The Bible tells us a story. The story is of how God saves people from their sins. The Bible begins in Genesis 1 by telling us about creation. It shows us that God created the world perfectly. It was an absolute paradise without sickness and without death. There, he placed man. There were only two rules: work the garden and do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, our ancient parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed the last rule and ate the fruit. This was the first sin of Man. Sin is falling short of God’s standard. That standard is following his ways and his rules perfectly. His standard is a perfect, righteous life. However, Adam and Eve, like the rest of us, sinned and were banished from the garden.

Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Romans 3 also tells us that no one seeks after the things of God on their own. Rather, we seek after the things that we love. Romans 5:12 tells us that, because of Adam, sin entered into the world and because of that sin, death also came into the world. This was not just physical death, but spiritual death. The spiritual death is separation from the God that created us. Romans 6:23 also tells us that the wages of sin are death. So if we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s standard, we all will die both physically and spiritually. We will spend eternity apart from God because of our sin.

However, there is good news. God loves us. He is, after all, our creator. He wants to have a relationship with his people but God is holy and just and cannot just overlook our sin. So instead, he sent Jesus into the world to die in our place. Jesus is God who came to earth as a man, lived a perfect and sinless life, and died a sinners death so that we may receive the perfection and sinless life that he lived. Jesus was treated as a sinner so that we may be treated as righteous. Romans 6:23 doesn’t end by telling us that the wages of sin is death. It also tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2 tells us that God raised us from spiritual death into spiritual life.

All we have to do is place our faith in God and repent of our sins. Faith is a trust like an infant has with their parents. That little baby relies completely on its mother for food, love, and protection. So too must we rely on God for spiritual “food,” perfect and holy love, and spiritual protection and life. Repentance is having a changed mind towards the sin that we love. It means that we turn away from living a life short of God’s standard and striving towards what God desires for our life. This is only possible through the Holy Spirit.

If you desire a relationship with Jesus, pray this prayer:

Dear God,

I know that I am a sinner in need of your salvation. I know that there is nothing that I can do to earn your favor and that without you, there is no salvation. Please forgive me of my sins and make me clean in Christ’s blood. Help me to repent of my sins and show me how to live a life for you. You are my Lord and savior. Please save me.

Amen.

If you would like to know more about following Jesus, contact our teaching pastor at bert@graceministriesusa.org and read more about our Grace Ministries on our About page and join one of our many weekly Bible study groups.