Why were you born? What is the purpose of your life? Why do you need to be saved and what do you need to be saved from? These are the most important questions of life.
There is only one true and reliable source where you can find answers to these questions, and that source is the Bible. The words found in the Bible are the primary way God has chosen to reveal Himself to mankind and give us guidance and instruction for our lives. The Bible is God-breathed and comes to us through His chosen prophets of old, by the words and deeds of Jesus and by the apostles of Jesus Christ. We read in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
Before we give the answers to the above questions, there are two very important things we must understand about God. The first thing is that God is so pure, so just and so holy that He cannot tolerate any sin in His presence. The prophet Habakkuk makes it clear that God cannot and will not put Himself in the presence of evil. “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness” (Habakkuk 1:13). The second very important thing to understand and know about God is that He loves you. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Now to the questions: “Are You Saved?” and what does the Bible say we need to be saved from? The answers are: “we need to be saved from the penalty we deserve for the sins we have committed.” Sin defined is: living outside the boundaries or standard of conduct God expects His human creation to live by. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and the penalty for sin is death. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23) That penalty we deserve for our sin is separation from God, our creator, in a place of eternal punishment. “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
With that said, you may be asking: “Since I know I have committed sin and God can have no sin in His presence, how good do I need to be, or how many good things do I need to do in order to be assured that I will go to Heaven when I die?” The Bible tells us: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags…” (Isaiah 64:6). That means we are all contaminated by our own sin and there is nothing we can do on our own to make us clean enough and worthy enough to enter Heaven and spend eternity with God. But God, in His love and mercy has provided a way for us to get rid of, and be cleansed of all our sin.
Remember that Bible verse above: “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” “Yes, but how does that work? How do we get eternal life with God through Jesus Christ”? Again, the Bible gives us the answer. There was only one sinless, thus worthy sacrifice possible, that would qualify to pay our sin debt and cleanse us from our sin. That payment was the sinless life and willing sacrifice of Jesus Christ (God’s own Son). So, for all who are willing to repent (turn from sin) and believe that Jesus has taken their sin debt upon Himself, plus are willing to follow Him (with His help) shall have their sin debt paid in full by His pure, sinless death paying sacrifice on the cross.
In summary:
- You Are A sinner. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
- The Penalty for Sin is Death. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23).
- Jesus Christ (God in the flesh) came down to earth, lived a sinless life and because of His love for us took our sin upon Himself on the cross. “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18-19).
- You can be saved through faith (not faith in your living a pretty good life) but faith in what Jesus Christ has done for you. For He was the only 100% pure and thus worthy sacrifice that would qualify to pay the punishment you deserve for your sins. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8). “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18). “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2Cor. 5;21). “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). “That 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). It is only by God’s grace, through your faith in what Jesus Christ has done for you, that makes you clean enough to enter the presence of God in Heaven. (See our pamphlets on What Heaven is Like and What is Hell Like. After reading those, you will have no doubt where you want to spend your eternity.
If you have truly accepted and trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, you are saved. Following that, it is natural that you will want to follow His instructions for your life, which are found in the Bible. For this reason, you should read your Bible daily and find a Bible believing church that will help you learn and grow in the Christian faith. Here is a promise from God that I will leave you with: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).
If you are already a Christian, please download, print and Pass This On to someone who needs to hear its message. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so…” (Psalm 107:2).