How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the
wind our sins sweep us away.
No one calls on your name or strives to lay
hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us and
made us waste away because of our sins.
But being good people does not come naturally to us apart from Christ. our righteous acts are at best filthy rags. We all fall into sin as a leaf falls from a tree and is swept up by the wind. It is carried away as it seems sin enslaves us and carries us away unto condemnation. Yet even in such a state few will seek salvation but rather waste away unto corruption. So how can we be saved?
God has provided salvation through the Son of God who atoned for our
sins and sanctifies us freeing us from the enslavement to sinful passions.
Through the Spirit of God He creates in us a new heart and puts within
those born of God the propensity to please God through faithful obedience
to His word. Thus it becomes nature for the children of God to do good
as it is written, Christ "gave himself for us to
redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are
his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:14
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved— you and your household." Acts 16:30,31
"This righteousness from God comes through
faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Rom 3:22-24