The Need of Salvation

All men have broken God’s law; the Bible calls this sin. As a result of sin mankind is incapable of meeting God's perfect standard of righteousness. God’s word says, All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Notice the two aspects of sin indicated by the two verbs. First, all have sinned [past tense]. When Adam—the first man God created—disobeyed God, the whole human race was affected. Each person born into this world is estranged from God. Second, man’s sinful condition is proven by the fact that all continually come short [present tense] of God’s glory (his own perfect standard). Therefore, none can claim to be without sin. There is none righteous, no, not one (Rom. 3:10).

All men, being sinful, are under the condemnation of sin and are subject to God’s righteous judgment. For the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23a). All men since Adam have died physically because of their sin, but death is also spiritual. It is obvious that spiritual death is meant in Romans 6:23 when we consider the rest of the verse: but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord (Rom. 6:23b). The word "death" in the first part of the verse is contrasted with "eternal life" in the latter half of the verse. Therefore, the wages of sin is not only physical death, but also includes spiritual death. Those who enter eternity spiritually dead will be resurrected to experience what the Bible refers to as, "the second death" (Rev. 20:14) in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:11-15).

The Basis of Salvation

All men are deserving of eternal punishment, but God provided a way of salvation. God the Son became a man in the person of Jesus Christ and died as a substitute for sinful men. The Scripture says, "For God commendeth his love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). Christ was sinless and under no condemnation of his own, but he willingly bore the penalty of mankind’s sin on the cross. "For he [God the Father] hath made him [Jesus Christ], who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21).

Having borne the sins of mankind, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4). His resurrection is proof that his payment for man’s sin was sufficient. The price of man’s sin has been paid. Romans 4:25 affirms this truth. The word "for" occurs twice in this verse and both times it indicates the reason for the action of the preceding verb. In both cases it could be translated with the word "because." The Apostle Paul said that Christ was "delivered [to the cross] for [because of] our offenses, and was raised again for [because of] our justification (Rom. 4:25). Christ died on account of our sins and rose again because of our justification. The word "justification" means to be declared righteous. He rose because his payment had been sufficient. Sinners could now be declared righteous (justified) by God on the basis of Christ's death.

The Condition of Salvation

In order for someone to be declared righteous by God, they must meet the one condition of salvation. That condition is faith in Christ. "For by grace are ye saved through faith..." (Eph. 2:8a). Faith includes believing the facts of the Gospel. Christ (who was, and is, God in the flesh) died for our sins and rose again (1 Cor. 15:3-4). However, saving faith is more than merely believing facts about Christ. It is accepting the person of Christ. "...But as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God..." (John 1:12a). He is the risen Savior and Lord who must be accepted by faith as such. "For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13). A "lord" has authority over others. When one accepts Christ as Savior, must also accept him as Lord. He cannot be accepted as anything less than what he is. Those who accept Christ do not always obey him as they should. They often fail due to their struggle with their fallen nature; however, they must accept Him as Lord. The gift of eternal life is not received apart from the person of Christ and his Lordship. Saving faith requires a complete change of mind about Christ that the Bible calls "repentance" (Luke 13:3). Many accept the fact of Christ's death on the Cross, but fall short of saving faith in that they do not accept him personally. If you have not taken this step of faith, please do so today.

Suggested Prayer

Lord Jesus, I acknowledge my sin and need of salvation. I believe that you died for me on the cross, taking upon yourself my punishment and that you rose from the dead. I now yield my life to you and accept you as my personal Lord and eternal Savior

 

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