He offers me salvation. He does not oblige me to accept it. We cannot achieve it by our own efforts, but we must receive it from God if we are to possess it. If I am to benefit from Christ's death I must take three simple steps, the first two are preliminary and the third so final that to take it will make me a Christian. I must acknowledge myself to be in God's sight a helpless sinner.
All men are sinners indiscriminately.
This statement includes me. Moreover, I am helpless to remedy the situation. No amount of good deeds on my part can win God's favor. I am a hopeless, helpless sinner. I must believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to be the very Savior I have just admitted I need.