Christian - How Do I Become a Christian?

How does one become a Christian?

Jesus Christ was with God the Father before the world was created (see John 1-3; 14). He became human and lived among humanity as Jesus of Nazareth. He came to show us what God the Father is like. He lived a sinless life, showing us how to live; and He died upon a cross to pay for our sins. God raised Him from the dead.

Jesus is the source of eternal life. Jesus wants to be the doorway to a new life for you. In the Bible, He is called the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29). In the Old Testament, sacrifices were required for the sins of the people. Jesus became the sacrificial lamb offered for your sins.

Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through me" (John 14:6). He is waiting for you now. Admit to God that you are a sinner. Repent, turning away from your sins. By faith receive Jesus Christ as God's Son and accept Jesus' gift of forgiveness from sin. He took the penalty for your sins by dying on the cross. Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You may pray a simple prayer similar to this as you humbly call on God to save you:

Dear Heavenly Father, I know you love me. I realize that it was my sins that caused Jesus to have to come and die on the cross. I ask forgiveness for my sins and ask Jesus to come into my life. I turn away from sin and place my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen!

This is all that is needed. You should understand that Jesus died for the sins in your life, not for everyone's sin. If no one else in the entire world would ask for forgiveness for their sins, Jesus would have done this for you alone. Realize He did this for you because He loves you and does not want to see you perish in the second death. If He had come to earth and died for everyone, then everyone would have been saved. This is not the case. Only those who admit to the sins in their life as the cause for the death of Jesus and calls on God to forgive them will be saved by Grace through Faith. By saying the above prayer with a sincere heart, and be willing to turn your life over to God, you will see your life change as you begin to turn from your sin nature.

If you have done this, you need to walk in the Light as Jesus tells us in His Word, the bible. Go to the bottom of the page (click the hot-link "Individual Subjects"), and read some of the articles of interest. The Meaning of Worship and Can You Lose Your Salvation will help answer a lot of questions you may have. A child of God does two things immediately. Pray and read your bible daily. That is the way you will grow in your walk with God. If you truly love Him, you will want to learn all you can about Him. This is the way.

Salvation: We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is necessary.

While salvation is a simple act, it has a life-changing effect. Just as a single person stands to say his wedding vows and that simple act changes his whole lifestyle and direction, so the simple acceptance of Jesus is life-altering. Paul says we are "new creatures" once we have taken that step of faith (2 Cor. 5:17).

We must understand that salvation is much more than just repeating the words of a vow, however sincere those words may be. The simple truth is that salvation is a divine thing. What man cannot do for himself, God does through the washing away of our sins by the blood of the Lamb and the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is being "born again" (John 3:5-8), God wipes the slates of our lives clean by the blood of Jesus and lets us start all over again. This is why those who love Jesus lift their voices in worship and praise to the One who saved them They Sung a New Song (Rev. 5:9-10; see notes there).

You Need a Savior:

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).

The Greek word for "saved" is "Sozo" which means to rescue from danger, death, bring out safely from a situation fraught with mortal danger, be restored to health. This is exactly what Jesus does for us when we give our hearts to Him. We each need a Savior because:

1. Sin is the tragic inheritance of all mankind. Each is born into sin with a propensity to sin (Rom. 5:12);

2. Every person is guilty of sin. Although we are born into sin, we are also personally guilty of evils we have committed (see above "Rom. 3:23");

3. The Bible pronounces all men guilty of transgressions against God's eternal law (Gal. 3:22; Rom. 3:9);

4. Failure to acknowledge our guilt and sin only fools ourselves (1 John 1:8);

5. Our sin makes us enemies of God (Rom. 8:7-8);

6. The result of our sin will be death (Rom. 6:23);

7. Man cannot be better by himself. He may resolve to do better but keeps slipping back into those patterns and habits of evil (Rom 7:19-24).

How to Accept Jesus as your Savior:

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Rom. 10:9).

Just knowing we need a Savior is not enough. A thirsty man knows he needs a drink, but the diagnosis is not cured. The Bible not only points to our need for salvation but tells us how we can accept Jesus.

1. Salvation is a gift to you. You cannot earn or deserve it (Eph. 2:8-9);

2. Salvation comes by the atoning death of Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:13; Col. 1:20);

3. We must repent. That is, we must truly be sorry for our sins and tell God we are (Matt. 3:2);

4. We must come as a humble child to God, not a proud and arrogant "know it all" (1 Cor. 1:21);

5. We must believe in God, His Son Jesus Christ, and in the power of His forgiveness (Acts 16:30-31);

6. There are two very simple steps to take to receive salvation (Rom. 10:9);

(A) Step 1. Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus;

(B) Step 2. Believe in your heart God hath raised Him from the dead.

It is not enough just to say, "I love You, Jesus." We must move on the "believing in our hearts." That is, obeying the commandments of our Christ and desiring Him to take control of our lives.

Three Facts of your Forgiveness:

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

Salvation involves more than just forgiveness of sin. There are three things God does for you when you give your heart to Jesus. These are best seen in (Psalm 103:3-4).

(A) Guilt is gone. Guilt has been called the most difficult problem in psychology. But the Bible says God takes away our guilt when we give our hearts to Jesus. Jesus often said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee" because He knew man needed to hear that all his iniquities were forgiven. We are free from guilt because of Jesus (Rom. 8:1).

(B) Healing for the stain of sin. Like a river overflowing its banks and running wild, sin tears our souls as it spills forth in its fury. We need not only forgiveness but healing for our spirits that have been victimized by sin. Note the devastating hurt of sin in the life of the demonic child. The Bible says the evil spirit "tare him" (Mark 9:20). We need healing for our souls. Jesus heals:

(1) Our memories (Phil. 3:13);

(2) Our broken hearts (Luke 4:18);

(3) Our "spirits of infirmities" (Luke 13:11-12).

(C) Power over the pull of sin. All of us have a pull downward within us (Rom. 7:19). But we do not have to yield to that pull. Jesus not only takes away the guilt and heals our spirits but also gives us sure power to overcome sin.

Charles Spurgeon said: By the death of our redeeming Lord, we have been redeemed from destruction; and therefore, we can turn away from everything that wears the aspect of death and change, and turn to Him who is always the same, and of whose years there is no end. Paul said it best: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life" (see Rom. 5:10).

Your New Life:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1).

We are saved to serve, not just sit. The Christian life is like a bicycle, we either go on or we go off. Thus, after we have given our hearts to Jesus, there are certain things He wants us to do.

1. We are to grow up in Christ, not remaining static in our spiritual experiences (Eph. 4:15);
2. We are to grow in grace and knowledge of the things of God (2 Peter 3:18);
3. We grow as we read the Word (1 Peter 2:2);
4. We are to be witnesses Of Jesus to others (Acts. 1:8);
5. We are to pray always. That is, to live in a constant attitude of prayer (1 Thess. 5:17);
6. We are to pray in the Holy Ghost letting Him have control of our thought life in prayer (Jude 20);
7. We are to receive help from the Holy Spirit when we do not know how to pray (Rom. 8:26);
8. We should join ourselves with a body of believers and regularly attend worship (Heb. 10:25).
9. We should remember that Jesus loved the Church (Eph. 5:25);
10. We should give to God. (2 Cor. 9:7).

There are some Bible guidelines on how we are to give. They are:

We should give liberally (Luke 6:38);

We should give in obedience to God (Matt. 23:23);

We must be faithful in our giving (1 Cor. 4:1-2);

We should give without fanfare (Rom. 12:8);

We should give freely (Matt. 10:8);

We should give every week (1 Cor. 16:1-2);

We should give our share (Acts 11:29; 2 Cor. 8:12);

We should give cheerfully (2 Cor. 9:7);

We should not steal from God (Malachi 3:8, 10).

You Can Know That you are Saved:

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:13).

There are only two Bible books that tell us exactly why they were written. The first is John, written so we can know how to believe in Jesus: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31). And 1 John, written so we can know we have been saved. In the Book of 1 John there are five clear tests of the believer. If we pass these, we know we know Him:

1. Because we obey God (1 John 2:3). It is not enough just to say we love Jesus, we must keep His commandments. When we do, we know that we know Him.
2. Because our attitude is different (1 John 3:14). Where once we lived for ourselves, now we live for Christ and others. We now really love people rather than just use them for our fulfillment. We start to "give" rather than "get". This is a telltale sign that we know we know Him.
3. Because our love is real (1 John 3:18). We do not just tell people we love them, but our actions show them that we love them. We move from lip service to life service. The real believer does not say, "Call me if you need me," but recognizes needs and moves to fill them. This is another sure sign we are now born of the Spirit, rather than the flesh.
4. Because of God's Spirit (1 John 3:24, 4:13). The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom. 8:16).
5. Because of God's Word (1 John 5:13). God's Word has been given to us so we can be assured of our salvation. Satan may be able to argue with our testimonies, but he can never argue with God's Word. It will defeat him every time.

After you have received Jesus Christ into your life, tell a pastor or another Christian about your decision. Show others your faith in Christ by asking for baptism by immersion in your local church as a public expression of your faith.

Will our New Life be Different? How Will our Life Change or Will It and Why?

We need a Fresh Revelation of God's Holiness: This is the type of revelation we need today! Like Isaiah, we need to see God in all His holiness. We need to see His purity, His hatred for sin. Then, as we begin to get a glimpse of His great holiness, we will be stripped bare of our self-righteousness. We will be humbled in His Mighty Presence, and He will begin to reveal the sin and unrighteousness in our lives and our great need of cleansing.

Jesus is coming soon! Do not be deceived. He is coming for a Church that is spotless and without blemish! We must prepare for His coming!

Only as we look into His absolute holiness will we begin to cry out to God for mercy concerning the gross immorality and sin that surrounds us in our communities and cities. Only then will we begin to weep, mourn, and repent for the sin that has entered into the Church.

Only as we look into His absolute holiness will we be able to cry out for Him to take live, burning coals from His holy altar, touch our lips and burn out all the sin and impurities in our lives, until we can stand in His Presence thoroughly cleansed and made whole.

The cry of each one of our hearts today as we prepare for His coming must be:

"Oh God! Take the burning coals from your holy altar and purge my heart, purge my lips, purge my mind, purge out the desires of my flesh. Give me a new desire, a new hunger to walk holy and blameless before you. Don't allow anything to remain in my life that is displeasing and unholy in your sight. I give myself to You in total dedication and consecration of all that I am and all that I have."

It was not until after this revelation of the holiness of God, and time of cleansing and consecration, that God commissioned Isaiah and sent him as a prophet with a message to the people (Read Isaiah 6:5-9).

In this great move of the Spirit in holiness and righteousness, God is going to raise men and women all over the world, in every sphere of activity, who will manifest His holiness. As they dedicate and consecrate themselves and walk holy before Him, He will use them to manifest His power and glory to the world. Holy men and women will speak forth the message God has placed within their hearts. Great signs and wonders will be manifested through holy men and women of God!

It's Time to Get Our Eyes Off Man: As you make a new dedication to holiness, you must not look at the holiness standards men have established. You must not simply follow the holiness standards determined by your church, your denomination, or your pastor. You must not get your eyes upon any man as an example to follow in living a holy, consecrated life. Men are subject to failure.

Your example of holiness must be the absolute holiness of God. God has planned to have a people today who are created in His image and likeness, who are loving as He is loving, who are merciful as He is merciful, who is forgiving as He is forgiving, who is HOLY, EVEN AS HE IS HOLY.

We do not need to look to men for an example of holiness to follow. God has revealed His holiness to us through Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless, holy and blameless life in the form of human flesh. This is the example of true holiness we are to follow. We are to be holy, even as He is holy. We are to live the same life of holiness and righteousness.

Jesus lived a pure, holy, sinless life that we as His disciples, are to reproduce in our lives.

Because Christ also suffered for us; leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed (1 Peter 2:21-24).

Jesus has left an example of holiness for us to follow. The original Greek word used for "example" in the above verse is hupogrammos that is used nowhere else in the New Testament. It refers to a copy set by an artist, which was to be exactly reproduced by his pupils.

Jesus lived a pure, holy, sinless life that we, as His disciples, are to reproduce in our lives.

The true meaning of the word "disciple" translated from Greek very simply means "learner". It is taken from a root word which means "learning acquired by effort." A true disciple is not only a student but one who adheres to or practices the teachings of his teacher.

We only learn in two ways: Example and Experience. To be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, we must follow exactly in His steps and do what He has done. We are not to just simply talk about the life He lived and what He has done; we must be like Him and live the holy, righteous life He lived.

True Disciples are Those Who Practice Righteousness: The one outstanding characteristic that identifies a true disciple from one who is not, but simply professes to be one, is HOLINESS.

John told the believers in the early Church: "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother" (1 John 3:10).

"If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him" (1 John 2:29).

"Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3:7-8).

Many people are sitting in our churches today claiming to be disciples of Jesus Christ, who are not. They may have repeated the sinner's prayer, attended church regularly, and even paid their tithes. But they have not truly been born again by the Spirit of God because they continue to live the same ungodly lives, following after their fleshly lusts and acting like the world.

Jesus taught that "by their fruits, ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). If a Christian is not following after Christ and is not continually being conformed into His image and likeness, he is not a true disciple of Jesus Christ. And, if he is not practicing righteousness but is continually sinning, living after the lusts of the flesh, he is not truly born of God.

God's Holy Seed is in Us Producing a New Life Created in Righteousness and Holiness: Now, get ready for a "bombshell." John told the believers:

"But you know that Christ appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God." (1 John 3:5-9).

John said that no one who is truly born of God will continue to sin. That doesn't mean that a Christian cannot commit a single act of sin, but that those who are living and abiding in Christ will no longer continue to habitually sin.

Notice the reason why John said, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God."

The holy seed of Almighty God is in us!

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Look at (1 John 3:8 in the Amplified version), which goes deeper into the original Greek: "the reason the Son of God was made manifest (visible), was to undo (destroy, loosen and dissolve), the works the devil (has done)." He came to take away our sins: to destroy, loosen, dissolve, and break the power of sin in our lives, so that we "Being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness" (1 Peter 2:24).

We have died to sin, and the holy seed of God has been placed within us to produce a new life, a new nature that is "created in God's image (Godlike), in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph. 4:24).

It is that holy seed of God that will produce His image in us and make us holy, even as He is holy!

John said that those who have been born of God, who has His holy seed in them, cannot go on sinning. Why? Because that holy seed is growing within them, producing His image, producing His love, His joy, His peace, His mercy, His faith, His holiness!

The Incorruptible Seed Produces Christ's Life Within You: The seed that is in you is incorruptible, one that is holy, pure, incapable of moral decay, one that is immortal, imperishable, which cannot be destroyed. Peter told the believers they were "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever" (1 Peter 1:23).

That powerful holy seed of God is Jesus, the Living and Written Word of God. It has the power to transform and conform you into the image of Christ. God has placed His seed, His very life, within you, so that Christ's perfect, sinless life will be produced in you.

"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).

God planned for the life of Christ to be fully formed within you. Paul told the Galatians: "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" (Galatians 4:19).

Because His holy seed is in you, you can follow His example and live the powerful, holy, righteous life He lived.

Jesus was holy, pure, sinless, undefiled, guileless, without spot or blemish. Because the incorruptible holy seed of God remains in you, as a disciple for Jesus Christ you can follow His example and be holy, pure, sinless, undefiled, guileless, and without blemish!

All those who have truly been born again and have God's holy seed cannot continue to habitually sin. It is not a question of whether or not Christians can live a pure, holy life free from sin as Jesus did. But rather, that it is impossible for Christians, who have God's seed in them, to continually sin.

Examine your own life. If God's holy seed is in you, and you are continually abiding in Christ, you will not continue to live in sin. God's seed within you will produce His life within you, which is created in His image in righteousness and true holiness. You must continually "put off the old man," crucify the lusts of your flesh, and "put on the new man" (Ephesians 4:24).