Man's Need For Salvation
Genesis 2:16-17
establishes the connection between disobedience to God and
consequences. "From any tree of the garden you may eat
freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you
shall surely die." Romans 3:23 tells us that "all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and Romans 3:9
says that "all men are under sin." Paul describes the
condition of the Ephesians before they were saved as "dead
in sin" - Ephesians 2:1-3. God's character is described as
righteous and just in Psalm 97:2 and therefore demands that
sin be punished.
God's Answer to Man's Need
God provided the
solution to the sin problem at the cross of Jesus Christ.
When Christ died on the cross He paid the penalty for all
of our sins, past, present and future. The Bible calls this
message the "good news" or the "gospel". Man is saved on
the condition of believing (putting faith in) the gospel -
1 Corinthians 15:1-3; Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16.