So if you believe there is a God, you have taken a step of faith.  Now you have  to decide whether you meet his standard, or not.  Obviously you and I do not meet his standard of "good."
Isaiah put it this way:  Isaiah 6:5b "…Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.  For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."  And Isaiah realized he had come up short.  "Short of the glory of God" as Paul put it.

You can't earn it.  You can't buy it.  You can't steal it.  You can't attain it.  It has to be a gift.  But a gift with conditions.  Like we read yesterday, "…it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast…"  That defines grace.  You don't deserve it, but God is going to give it to you.

Here are the conditions.  Admit to God that you are sinful, woe is me, undone, unclean and sorry you have hurt him due to your actions.  Sorry is not repentance.  So repentant.  You must repent. Somewhere in the depth of your soul, give it up.  Commit your future to his standard.

God has a plan to redeem you.  It is the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, "Let me die for what they did.  Put their sin on my account."  And God did.  But to us, the most important point  is that he conquered death.  He rose again.  Believing in the resurrection is critical.  It was witnessed by thousands of people.  We want to live again after we die.  We want to be forgiven.  Christ's death makes it possible.  When we stand before God and he says, "You are guilty," Jesus will come and say,
"I've got that covered.  They repented.  They lived for me and not themselves."

And that is where the third part of salvation comes in.  1. Faith,  2. Grace,  3. Good works
If you are truly repentant, you will grow.  Good works are a result of salvation, not a cause.  You can no longer say, "Well, that's the way I am.  I can't help myself."  You can change because you have been given a new spirit.  "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live;  yet not I, but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."  Galations 2:20  He gave himself.  It was a gift.

That's salvation.  He changes you from the inside out.