The greatest thing in the world is not to be rich or famous or powerful. The greatest thing in the world is to be saved. The little boy who has gotten his fingers stuck in the drain at the bottom of the swimming pool is saved. The unconscious woman who is pinned in a wrecked car that is about to burst into flames is saved. The elderly man with a cancer that threatens to devour his body is operated upon and saved.
Salvation implies a seriously dangerous situation from which one needs to be rescued.
The apostle Paul spends most of the first three chapters of Romans arguing that all of humanity is in just such a situation. These are sweeping universal statements that touch all humanity, both Jew and Gentile. The typical person says, I'm basically a good person and better than most. In fact, I'm a better person than many people I know who attend church. My good certainly outweighs the bad.