfect on our own, we all fall short of God's standard
God saw that mankind were not able to live up to His perfection. But He is a holy God. He cannot have fellowship with someone who is not also holy, because He knows that if we even looked at something as holy as He is, we would die. The sin that is inside of us makes us incapable of being close to God.
That is why we need salvation. So what is salvation?
Because God loves us, He still wanted to have fellowship with us. He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. He lived perfectly, yet died for our sin, so we don’t have to be judged and die, but can live in Him. The Bible says “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2.Cor 5:21) Jesus exchanged our sin for His righteousness.
So what should you do?
If you choose to accept the sacrifice Jesus made for you, and acknowledge that you can’t live perfectly on your own, God chooses to look at you through the righteousness of Jesus. The Bible says: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)
So it’s that simple: believe with your heart, which means to turn away from the lies you have believed and to turn to God, and tell someone about it!
Turning to God is called repentance. When you confess your sins and turn away from them, God gives you His forgiveness. These are topics we will explain more about in the following videos.