God tells us in the Bible that everybody does wrong deeds and these wrong deeds are called sins (Romans 3:23). Sins are anything that go against the character of God. There is a penalty for committing sins and this is spiritual death (Romans 6:23). Spiritual death is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14,15 , Matthew 25:46). This penalty is not only for those committing more sins than most people but is for anyone who commits any sin as evidenced by James 2:10. This means that everybody has sinned and so everybody is deserving of eternal punishment in the lake of fire. Doing good works cannot bring salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). At this point the situation of mankind would appear to be quite negative. Thankfully this is not the end of what God tells us about sin.

In John 3:16 the Bible tells us, "for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to die for our sins and rise from the dead. Because Jesus Christ was perfect (Hebrews 4:15), His death and resurrection could pay for everyone's sins. This does not mean that everyone is going to heaven. God provided the gift of salvation but we must accept it. To accept it we must place our faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8). Faith is a trusting belief. Belief that Christ came and died for our sins is not enough, the Bible says even the demons believe (James 2:19). We must place our faith in Christ as Savior. We must come to the point where we realize that we have sinned and because of this sin we deserve eternal spiritual death but because Christ died and rose again we can have life eternal by placing our trust in Him as Lord and Savior. Once one places their faith in Christ to save them (from sin and its consequences) and thus receive the gift of salvation they are saved. It's not the saying of the words but the actual faith that is necessary.

When someone is saved they will want to do God's will for their lives, in other words, they will want to do what God wants them to do. After physical death they will be in heaven forever rather than in the lake of fire (Matthew 25:46). This salvation cannot be taken away no matter what they do (John 10:28-29). If they are truly saved they will want to do good but the saved person (referred to as a Christian) will sin. Being saved does not make one no longer a sinner but it means that Christ's righteousness (goodness) has been placed on your "account". (which is called justification).