Chapter 1
Why Do I Need to be Saved?
Why do I need to be saved? What from? The Scriptures speak of God saving us from many things: from our enemies, from evildoers, from affliction, pain, guilt and fear, from danger, trouble and oppression, from death. But the ultimate salvation is from eternal death, also called the second death or eternal damnation.
What is eternal damnation? Is this something to be feared? There are two major things we know about damnation: 1) it is total separation from God, Who alone is our happiness; 2) it is for ever and ever with no second chances. This is serious business.
In God alone lies our happiness. Without Him, we cannot find happiness in this life or the next:
Only in God be at rest, my soul, for from him comes my hope. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed (Psalm 62:6-7 NAB).
But our sins, if we continue in them, cut us off totally from the Source of our happiness, our fulfillment, our very life: “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” (Isaiah 59:2).
If we persist in our sins until the end of our life, we are in danger of hearing these words addressed to us by the Jesus, Just Judge of the Universe:
“Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:41).
Is it true that hell isn’t so bad—that its just a community of those who enjoy sinning? Jesus urges us to take the most extreme measures in this life to avoid damnation in the next:
“If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:47-48).
Some people believe that we will have another chance after this life, through reincarnation or some other means, but the Scriptures are clear: “It is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
In the end, there is good news for those who love God and do what is right, but bad news for those who do evil:
“The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth” (Matthew 13:41-42).
What have I done that I would be in danger of suffering eternal damnation? St. Paul reminds us, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “All” includes me. As Isaiah discovered in the awesome presence of God, “I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). As members of the human family, the personal destinies of each one of us are caught up in the destiny of the whole race. “Sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned” (Romans 5:12). Not only human beings but all of creation has suffered due to the sin of Adam: “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God . . . because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:19,21).
Our sins have removed us from friendship with God since “God is light and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
You were dead because of your sins and offenses. . . . All of us were once of their company; we lived at the level of the flesh, following every whim and fancy, and so by nature deserved God’s wrath like the rest (Ephesians 2:1,3 NAB).
The creature has had the audacity to break from his Creator. “Woe to him who contends with his Maker; a potsherd among potsherds of the earth” (Isaiah 45:9 NAB).
Is there anything we can do to repair the damage caused by our sins? Is there any way we can persuade God to take us back to Himself? Is there any way we can appease Him? The answer to these questions is “No.” There is no way we can win back God. “Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of his life” (Psalm 49:7). Is there any hope then? Can friendship between God and us be restored? Yes! “For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all” (Romans 11:32). But His mercy must come to us through a Savior, since we are powerless to save ourselves.
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