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How to become a Christian
For some folks, the hardest part about becoming a Christian is learning that they don't have to do the work, that they don't have to be perfect, that their life doesn't have to be in order, and that Jesus expects us to come to him with all our troubles and sorrows. Like an animal caught in barbed wire, sometimes our sins and troubles poke us in the side and we're in such a hurry to get free that when someone comes along to help us we fight them off with all we can muster, fearful that they will hurt us even more than we've been hurt thus far. And Jesus is like a kindly old farmer who knows just how badly we're hurting, and who comes alongside and first calms our fears, then as we learn to trust him he removes our bounds and puts salve on our wounds, and binds us up so we can heal and become productive parts of His kingdom. God has created a world for us that contains all we need to find peace and happiness. But without God in our life we just seem incapable of finding that peace and living in enduring happiness. The world is full of trouble, and most of the trouble is caused by people. Many of us would like to separate ourselves from those who cause the trouble and think of ourselves as being exceptions, but we can't do this. None of us is perfectly good, and probably no one is all bad. It is impossible to draw a sharp line between the good and the bad. We are all tangled up with this troubled world because we are part of it. We get ourselves into trouble if we try to judge ourselves against other people. The Bible says, There is no difference, for all have sinned (Romans 3:22-23). Yep, God has included all of us among the sinners so he can save us all from our own entangling "barbed wire" and set us free. Jesus said, If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:36). Christians are people who are continually being set free. Christians are freed to live a satisfying and useful life, free from a troubled conscience, free to be what God intended. Jesus offers us a purpose for living, and he assures us of the freedom to fulfill that purpose. Just like the entangled animal, we must give up our struggle to free ourselves. We must trust Jesus to save us from our entanglement and set us free. The Bible tells us: It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Since salvation is a gift from God, it is available to all people on the same basis. It makes no difference what you have done, why you did it, or how bad it was. If you will trust Jesus, he will come to you, set you free, forget your past, and lead you to God. He will help you start to live a new, free life. God has done everything necessary. God sent his Son, Jesus, who died for sins and rose again. This is the most important truth about the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul explained it this way: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3-4). God has done everything necessary for us to be saved from our sinful character. He did it for us because he knew we were so deeply entangled that we could never save ourselves. All that we can do is to trust him and accept by faith what he has done for us. This is what the Bible calls "the good news." What if we can't believe in God and in Jesus? Now, during the last decade of the 20th Century it seems so very hard to believe in God. Yet it is no harder today than it ever was. Yes, there are more things, people, and ideas clamoring for our attention. That is true. But we all exercise faith everyday of our life. We have faith that the alarm clock will go off at the right time and that we'll get to work on time. We have faith that when we go to the store with a $20.00 bill that the clerk at the store will accept that bill as payment for some purchase we wish to make. We have faith that if we take a highway because the highway sign says that the road goes to a certain destination, that we will in fact arrive at that destination. Yes, we exercise faith everyday. Even the most non-Christian of us. Does God seems distant or unreal to you? Because God knew how hard it would be to believe in something you couldn't see, he sent his Holy Spirit to convince us how much we need him and to encourage us to turn to him. If we do not have enough faith, God's Holy Spirit will give us faith. The Holy Spirit gently assures us that God cares, just as we might gently assure an entangled animal that we care. The Holy Spirit invites us to trust Jesus. All we can do is stop struggling and give God a chance. What does faith in Jesus mean? 1) Faith in Jesus means to depend on what Jesus has done. We do this by accepting him as our Savior. Through Jesus' death and resurrection, God offers us the forgiveness of our sins and new life. He asks us to depend on what Jesus has done rather than on what we can do. He asks us to trust in Jesus rather than in ourselves. 2) Faith in Jesus means to trust Jesus enough to repent. We do this by turning to God and confessing that we have sinned by trying to live our own lives without him, and asking him to forgive us. The good news from the Bible is: Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord (Acts 3:19); If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). So, repentance means that we will turn from what we have been doing and begin to do those things that God asks of us. 3) Faith in Jesus means to confess Jesus as Lord. We do this by inviting Jesus to take control of our lives and confessing that we recognize him as Lord over all. We may not fully understand what it will mean to follow him, but we will trust him to show us the way as we go along. Even though we may fail often, God will forgive our failures. He will help us to overcome our temptations and to live useful and satisfying lives. This is the promise from the Bible: If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). To believe "in your heart" means that you want to believe that Jesus is risen from the dead even though you may not be able to do so. If you will tell God how hard it is to believe, he will accept you and help you to trust in him. To put it simply, we become Christians by believing in Jesus. This means that:
The Spirit of God helps us make this choice and even helps us to believe and to obey Jesus. He also gives us God's gift of salvation. One way to respond to God is to pray to him. You can pray in your own words, or you can use the words of the following prayer: God, I accept what you have done for me through Jesus' death and resurrection. I admit that it is hard for me to believe, but I am trusting you to give me faith. I confess that I am a sinner. I repent and ask your forgiveness. I depend on Jesus to save me from my sins and to give me eternal life. I want to obey Jesus as the Lord of my life. I don't know all that this means, but I will depend on him to show me as I go along. I know I cannot earn the right to be a Christian. I accept this right as a free gift. Thank you that you have forgiven my sins, that you are my heavenly Father, and that you have accepted me as your child. Help me to be a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. Amen. If you have just made this decision, welcome to God's family! God has called you and given you the faith to believe in him, and you have responded to his call. Now you are beginning a new life, a life that you have received as a gift from God. You belong to God and he will give you the strength to live this new life by faith. A good promise to remember is: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). Since you now belong to God's family, it will be important for you to become acquainted with other members of this family. Find a pastor and some Christian people who will help you begin your new life as a Christian. Scripture passages are quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Version. If you have decided to make a focused commitment of your life to Christ, please let me know by e-mail at webmaster@community-church.com so I can pray for you. Page content courtesy of Christ Life Christian Fellowship, Milwaukee, WI. |
