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The One Ultimate Truth

You must accept Jesus as the Christ and your personal Savior

If you don't, when you die, you will spend eternity in hell and nothing else matters.

Are you an atheist? Click here. Are you an agnostic or just don't want to hear about anything "churchy" or religious? Click here.

Here is what the Bible says about why you need to be saved. This is a very brief Bible explanation commonly used to explain why a person needs to be saved and it is often referred to as "The Roman's Road" because the Bible verses used are found mostly in the book of Romans in the Bible or in some versions, entirely in Romans.

The Problem
Romans 3:10 As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

The Bad News
Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death

The Good News
Romans 6:23b but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
Ephesians 2:8,9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

You can KNOW for SURE
1 John_5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

So what does all of this mean?

Romans 3:10 As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
This is what the Bible says: everybody sins and most of us sin quite regularly. Anything we know we shouldn't do but do or know we should do but don't do is a sin¹. God's standard is absolute perfection, no sin ever². Even one small sin in your life is a failure to live up to God's standard.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
No one ever has been able to live a perfect life except Jesus Christ. Even one sin in your whole life means you have broken God's law and are no longer eligible to go to heaven based on your good works³.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
That one man was Adam, the first man that God created. When he sinned^4,5, he ruined it for all people that were born after he was created because he is the one that first introduced sin into the world. If he had not sinned and nobody after him, people would never die. God could not allow people to live forever if they had sin so he instituted death. This penalty was then passed on to everyone because of Adam.
Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death. Wages are what we earn for something we do. You receive a paycheck for working at a job where your employer has agreed to pay you for the work you do. You have probably heard many times the saying someone will reap their rewards. There are usually consequences for everything we do whither good or bad whether those consequences are minor or great. As explained above, Adam's sin instituted death. So death is the wage your receive or the consequence you receive for the sin in your life. This death is punishment in hell forever⁶. not just physical death. You don't just cease to exit when you die, you leave this earth and spend eternity in hell as your wages for sin.
Romans 6:23b but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is an alternative that God provides.
Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
God knows no human being can be perfect and without sin so he provided a way out. He gave his only son Jesus Christ to suffer the penalty for sin for you instead of you having to make that payment in hell⁷. Jesus was crucified⁸ and died on the cross and went to hell briefly^9,10 to experience what you would if you went to hell. You have the choice of accepting his payment for your sins or you can choose to pay for your sins yourself.
Ephesians 2:8,9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Because every person has sinned (even one sin makes you guilty) you cannot save yourself. The only way you could save yourself is by being perfect, never sinning your entire life. When we say saved, we mean saved from the penalty of sin, saved from spending eternity in hell when you die. God says that you cannot do works or good things to compensate for the sins in your life. If you could, you could brag that you saved yourself and that itself is sin. God made it so there is ONLY ONE WAY you can save yourself, and that is his way. It is through His grace. Grace is unmerited favor, in other words, by him giving you something you don't deserve. You deserve hell, what you don't deserve is heaven. What God offers you is a gift and that gift is his Son, Jesus Christ. He gave his only son to be crucified on the cross FOR YOU, to pay for YOUR sins so that you don't have to. You receive that gift by having faith. That faith is that you believe what God has told you: that Jesus is the Christ and that he died for you to pay for your sins and save you from going to Hell when you die, and three days after he died, he came back to life. That Jesus is the one that was prophesied log ago to come and be your savior. There is no other way.

What does that mean "the Christ?" Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, which means the anointed one or the chosen one. Jesus is the one that God chose to save you from your sins and allow you to go to heaven.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
You don't automatically get the gift of Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross. The gift of Jesus is offered to you but you have to accept it.
If you were in dire danger you might call on the person you trust most to save you. When you call on some one, you are choosing that person. In school, the teacher may call on a person to answer a question. She is choosing that person to answer. She calls that person by name. A person might call out in an emergency, "Jesus! Save me!" That is what you must do. You must call on him to save you from going to hell and you must believe he can.
You must believe "the gospel". Paul explains that gospel by which you must be saved.

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

You must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the one appointed by God to save you, and that he died for your sins, that he was buried and that he arose the first day, just like the Bible says.
So to be saved, you must believe, you must have faith, and you can pray a prayer something like this (in your own words):

Dear Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and I can't save myself. I believe that you are the Christ, that you died for me and came back to life again like the Bible says and I accept you as my personal savior to pay for my sins so I can go to heaven when I die. Amen

The exact words are not important, what is important is that you believe it in your heart, and that you are sincere about accepting Jesus to save you. God knows your heart and thoughts and he knows if you are sincere. If you are not, repeating a prayer will do nothing.

So why say a prayer at all if you just need to believe? The answer is simply because the Bible says to say it with your mouth in addition to believing. A person may convince themselves they believe but there is something about saying it out loud, even in a whisper, that brings the truth to light. The Bible even says in 1 Corinthians 12:3 that "...no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." If you are saved, you have the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit and if you are not saved you don't have Him so if you actually have not accepted Jesus as your savior but try to pray that you do, you won't be able to. You might say, it is the test of sincerity and truth.

Romans 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
1 John_5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life...

You can trust that this is the way to be saved. May people after they get saved have times that they begin to doubt their salvation. This verse should be memorized. The Bible says you can KNOW that you have eternal life after you are saved. Many people when asked if they are saved say "I HOPE so." You don't have to just HOPE. This verse tells you that you can KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt. If you have trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you ARE saved, not you MIGHT be saved, but that you ARE saved and that will never change. You now have a home in heaven waiting for you if you accepted Christ as your savior.

No matter where you are spiritually, even if you are an atheist, you will want to know more so click on one of the options below.

Pick One (click on your selection):

1. James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

2. Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

3. 1 Peter 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

4. Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

5. Gen 3:6 ...and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

6. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

7. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

8. Luke 23:33 ...there they crucified him... also see the entire crucifixion story here: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19,

9. Ephesians 4:9 Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

10. Psalms 16:10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.