Our God is a just God.  He is righteous and He sovereignly rules.  It is easy to remember the goodness of God and remember how faithful and loving and gracious and merciful He is; but we forget about the righteousness and justice of God.  We forget that God is a God of judgment.  He judges the sins of every man and if there is no repentance for those sins and a turning away from those sins that man committed, God is just in judging that man to death.

It is not God’s desire for man to die in sin and go to hell.  He desires for us all to turn from our wicked ways and come back to Him.  All forms of sin separate us from our Most Holy Father.  Because we have a sin nature, we are subject to sin if left to our own devices.  That is, however, no excuse for a man to continue in sin because he says he cannot help it.  Ezekiel 18:21-24 explains that if a righteous man turns from goodness and sins, none of his goodness is remembered and he will die.  This may seem hard to apprehend, but it is just.  In order for God to forgive the sins of a wicked man and forget those sins if he turns to righteousness is the same way God has to forget the righteous deeds of a good man if he turns from his goodness to commit sin.  God could not be a just God if that were not so.

The work of Christ on the cross was necessary for our salvation.  Christ stepped out of his divinity to put on humanity to fulfill the Mosaic Law and show the world that He is The Way.  He became sin and lived among us sinless and died a sinner’s death so that sinners could take part in the inheritance of believers.  He became a curse for our sakes.

That inheritance is eternal life for those who believe.  We have been engrafted into The Family of God because Christ saved us (Romans 9).  Before we knew who Christ is, He died for us and imputed righteous unto us.  Salvation is not earned through works.  Salvation is given to the believer who has faith in Christ.  Righteousness is given to us.  We cannot be “right” enough to earn it; else, what would be the purpose of Christ’s work of salvation on the cross?

All we have to do is say yes to God.  After saying yes, we have to turn from our wicked ways and walk in the ways of holiness.  At Christ’s ascension, He promised the disciples a comforter who would come to equip them for the coming work of building The Church.  The Holy Ghost is that comforter and lives inside of men who earnestly seek after God.  The Holy Ghost is the spirit of God living inside of us; He is a gift to the believer.  He is our teacher, our guide, and our keeper.

Recommended Reading:

Romans

Ephesians