We've Got Some Bad News and
We've Got Some Good News!
The bad news: everyone is a sinner. We have all failed. Very few people would disagree with this belief, just read the newspaper, watch the TV news, or recall events in your own life. The evidence supports what the Bible says, " . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . ." (Romans 3:23)
More bad news: because we are separate from a perfect and pure God because of our sinful status, our eternal destiny is Hell. "The wages of sin is [eternal] death . . ." (Romans 6:23)
Now the good news: because God loves and desires a relationship with us, He initiated a plan to bring us back into relationship with Himself. He knew that there had to be a sacrifice to pay the penalty of our rebellion. Blood had to be shed and He did not want it to be ours, so He sent His only son, Jesus to pay this debt. Jesus was without sin and, being God Himself, could pay for the sins of more than one other man; in fact, He paid for sins of all the world! Jesus died as a substitute for our sins. "God showed His love to us in this way, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Our trust in Christ's sufficient sacrifice could clear the sin of our heart.
More good news: this is a free gift to us! There is nothing that you and I could do to earn this wonderful present - not baptism, not giving, not church attendance, not any church ordinance. Salvation is free! God made it that way so we are not prideful or could possibly say that we paid for a certain percentage of our salvation. Christ did it all through His death and resurrection! He gets all the credit! This is a point that God has been trying to prove to man throughout all of history - we are absolutely dependent upon Him for everything, including our salvation. After salvation, we go to church, are baptized, and serve, as a response to this Great God out of gratitude and affection to Him. These things are not a condition for salvation, but a response to it!
So, eternal salvation can only be attained by faith alone in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection as a substitution for our sin! "For it is by grace (a free gift) that you have been saved, through faith (belief) - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)
In order to spend eternity with Christ in Heaven, instead of being eternally separated from Him and spending the rest of eternity in Hell: you simply need to trust in Christ as your savior.
