god is holy
God created everything, and He is perfect. Nothing is greater than God, and no one is more powerful than Him. God made you to love Him more than anything else and serve Him forever. He alone is worthy of all our praise, love, worship, and devotion.
Revelation 4:11
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Psalm 29:2
Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
man is sinful
Man chose to love and serve himself instead of God. Now everything is broken and hurting. our hearts are sinful. Look around and consider the effects of sin. Life is full of brokenness and suffering. The result of sin is physical death and eternal judgment in Hell.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
jesus took
our place
Jesus is the Son of God who came to rescue us from our sin. He obeyed the law for us, died for us, and rose again for us so that we may have eternal life. Jesus took our place and became our substitute.
Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
John 10:10
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
respond
The words believe and faith simply mean to trust. The Good News is that a person is saved when they trust God's promise of salvation in Jesus. Being "saved" means that you turn from your sin and trust what Jesus did in your place. You no longer try to earn God's acceptance, you receive what Christ did for you personally.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
John 3:16
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.
Romans 10:9
That 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.
How do I respond?
Romans 10:9-10 says that a person who receives Christ responds with their heart and mouth. With the heart, you believe what Jesus did for you was enough and his substitution in your place was sufficient. With the heart, you confess (say) that Jesus truly is your personal Lord and Savior and you ask Him to do what He promised He would-forgive and give you eternal life.