The Bible tells us, “God so loved the world, that He gave His One and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Despite everything you have done, God does not want to punish you. Instead of giving you what you deserve—His judgment (a death sentence), God desires to gives you what you don’t deserve—His mercy (a verdict of life).

“For the wages of Sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 6:23)

Over 2000 years ago, God came to earth in the form of a man; this God-man was Jesus Christ. Jesus walked the earth as fully God and fully man. Jesus came to earth for the purpose of reconciling sinful humanity to a Holy God.

1) The penalty for sin is death. We deserve to die. The Bible tells us that God so loved us that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the death penalty for us. Jesus chose to substitute Himself for us by dying in our place and paying the penalty for our sins.

This is what it means to say that Jesus died for our sins. God came to earth by way of His son, Jesus Christ, and took the form of a man, in order to live a sinless life. He was a sinless man and so He was the only one able to substitute Himself for us by paying our sin debt of death.

Jesus was nailed to a cross. He died; He was buried; and then after three days, He rose from the dead. He overcame death so that He could give us eternal life. Jesus paid our sin debt; He died for us. We deserve to die, but He substituted His death for ours.

2) Sin separates. Jesus came to earth to create a way, or build a bridge between God and us. Jesus came to solve the sin problem by dying on the cross. Jesus is the solution to the problem of sin. Jesus’ death on the cross provides a way, or a bridge, to God.

The only way to cross the bridge is to believe that Jesus died, rose from the dead, and laid down His sinless life in order to pay your sin penalty. The Bible tells us that once we die physically, we no longer can cross from death to life; we no longer can cross over the bridge.

Do you believe that Jesus is the solution to the sin problem?

Problem: The wages of sin is death.

Solution: Jesus died on your behalf.

Problem: Sin separates us from God.

Solution: Jesus’ death on the cross builds a bridge to God.

This is what God has done for you by sending Christ to die on your behalf.

Do you want to know what God requires of you?

God requires that you acknowledge your sinfulness, believe in all that Jesus did for you, and then seek to know Christ and follow His ways. When you do this, the great exchange that Christ made possible is actualized. You are declared “not guilty” in God’s court and seen as righteous in God’s sight.

The bible says,

“For God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
(John 3:17)

God sent His Son because He loves you and desires to be in relationship with you. Jesus died so that you could be reconciled to God. God wants to have a relationship with you and has provided a way for you to have a relationship with Him. That way is Jesus.

Jesus tells us,

God sent His Son because He loves you and desires to be in relationship with you. Jesus died so that you could be reconciled to God. God wants to have a relationship with you and has provided a way for you to have a relationship with Him. That way is Jesus.

Jesus is the solution to the sin problem.

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.”
(1 Timothy 2:5)

“He (Jesus) bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by his wounds we have been healed.”
(1 Peter 2:24)

“Nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:12)

Jesus tells us He is the Truth.

As the truth, He is the reality of all God’s promises found in the Bible.

Jesus says,

“If you hold to my teachings you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and truth will set you free.”
(John 8:31-33)

Set us free from what? Free from sin’s bondage and penalty of death.

The truth of the identity of Jesus as the Son of God and the veracity of His life, death, and resurrection is the Truth that must be believed. It is the truth that Jesus alone can free you from spiritual death.

Some think that truth is relative—you believe what you want, and for you, that’s truth. If you don’t mess with my truth, I won’t mess with your truth. The problem is, truth is not relative. Truth is based on what God says is true, not on what we think is true. There is a plumb line for truth.

If you doubt this, think about a world where truth is relative. What if your neighbor believed that stealing your car was morally neutral? Stealing is neither good nor bad, because for him all things are up for grabs. That is his truth. You don’t agree. You think that stealing is wrong. What happens when his truth doesn’t coincide with yours?

God did not leave us without truth. He has given us Truth in the person of Jesus. Jesus tells us he is the source of truth. Truth is not relative. Truth is what Jesus says is truth. Truth is a reflection of God’s perfect moral character found in the person of Jesus.

Jesus perfectly reflects God and so He is the Truth. If you embrace Jesus as Truth, He can and will free you from the bondage of sin and rid you of the delusion of thinking you are “god” and the embodiment of your own truth. Jesus alone embodies Truth. He is the source of all truth, He is the answer to our sinful and untruthful lives, and He is the solution to our ultimate problem, which is death.

There is nothing we can do to earn God’s mercy. The wages of our life of sin is death. There is only one way to be released from the sentence of spiritual death. There is only one way to be set free. There is only one way to be saved from eternal separation from God.

You can’t buy salvation; you can’t earn it; you can’t be holy enough to obtain it, nor can you do enough good works. Salvation in Christ is not about what you can do, it is about what Christ has done on the cross on your behalf.

Christ is the only way to God.

Christ is the truth that will set you free.

Christ is the only way to have eternal life.

Jesus became sin for us and bore our sins in His body when He died on the cross. He fulfilled God’s righteous Law by paying the penalty for our disobedience and sin.

As God in the flesh, the God-man Jesus Christ was the only sinless person who could pay the sin debt. Because He loves us, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to substitute His life for ours. Those who know Christ no longer need be separated from God by sin. Jesus’ death made it possible for those who submit to Him to be reconciled to God and have eternal life with God.

You can be “saved” from spiritual death only by acknowledging Christ’s life, and accepting His death on behalf of your sins.

The Bible says,

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
(2 Corinthians 5)

“…and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”
(1 Peter 2:24)

“For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
(Romans 8:3-4)

Therefore, salvation is by grace (unmerited favor) through faith (trust).

Pleasing God is not possible by trying to be a good person and abiding by God’s laws. This will not reconcile you to God. Your salvation and reconciliation is not up to you at all. It is only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, that you are able to know God and be known by Him.

As God in human flesh, Jesus fulfilled God’s righteous Law by paying the sin debt and dying in your place so that you can be set free from sin and death, and through Christ, be reconciled to God.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8-9)

“No one will be declared righteous in His (God’s) sight by observing the law (works); rather through the law we become conscious of sin. But now righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”
(Romans 3:20-22)

If what you have read and heard about Jesus resonates as truth, even if you do not fully understand everything, and you feel a genuine desire to know Christ and to be reconciled to God, then follow what the Bible says to do:

2) Recognize and admit you have sinned and ask God to forgive you.

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
(1 John 1:8, 9)

3) Repent of your sins. “Repent” means to change and go the other way. It means you make an intentional, determined, and ongoing decision to change the direction of your life and begin to know and follow Jesus.

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
(Acts 2:38)

4) Ask Jesus to come into your life and begin to make you the person He wants you to be.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

If the Spirit of God has worked through these precepts, the Bible says that God has washed you clean and removed your sins as far as the east is from the west. All of your sins have been forgiven and forgotten by God. Through Jesus, God has established a new relationship with you, and you will be with Him in heaven, forever.

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
(1 John 5:11-12)