Romans 3:10 "There is none righteous, no, not one." Those words come as a rude shock to many. They certainly did to the Pharisees in Jesus' day. They thought that they had a special standing with God just because of who they were. In reality, however, they were morally corrupt-just as corrupt as the Gentiles whom they despised. Neither Jew nor Gentile can escape the tyranny of sin. No one has a right standing before God based on who he is.

Why will God not accept you just as you are? In your natural state you cannot perform good works all the time. You naturally use your mind and body to do evil, and that makes you guilty before God. Guilty of what? Guilty of sin.

The word sin, in all its related forms, is found over two thousand times in the Bible because sin is the number one human problem. Sin is your natural condition before you trust Jesus for salvation. All are born sinners. Everyone is guilty; no one is innocent before God.

In addition to being born in a sinful state, you are a sinner because you break God's law. There is a certain standard of behavior that God expects from you. Any deviation from it is sin. Failure to follow His standard is direct disobedience to God. And all are guilty!

How can you overcome this sinful condition and get back into a right relationship with God and be freed from the guilt of sin?

Know that God loves you and wants to give you a new life. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

See that your sin has separated you from God and the life He desires to give you. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12)

Realize that Jesus Christ died for you on a cross and rose from the dead three days later so that He might give you eternal live. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal live through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).

Confess your sins before God and turn away from them to serve Him faithfully. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3:19). "God…commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).

Receive Jesus Christ by faith, accepting Him alone as your Savior and Lord. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:9). "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).

Without a doubt one of the most important words in the Bible is salvation. It applies to being rescued from your sin nature.

And because salvation is a free gift from God, He gives you the choice to accept or deny His gift. How terrible it would be if you or one of your friends denied the gift of salvation because of procrastination.

Have you received the free gift of God's salvation? Don't put it off, tomorrow might be too late!