The central theme of the Bible is God’s plan to save mankind through Christ. To appreciate His plan of salvation, we must understand why we need salvation.
Notice what the angel of the Lord told Joseph in Matthew 1:21: [Mary] shall give birth to a Son. You shall name Him Jesus, for it is He who shall save His people from their sins.
Notice also what the apostle Paul said in Romans 5:9: Much more then, being now justified by [Christ’s] blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through Him.
These passages show that what Christ saves us from is sin and its consequences.
All of us who’ve reached the “age of accountability” have sinned (Rom. 3:23). The significance of this is seen in Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death.
When death is spoken of in Scripture, it may refer to physical death, spiritual death, or eternal death. The word generally refers to a separation. Sin separates us from God, making us spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1).
If someone dies physically being dead spiritually, he or she faces eternal death, This means facing eternity away from God’s presence (2 Thes. 1:9) in hell, “where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48).
This is what one sin against God “earns” us. May we appreciate our need to be saved, and do all that is required to receive the salvation our loving Lord offers.
– Michael Hickox