The truth of the matter is that every person needs to be saved. But from what? We need to be saved from our sin. We need to be saved from the punishment of our sin. We need to be saved from God's wrath on ALL OF US because of our sin.
At the greatest possible cost to human beings, the Church has allowed the meaning of the word to change to something that is more socially and culturally acceptable. We prefer to be saved from a void we are missing in our hearts. It is common place to hear the words similar to "you have a God-sized hole in your heart that you need to let Jesus fill." For certain, Jesus Christ can and will fill the void in our lives. But, that is NOT why we need to be saved.
Just yesterday, I heard the truth put this way:
It is not "Oh Lord, I am empty, please fill me." Instead the truth is "Oh Lord, I am an offense to You, please rescue me!"Jesus Christ was beaten with whip of nine tails. At the end of each tail was tied small bits of sharp bone or glass. When the whip wrapped around Jesus' body, the bone stuck deep in His flesh and was ripped away as the huge, strong, professional Roman soldier drew back for another lash. All in all, there were 39 of those lashes. He was deserted by friends, mocked, spat upon, beard plucked, hit, smacked, struck, 2 inch thorns pressed into his brow, crucified and forsaken by His Father.
Jesus did not endure it so He could fill a void in our hearts. He endured it so that we would not have to. He endured it so that we could be SAVED from the same punishment (from the penalty of our sin and from the punishment from God).
HIS way will save us. The culture's way will make us feel good for just a short season before our destruction.
The Bible says that those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus will be saved. (Acts 3:19, Luke 24:47, Mark 1:15, Luke 13:3-5, Acts 17:30, 2 Corinthians 7:10, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 1:15, Acts 26:20, Romans 6:23).
The Church MUST get this right. For it is the essence of the Gospel and Christianity.
