In its bare essence, it’s someone that has accepted the free gift of eternal life from God.

In various groups, this is what’s called being “born again” or being “saved”, but whatever words are used, they mean the same thing, and both are straight from the Bible. (John 3:1-7; John 10:9; Acts 4:12; Acts 16:30-31; Rom 10:9)

But obviously, nothing’s quite that simple... there’s groundwork behind it, so let’s look a little bit deeper.

Salvation (or, being “saved” from God’s wrath) comes only through “faith” in the work of Jesus, but the faith comes as a result of the following two events in a person’s heart and mind:

Step 1: Recognition that we have all “sinned” against God, and are therefore declared “sinners”, and will face the consequences. (Rom 3:23)

(Step 2? Let’s work with Step #1 first, then we’ll get to step 2 later...)

Well, you might ask as I did “But why? ...I mean, I’ve been a fairly good person... I‘ve never killed anyone or done anything real bad. Why wouldn’t God accept me into heaven? Isn’t he supposed to be a “kind and loving God”?

God is kind and loving, but there are two more very important traits of God... he is just and righteous. God is perfect, and can not even “look upon” anything that’s even the tiniest bit corrupt.

Just as breaking the laws of nature has clear-cut consequences, so does disobeying God’s laws of righteousness. It doesn’t matter if we didn’t know about, or maybe chose to ignore the “law of gravity”... when we jump off a cliff, disobedience to that natural law will result in severe consequences, no matter our ignorance, or “justification”.

Ditto for God’s laws. Whether from ignorance or self-will, disobedience results in very real consequences. God’s natural laws can not be changed. Break any one of them, and you have lost out on his promise of eternal life. Gods rules: Don’t trespass my eternal laws, or you will be “put out of the garden”. The penalty of sin? Eternal death and separation from God. This “death” is not just an “end of life”, but is our eternal after-life spent separated from the love and glory of God. No heaven, no love, no hope. Like it or not, it’s God’s rules because he is just, and righteous... He is Holy.

This is where I said “Ouch! Those are real tough rules! I mean, I know I’ve lied, and maybe even ‘kind of’ stolen little things, but can’t God just “forgive and forget”?” Is there no chance to “make it up” by being a better person?

You can not undo sin by acts of righteousness... once stained, always stained. We can not, on our own, attain perfection because we are all as if “slaves” to sin. Just think about it... how long can you go without sinning? Some think that they can go weeks, even months, but when you understand that the “laws” are really supposed to expose what’s inside our HEART and THOUGHTS and not just what we “do”, well, if we’re honest, a few minutes or hours is about the limit.

Again... God is perfect, and only perfection passes his test. Perfection of the Father requires perfection from those to be called his children. No matter the analogy (whether in biology, chemistry, mechanics, or whatever) joining the ‘perfect’ with the ‘imperfect’ will cause the ‘perfect’ to become ‘imperfect’, and God must always and forever be PERFECT... no imperfections are allowed, no matter how small.

Are you perfect? If not, then you have seen your sinfulness. This is the point where it all starts to seem hopeless, but wait... here comes MERCY and GRACE to save the day!

You see, MERCY is not getting what you do deserve... and GRACE is getting what you don’t deserve!

Mercy? You and I, because of our sins, deserve to “lose out” on God’s riches and eternal love because we are imperfect. Sin once, and you deserve eternal judgment, eternal separation for even that one sin. Break a law of God, and there’s “hell to pay”.

Grace? Because God loves us, while we were yet sinners he sent his Son to pay the price IN OUR PLACE. Some break the word into its five letters and see G.R.A.C.E. like this: Gods Riches At Christ’s’ Expense.

God the Son, the One who spoke the Word and everything that has been created - was created (John 1:1-3; Col 1:15-19)... this very same Son of God laid aside his heavenly glory and powers, and came to earth to take on the form of a meek, defenseless baby boy, called Jesus. This was so that he could face all the same trials we did, faced all the temptations that we do, and yet he remained sinless to please the Father. Jesus then willingly took all of the punishment that was due to us for our sins, and allowed himself to be crucified, facing separation from his eternal Father, whom he had never been separated from (in spirit) for even an instant since before time began.

For a time, God the Father turned his face away from Jesus because he then had the sins of mankind laid upon him, and God could not look upon sin. This is when Jesus Christ paid the entire sin-debt of all mankind, for all time. He was perfection that was sacrificed in the place of imperfection, and now offers his eternal perfection to all those that will accept the gift of his life and death, in place of their own.

That’s the trade: Accept Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, and he gives you his perfect life in exchange for your imperfect one. This is a “legal type” of exchange, not a physical one, but God is Spirit, and looks at the heart. If you are sorry for your sins that Jesus paid for on the cross, and you believe that He died in your place, then you will be seen as “one in Christ” and will only be seen, by God the Father, in the perfect righteousness of Jesus, God the Son. You will no longer be judged for your sins, since Jesus paid the price at Calvary for those, and all the sins of those who will believe.

When Jesus rose from the grave, he proved that he is the son of God because no one else has the power to raise himself from the dead, but God. In that act, he showed us that if we accept his gift, that we too will rise from the dead, into eternal LIFE with Him, and God the Father.

And now for Step 2: Just come to Jesus with a truly sorry heart for your sins, and ask Him to forgive you for the sins that He paid for on the cross. Open your heart, invite Jesus to take up residence there, and by His promise, he will come in and live in you, and you in Him... forever!!

Maybe you think that you “aren’t ready yet” or that you “need to get things cleaned up first”? Forget it. You can never be that ready, or that clean. God loves you enough that He wants you right now, just as you are. (see Rom 5:8) Once Jesus lives in your heart, HE will do the changing, from the inside-out!

It’s that easy, but you have to want it... and then reach out as if with the open hand of a beggar, accepting the free gift of the King.

(John 3:1-7) Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'

(John 10:9) (Jesus) “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.”

(Acts 4:12) Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

(Acts 16:30-31) He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household."

(Rom 10:9) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

(Rom 3:23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(John 1:1-3) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Th rough him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

(Col 1:15-19) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

(Rom 5:8) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.