Why do I need to be saved?

Answer

After their miraculous release from the Philippian jail, Paul and Silas told their repentant jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” «And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. », (Acts 16:31). Their words are one of many expressions of the underlying message of the entire Bible: God has provided salvation for the lost. Scripture is clear that all people need to be saved, and here are some reasons why that salvation is necessary:

– We need to be saved because we are completely lost in sin. It’s not that we need to save ourselves—we cannot do so—but that we need to be saved. The Bible teaches the total depravity of the human race; that is, every aspect of our being has been corrupted by sin. “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12). We need the Good Shepherd to seek out the lost sheep and bring them home, rejoicing (see Luke 15:3-6).

– We need to be saved because we are under God’s wrath. We are “by nature deserving of wrath” «among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. », (Ephesians 2:3)

. Without salvation, we stand condemned: “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” «He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. », (John 3:18). We need Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, to propitiate the wrath of God and receive our judgment.

– We need to be saved because we are in danger of hell. After death comes judgment «And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: », (Hebrews 9:27), and, if we die without God’s salvation, we will meet the same fate as the rich man who lifted up his eyes “in Hades, being in torment” «and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. », (Luke 16:23, ESV). We need a Savior to rescue us from a fate literally worse than death.

– We need to be saved because we are spiritually dead. Before salvation, we are “dead in [our] sins” «And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; », (Colossians 2:13). Dead people can do nothing for themselves. We need resurrection. We need the life-giving power of Christ, who alone can conquer death.

– We need to be saved because our hearts are hardened by evil. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” «The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? », (Jeremiah 17:9). The unsaved “are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” “having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: “, (Ephesians 4:18). We need a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit to mend our hearts and align them with God’s will.

– We need to be saved because we are enslaved to sin and Satan. “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin” “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; “, (Romans 3:9). In our natural state, we are ensnared by Satan and bound by his will “and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”, (2 Timothy 2:26). We need a Redeemer to set us free. In Christ we “have been set free from sin” “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. “, (Romans 6:18).

– We need to be saved because we are at odds with God. “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8). We need Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to reconcile us to God and bring us into the family of God as adopted sons and daughters.

When Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” He spoke oIf necessity “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”, (John 3:7). Being saved—receiving the new birth—is not merely a pleasant notion or a heavenly recommendation. It is the profound requirement of the human soul: “You must be born again.”

If you are certain of your need to be saved, please visit our article on how to be saved.