God created us to be in relationship with Him. God is the Creator (Genesis 1-2; Psalm 19; 139) of the heavens and the earth. The Bible also states that Jesus created everything (John 1:3; Col 1:16) that He owns everything (Psalm 103:19). God has complete rule and reign over everything in the universe, including you and me. God is Holy, Righteous, Perfect, True, Pure, Good, and Blameless (Isa 6:3; James 1:13; 1 Peter 1:16). For the believer, as the Bible mentions, God is Father. He is one God in three persons—God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit. 

Our sin separated us from God. We were born in sin and are sinners by our very nature. Every human being is guilty of sinning against a Holy God (1 Kings 8:46; Romans 1-3; 1 John 1). The Bible says we are born as children of wrath, helpless to save ourselves. We are completely dead in our sin and cannot seek God on our own (Rom 3) unless God first draws us near to Him (John 6) and makes us born again. This sovereign act is called regeneration (Ezek 36; Jn 3). 

Sin cannot be removed by good deeds. Many human beings are capable of some measure of good works, but those works cannot save them (Eph. 2:1-11). God’s holiness demands that you be perfect as He is (Matt. 5:48; 1 Pet 1:13-16); He says we must come through the narrow gate; however, we cannot meet that standard on our own. Just one sin committed in thought, word, or deed, will condemn us. We do not just need “help.” We are dead in our sin (Eph. 2). We need to be made alive. We all deserve death (Rom. 6:23). We deserve hell. Hell is a place where God punishes the wicked and unsaved forever for the sins committed (2 Th. 1:9; Rev. 20:10). 

Paying the price for our sin, Jesus died and rose again. Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.” God in His grace and mercy sent Jesus to die in our place (Eph. 2:1-10). Instead of us dying and perishing for all eternity, Christ took the wrath of God for us (1 Cor 15; 1 Peter 3:18). His death satisfied God’s demands for justice and His perfect life satisfied God’s demand for holiness. Jesus gave us all of His perfection and we gave Him all of our sin (2 Cor 5:21). God declares us righteous by faith. God is both Just and the Justifier (Rom 3:26). He is both merciful and just. What an amazing exchange! Christ’s Substitutionary Atonement means that God treats Jesus as if He lived the sinful life we lived and God treats us as if we lived the sinless life of Jesus. This happens when we trust what Jesus did for us by faith alone. 

Everyone who trusts in Christ alone receives eternal life. When someone trusts in Christ for salvation, Jesus also becomes their Lord. Jesus is both Savior and Lord. The believer must repent of their sin (Luke 13:3, 15; Acts 2-3; 1 Th. 1:9) and turn away from anything evil. He becomes a slave to righteousness (not a slave to sin as he once was before trusting Jesus). He is a new creation (2 Cor 5:17) and desires to please and obey God. We are set apart in the truth and sanctified (John 17:3; 1 Thess 4). There will be genuine fruit on the life of a believer. 1 John outlines the believers’ assurance of salvation. 

Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever. One day He will come back for us (Acts 1; Matt 24; 1 Th. 4-5). And if we die before He comes back, we have assurance that we will see Him just as He is (as John mentions in his letter: 1 John 3:2). In the meantime, we live a life that is pleasing to Him (Phil 1-3). A fruitful life (Gal 5:22-23), loving God with whole-hearted devotion (Matt. 22:37); continually repenting from sin (1 John 1:9; 2:1; James 5:16); modeling genuine humility (Phil 2:1-11); engaging in prayer daily (Matt 7; Luke 11; 18); and loving others sacrificially (John 13:34; 1 John 4:19-21); remaining separate from the world system; obeying quickly cheerfully, and completely as we daily read God’s Word—our ultimate authority in this life (2 Tim 3:15-16; 2 Pet 1:19-21; Heb 4:12; Ps 19; 119). This mark of a resurrected life is the visible fruit on our lives proving our transformation in Christ (Gal 5:22-23).