All people, regardless of one's standard of good, is born into life a sinner. 

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We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.  

Isaiah 64:6, NLT

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What this means is that even at our "best", our sin separates us from God.

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For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Romans 3:23, NLT

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Salvation (the act of being saved), is recognizing that even in our broken state, God loves us and desires reconciliation and a relationship.

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16 For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.  John 3:16-17, NLT

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In God's radical love and rich mercy, He sent His Son (Jesus), in order to right the wrongs of the sin in our lives (1 John 4:9), taking our sin upon Himself and the consequences of our brokenness. Jesus came in humility (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:27), lived in perfection (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 John 3:5), died as our substitution (Colossians 1:20-22, 1 Peter 1:18-19), and conquered death three days later (John 20:1-21:25), enabling all to experience new life through Him (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 3:26-28, Ephesians 2:13), making a way where there is no other way (John 14:6).

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Recognizing one's need for salvation and the Savior is much more than forgiveness of sin. It's about the ability to realize the fullness of a right-relationship with God this side of heaven.

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Our Father in heaven,
   may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
   as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:9-10, NLT

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When we acknowledge our brokenness, ask for God's forgiveness, repent from our old ways of living, and wholly surrender ourselves to Jesus as both Savior and Lord, we are forgiven, made right (justified) before our holy God, and filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling us to realize the richness of a right-relationship through Jesus.

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9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.  Romans 10:9-10, NLT

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Understanding that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) is the beginning to freedom that comes only through a right-relationship with Jesus. 

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Believe in your heart...

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Confess with your mouth...

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Live!