What is the root of the problems in our world?
 

Rom 3:23  23     for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  Eccl 7:20  20     Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.   Rom 3:10-18  10     as it is written, " There is none righteous, not even one;  11     There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God;  12    All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one."  15     "Their feet are swift to shed blood,  16     Destruction and misery are in their paths,  17     And the path of peace have they not known."  18     "There is no fear of God before their eyes."	Jer 17:9-10  9     "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?  10     I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.  I Jn 1:8-9  8     If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.   9     If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  Ps 14:2-3  2    The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.  3     They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
		Isa 64:6-7   6     For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.  7     And there is no one who calls on Thy name, who arouses himself to take hold of Thee."

What is sin?
 

I Jn 3:4  4     Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law [of God].   James 2:10-11  10     For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all .   11     For He who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
		I Jn 5:17   17     All unrighteousness is sin.   James 4:17  17     Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.

At the deepest level, sin is disobeying the expressed will of God. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God told them not to, it was a sin. Sin is not just doing bad things, but also failing to do good things that God tells us to do.

What are the consequences of sin?
 

Gen 2:16-17; 3:6, 8-12, 22-24  16     And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;   17     but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."  3:6     When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate ; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.   8     And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9     Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"  10     And he said, "I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was ; so I hid myself."  11     And He said, "Who told you that you were ? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"	12     And the man said, "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."
	22     Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--
	23     therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden , to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.   24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, there were three consequences. The first one was death. Adam and Eve were created to live forever with God in the Garden of Eden. The second consequence was that they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. The final and most significant consequence was that sin damaged their relationship with God and with each other. After they sinned, they hid from God and when confronted with their sin, they began blaming and accusing each other. In the following scriptures, notice how these same three consequences of sin affect us all.
 

Rom 5:12   12     Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--  Rom 6:23  23     For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

James 1:15-16  15     Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death .  16      Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.  1 Cor 6:9-10  9     Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals,   10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.  Isa 59:2  2     But your sins have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

Our sin has caused a separation between us and our God. God is the source of all life and the King of all creation. If a separation grows in our relationship with God, we lose our right to live in His heavenly kingdom and eventually that separation will result in death. If a separation grows in our relationship with God, it will also cause a separation in our relationships with each other. "We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19. Sin is like a very contagious terminal disease. God cannot allow the sickness of sin to infect His kingdom of Heaven.

What is the antidote to the sickness of Sin? How can our relationship with God be restored?
 

John 3:16-17  16     "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  17     "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.  2 Cor 5:21  21     He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  1 Pet 2:24  24     and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness ; for by His wounds you were healed.  Isa 53:3-5  3     He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.  4     Surely our griefs He himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5     But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.  Rom 8:1  1    There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Is salvation possible apart from Jesus? 
 

Acts 4:12  12     "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."  John 3:18  18     "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  Matt 1:21  21     "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins."

John 14:6  6     Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.  1 Cor 3:11  11     For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ .   1 Tim 2:5  5     For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ,

Can we earn salvation by being good people or doing good deeds?
 

Eph 2:8-9  8     For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  9     not as a result of works, that no one should boast.  Titus 3:5-7  5    He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,   6     whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,	7     that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
	Isa 64:6   6     For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags

What do I gain by accepting Jesus as my Savior?
 

John 1:12  12     But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,  I Jn 5:11-13  11     And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.   12     He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life

13     These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.  1 Cor 2:9  9     However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"

What must I do to be saved?
 

Acts 16:30-31  30     and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"  31 And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus , and you shall be saved, you and your household."  Acts 2:37-41  37     Now when they heard this they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?"  38     And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  39     "For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself."  40     And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!"  41     So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Acts 8:36-39  36     And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"  37     And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, " I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."  38     And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch; and he baptized him.  Rev 3:20  20     'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me.

To be saved you must accept God's free gift of salvation that He made possible through Jesus. You must acknowledge that you are a sinner, deserving of death, and unable to save yourself. You must accept Jesus' sacrifice on your behalf. You must give your life to Him, and begin to learn to trust the One who offered His life to pay the penalty for your sin.

I am not sure about Jesus yet. How long can I wait to accept Him as my Savior?

Heb 4:7
7 He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

2 Cor 6:2
2 for He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you"; behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation".