There’s probably no better place to start writing about Jesus than to explain the basics of how we come to know Him as Savior and Lord. We often use the phrase “they got saved” to mean that someone has given their life to Jesus Christ. It’s a beautiful pictures of what Jesus does when we enter into a faith relationship with Him.

What does it mean to be “saved”? If someone were drowning in the ocean with no way to get to land, we might say that they were “rescued” when someone in a boat came to them, reached down a hand, and lifted them up onto something solid so they wouldn’t perish at sea. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus does for us? We have no hope of saving ourselves, but Jesus comes to us and reaches out His hand. We would be fools to reject His offer of rescue, but many people still do. We want to save ourselves or wait for another boat. But the only salvation from our sin, guilt, and shame is Jesus’s extended hand.

But since we’re not actually drowning, and there is no actual boat, and we can’t see Jesus’s actual hand, how do we “get saved”? Here are 5 short statements that explain our predicament and how we respond to Jesus to save us from our sin.

1. Our sin makes us God’s enemies who deserve Hell.
   • Romans 3:23 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
   • Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
2. God loves us anyway and wants to save us.
   • John 3:16-18 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
3. Jesus lived and died to pay for your sin.
   • Romans 5:8 – “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
4. Jesus rose from the dead to prove He can save you.
   • Acts 3:15 – “you killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead.  To this we are witnesses.”
5. To receive God’s gift, one must BELIEVE, REPENT, and CONFESS.
   • Acts 2:37-38 – “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and John, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’  And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
   • Romans 10:9-10 – “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
   • Romans 10:13 – “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

We “call on the name of the Lord” in prayer. If you don’t know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, what better day than today to be rescued from sin, guilt, and death. You can pray, telling God that you understand your predicament; you are a sinner who needs His forgiveness and rescue. Tell Him that you believe Jesus died in your place to take your punishment and rose again to prove His authority. And declare to Him that you want to follow Jesus as the Lord of your life. By acting on this faith in Jesus Christ, we are “born again” (John 3:3). Our new life in Christ has begun, and we should use it to glorify Him.

Once Jesus has pulled us from the water and we’re safely on the boat with Him, we have the honor to help Him rescue others. We can share this 5-sentence Gospel, or these Bible verses, or a tract, or our own testimony of how Jesus saved us so that others have an opportunity to take His hand and be rescued as well