We understand what it means to need something. Our car is totaled—we need a tow truck. We haven’t eaten all day—we need a sandwich. The tumor is malignant—we need surgery. Those shoes are the best—we need to buy them. Obviously, some needs are not absolutely necessary. Like the word love, sometimes we overuse the word need.
The truth is we NEED a Savior. We are not able to free ourselves from our sin. God created us in His image for fellowship with Him, but sin damaged the relationship. That’s what sin does, causes damage.
The book of Romans talks about the damages of sin—war, imprisonment, death.
Romans 7:21-24
I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned
A life of war, imprisonment and death is not the ideal human existence. There are war-torn countries in our world right now. Some people in those places have not experienced life outside of war, imprisonment and death. We cannot imagine what it would be like to never know the privilege of peace and freedom. Yet, without a Savior, we remain spiritually at war and enslaved. With a Savior, we are no longer slaves to sin.
Romans 6:6
Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin
Romans 5:19
For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
The Savior makes us right before God and we experience fellowship with Him. Even in the midst of physical war, slavery, and death, our Savior provides spiritual peace, freedom and eternal life.