![]() God’s solution: offer the perfect sacrifice, once and for all, to cleanse us of sin and reconcile us to Himself. Those who are not cleansed-those who are not saved-must be separated from God for all eternity. Since God is holy, He cannot tolerate the presence of sin, and, unless He somehow cleanses us, it is impossible for Him to work His eternal plan with us. His plan involves us humans, though, and we are sinners through and through. It is perfect, and He won’t change His mind about executing it. What this means is that everyone needs a Savior, even the ones who don’t think they do. God says in no uncertain terms that everyone is a sinner, even the ones who don’t think they are (see 1 John 1:8). “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10 cf. We cannot cast off our sin any more than a leopard can change its spots (Jeremiah 13:23). Every person therefore requires remediation. In so doing he uses Scripture to conclude with confidence that every person has sinned (Romans 3:23). ![]() In Romans 3:10–18 Paul brings passages from Psalms and Isaiah into a discussion of the law. Without a Savior, God’s word to us would only be “away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23). We need a Savior because God is too pure to abide sinfulness: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil you cannot tolerate wrongdoing” (Habakkuk 1:13). Jesus taught that we should approach God with the understanding that He is holy (Matthew 6:9). ![]() The Bible teaches that we should pursue holiness (1 Peter 1:15). With over 900 biblical references to the holiness of God, its importance to His creation cannot be overstated. In His love, God sent the Savior-His only begotten Son-so He could fit us for eternity and showcase His glory. The fact that we (as volitional beings) fell into sin and rebellion means that we need a Savior, or God’s plan for us cannot be realized. God (as a social and moral agent) desires to have His creation love Him and thrive. He did so to cultivate relationships with beings made in His image (see Genesis 1:27). ![]() The Self-Existent One did not create the cosmos to entertain Himself. He desires to conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). We need a Savior because God plans for us to bring Him glory (Isaiah 43:7) and enjoy His fellowship forever (Psalm 27:4). Rather, He makes us completely new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17 Galatians 6:15). Jesus does not simply make us better people nor does He boost our godliness or augment our holiness-we have none to begin with. We need the Savior, Jesus, because we need to be made holy: “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). That is why we need a Savior-and Scripture identifies Him as Jesus Christ (Luke 2:11 Titus 2:13–14). So God cannot accomplish His goals without first fixing humankind. The difficulty for us is that living with God requires sinless perfection, and none of us is perfect. Third, every human being has sinned, and every human has an intrinsic sin nature. Second, God is holy, and He cannot abide in sin. The reason we need a Savior has its roots in the nature of God and the nature of man: first, the Bible says God has a plan and human beings are critical to that plan. In this article, to avoid confusion, we will use the word Savior to designate Jesus Christ. God Himself (and not just Jesus specifically) is also called “Savior” (Isaiah 43:11 45:21–22 60:16). Also, we should note that the term savior enjoys a somewhat broad use in the Bible anyone who performs an act of rescue or deliverance may be designated as a “savior”-examples include the judges Othniel and Ehud (Judges 3:9, 15). First, let us understand the term we in this question to be technically inclusive that is, when we say, “we need a Savior,” we mean that every person who has ever lived needs a Savior.
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