Why do I need Jesus?
This is a very critical question and the best way find the answer is to simply and honestly compare your life to God’s standards.
For example, look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-17):
- You shall have no other gods before Me.
- You shall not make any idols.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
- Honor your father and your mother.
- You shall not murder.
- You shall not commit adultery.
- You shall not steal.
- You shall not lie.
- You shall not covet.
You might look at this list and say, “Hey, I don’t keep all of those commandments, but I am a pretty good person.” But you see, one day we will all stand before God and He is just. Imagine, if you will, you were in a court house being tried for murder and the judge said to you, “How do you plead?” And you said, “Guilty, but I don’t murder people all the time and I have done a lot of public service in my past and given money to the poor. I don’t think you should convict me because I am a good person.” Would a just judge let him go? Of course not! He would say, “You are not a good person. You just admitted to me that you are a murderer.” In the same way, you might think you are a good person. But when we look at God’s perfect law, we see that we come up short (James 2:10) . The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23); not just death in the sense that we all die someday, but more importantly, it’s talking about a spiritual death, eternity in hell. Thankfully for us, that isn’t the whole picture. God did not want us to go to hell, He created us to have a personal relationship with Him, so God the Father sent His son, Jesus Christ, to come down to earth in the form of a man to pay the penalty once and for all that sin demanded: death. He performed this incredible act out His selfless and perfect love for you and His desire to spend all eternity with you in Paradise. You see, when Jesus died on the cross, God poured out His full wrath against sin upon Him. Jesus was the only one who could satisfy God’s justice on our behalf because He lived without sin. Because Jesus was literally God in the flesh, even death could not hold Him. He rose again three days after He was killed, displaying his power over death. Because of His sacrifice, all you have to do is repent and turn from your sin, place your faith in Jesus Christ, believe that He died and rose again and you will be saved (John 3:16). “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”(Joel 2:32 ).
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance,
As the LORD has said,
Among the remnant whom the LORD calls."
