Why we need it, and what God already did about it.
To find out what salvation is, we must first understand why we may need it. Not only why we need salvation, but also who gave God the authority to make all the rules and determine that we need salvation. To answer the most important question first, who is God, we must go back in time to the beginning of the world. The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). God is the creator, the maker of the world, the designer of mankind, and the author of salvation. Because God is the creator of the world and of humankind, He has the authority to decide what is right and wrong. Have you ever considered where our moral law came from and why it was instituted? When you pick up a Bible, it becomes clear that God has a moral code He demands we live by.
So now we’ve addressed why God has the authority to make the rules; now let’s talk about why we need salvation. Back in the Garden of Eden, shortly after God created the world and placed a man, Adam, and a woman, Eve, there, they sinned. God had given them one rule: do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As it is written, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17). Eve took the fruit, Adam took the fruit, and they both broke God’s law together. In an instant, they knew they had sinned; they had just broken God’s law. Because of this, the Bible says that sin was passed from generation to generation, and that every newborn that has ever breathed a breath of life was guilty of sin. As Paul writes, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).
God is not a respecter of persons; no race was exempt, for “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11), and ALL have sinned and come short of the Glory of God — “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Every human alive, because Adam and Eve sinned, has been guilty since their first breath. As it is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Look back on your life: have you ever lied, cheated, stolen, looked upon a member of the opposite sex with a lustful desire in your heart, looked upon the possessions of another with a lustful desire to own, have you ever been proud? These are but a few examples of how one breaks God’s law, and because of this, you are guilty. Not because I want you to be, but because God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, says you are guilty.
Because of the breaking of God’s law, there is a punishment. Similar to society today, if you steal, you go to jail, but God has far worse consequences for rejecting him. He says in Romans, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and death is passed upon all men for that all have sinned. The full verse reads, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
We have all broken God’s law; we are all therefore condemned. We have no hope except in Christ alone because the Bible doesn’t stop with passing condemnation; in fact, in Romans a few chapters later, Paul writes, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God is the Author of Salvation. He, instead of wiping the slate clean and starting over at the beginning of creation, or simply condemning all mankind to suffer the same fate as satan and Satan’s angels, offers a second chance.
That second chance is through His very own Son, His only Son. He offered his only Son as a remedy for our sin. Jesus took on the form of a man and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. As Paul writes to the Philippians, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). Jesus died on the cross so that we may be pardoned, so that we may be free from the bondage of sin, and so that we might have life eternal. Christ willingly gave His life that we all may be saved.
But Christ didn’t stay dead; He rose again the third day, and with that rising He conquered death, and by conquering death He triumphed over sin and satan and therefore has the authority to offer forgiveness of sins. Paul confirms this in his letter to the Corinthians: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
So there you have it: what is salvation, and why do you and I need it? Because it doesn’t matter who you are, what you’ve done, how rich you are, or how poor you are; God says, “Repent, and I’ll forgive.” He says “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). That is a promise, not a hope, a guarantee. If you call, you shall be saved, if you humbly recognize your sin, that your sin put Christ on the cross, that your sin caused his pain, suffering, and death, and you confess and repent of your sin, believing that Jesus died for it and rose again the third day, victorious over death and sin — “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10) — the Bible is clear, you shall have forgiveness. As John writes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Your name that instant will be written down in the book of life, and it can never be retracted. Scripture speaks of those “whose names are in the book of life” (Philippians 4:3). If it could be retracted, that would make God a liar, and He is not — for “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19).
So friend, what stops you from recognizing your sin, what it has done, and calling on Christ for forgiveness? Why wait? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
If you just called on Christ, start here: I Just Got Saved. If you still have questions, ask.