What Must I Do to Be Saved?

Have you ever wondered, "Am I right with God? What does God think about me?" or perhaps, "What do I have to do to be right with God?"

Thankfully, the Bible gives us the answers to these questions and others about the meaning of life and the reason you exist!

Our Story

Why is life so difficult?

We face hardships from our circumstances that seem to make no sense.
Others mistreat and abuse us.
We ourselves do things that we know are wrong or that we would disapprove of if others did them.

The Bible isn't shy about the reasons that life is so difficult: rebellion.

From the very beginning, mankind has rebelled against God, the King of Creation. See, God created a good world, free from tragedy and heartache.

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Genesis 1:31

However, man was not content to live in this good world and follow God's good rules. Instead, the first man deliberately disobeyed God and sinned. The Bible defines sin as violating God's standard of living. Sin is not merely a mistake or a misunderstanding; it's treason against the King, rebellion against His law.

We Are All Sinners

This first act of sin plunged all of humanity into sin. Ever since that moment, now all of humanity engages in sin. Yes, that includes every person who lives.

To make this point clear, God gave his people the Law so that they would know what it means to live righteously and so that they would be aware of their personal sinfulness. You've probably heard of this Law, which we call the Ten Commandments:

You shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them...
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain...
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy...
Honor your father and your mother
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet...

(Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5)

We like to think, "Hey, I'm not really that bad. After all, I've never killed anybody!" But have you ever lied? Have you ever coveted something that belonged to your neighbor?

Sin goes deeper than just our actions - we sin with our thoughts, our words, and our attitudes.

And sin makes us guilty of rebellion against God. We are not good people just trying to do our best but making the occasional mistake; no, we are sinners who enjoy doing what is wrong and neglecting to do what is right.

All, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
   no one understands;
   no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
   no one does good,
   not even one.”

Romans 3:9-12

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 3:23

Because we are sinners and because God is just and righteous and holy, we deserve his judgment and we deserve punishment.

Some people once came up to Jesus and told him about horrible things that happened to others in their country. Jesus warned them not to be concerned so much with the sins of others, but instead to be concerned with their own sin and to repent before they themselves were judged:

And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Luke 13:2-5

The punishment for our sin is death, which we deserve. And because our sin is against a good and holy God, our sin is inexcusable and infinitely wrong.

For the wages of sin is death...

Romans 6:23

But thankfully, this is not the end of the story.

God's Solution

If God left us alone to be judged and punished, he would be absolutely righteous and blameless. He is a good judge, and he is just.

But God is not only just, he is merciful and full of lovingkindness. He acted in love to save sinners and rebels.

God came to earth and took on flesh, becoming a man so that he might undo our curse.

He perfectly obeyed God's Law. He never sinned - not even once - in thought, word, or deed.
He was wrongly convicted of crimes and was punished by crucifixion, being nailed to a cross for public execution.
While on the cross, he experienced God's wrath and punishment that we deserved. He suffered not for his own sins but for the sins that we committed - for our lies, for our lusts, for our jealousy, for our violence, for our rebellion against God.
He died in our place and was buried in a tomb.
On the third day, He arose from the dead to prove that his death had satisfied God's justice and to show that he had once and for all conquered sin and death!

What we could not do on our own, God has done for us through Jesus Christ!

We did not deserve any of this. God shows his great compassion for us by the fact that He came to save us and suffer for us even when we weren't seeking him.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

1 Peter 2:24

The Gospel

Do you want to receive God's forgiveness and to be restored into a relationship with God? It does not depend on our works or our efforts to try harder or to be better. No, now we are commanded to turn from our sin and believe in Jesus, to believe his promise to save us!

The message of what God has done to save sinners is called the gospel, which means "the good news."

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 1:14-15

Jesus has commanded his followers to tell others this good news of God's saving work, the good news that,

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

There is no amount of good works that we could do which would erase even one single sin. But Jesus paid for our sins - all of them! And he commands men and women everywhere to yield to him as Lord, to lay down our weapons, to no longer fight against God's Law, but instead to trust his saving promises of forgiveness.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

John 3:16-18

Do you believe this?

To be saved from your sin requires no good works, but it does require faith and repentance. If you cry out to the Lord - even right now, wherever you are - to be saved and to be forgiven, then you have his saving promise that He will surely do it.

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