How to Become A Christian

You're not here by accident. God loves you. He wants you to have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus, His Son. There is just one thing that separates you from God. That one thing is sin.

The Bible describes sin in many ways. Most simply, sin is our failure to measure up to God’s holiness and His righteous standards. We sin by things we do, choices we make, attitudes we show, and thoughts we entertain. We also sin when we fail to do right things. The Bible affirms our own experience – “there is none righteous, not even one.” No matter how good we try to be, none of us does right things all the time.

People tend to divide themselves into groups - good people and bad people. But God says that every person who has ever lived is a sinner, and that any sin separates us from God. No matter how we might classify ourselves, this includes you and me. We are all sinners.

Many people are confused about the way to God. Some think they will be punished or rewarded according to how good they are. Some think they should make things right in their lives before they try to come to God. Others find it hard to understand how Jesus could love them when other people don't seem to. But I have great news for you! God DOES love you! More than you can ever imagine! And there's nothing you can do to make Him stop! Yes, our sins demand punishment - the punishment of death and separation from God. But, because of His great love, God sent His only Son Jesus to die for our sins.

"God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

For you to come to God you have to get rid of your sin problem. But, in our own strength, not one of us can do this! You can't make yourself right with God by being a better person. Only God can rescue us from our sins. He is willing to do this not because of anything you can offer Him, but JUST BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU!

"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." Titus 3:5

It's God's grace that allows you to come to Him - not your efforts to "clean up your life" or work your way to Heaven. You can't earn it. It's a free gift.

"For 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

For you to come to God, the penalty for your sin must be paid. God's gift to you is His son, Jesus, who paid the debt for you when He died on the Cross.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

Jesus paid the price for your sin and mine by giving His life on a cross at a place called Calvary, just outside of the city walls of Jerusalem in ancient Israel. God brought Jesus back from the dead. He provided the way for you to have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus. When we realize how deeply our sin grieves the heart of God and how desperately we need a Savior, we are ready to receive God's offer of salvation. To admit we are sinners means turning away from our sin and selfishness and turning to follow Jesus. The Bible word for this is "repentance" - to change our thinking about how grievous sin is, so our thinking is in line with God's.

All that's left for you to do is to accept the gift that Jesus is holding out for you right now.

"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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9-10

God says that if you believe in His son, Jesus, you can live forever with Him in glory.

"For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

Are you ready to accept the gift of eternal life that Jesus is offering you right now? Let's review what this commitment involves:

I acknowledge I am a sinner in need of a Savior - this is to repent or turn away from sin

I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead - this is to trust that Jesus paid the full penalty for my sins

I confess Jesus as my Lord and my God - this is to surrender control of my life to Jesus

I receive Jesus as my Savior forever - this is to accept that God has done for me and in me what He promised

If it is your sincere desire to receive Jesus into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior, then talk to God from your heart:

Joh 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

Joh 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

John MacArthur

John Piper

Does anyone have a good explanation how God could come up with the magnificent creation of man, and relatively speaking, the whole plan literally went to hell 5 minutes after creation when Eve came into the picture?

Well, I could say that's what happens when women enter the picture but I'd better not. :O)

I would suggest you answered your own question. The only logical and rational explanation is that this was all part of the plan of God. And it was to simply show us how we are not as "magnificent" as we think we are. In fact, we are bent towards hell and destruction from day one as evidence when the first law was given not to eat of the forbidden fruit. The very thing that we shouldn't do, we do. And its been that way ever since. Everything that God does, every law that He has given, has been for our benefit and our care. And yet we continuously disobey those laws and commands. To help us over this He has given us His grace which we still refuse if it wasn't for Him opening our eyes and ears.

As far as Noah goes, you're underestimating the wickedness and corruption of man. God's wrath exists because it is the only way in our wickedness we will respond to bring us back to Him. If you have any doubts, look at what happens when we have a catastrophe. People flock to the churches all the while questioning how a loving God could do such a thing. (Yet, off they go the next day into a life of sin.) For God to have destroyed the whole earth except Noah and his family simply shows how far we can go as a people.

Christ did not come yet because it wasn't the "fullness of time". It's all part of a plan.

Excellent article, wmfights. Thanks.

Many who have posted here seem not to understand the difference between “becoming” a Christian and “being” a Christian.

For whatever reason, they do understand that “becoming a Boy Scout” is different than “being” a Boy Scout.

If I might add to that, I think we look at these moments where God acts against our wickedness and we only think about the wrath, but we forget the mercy. Noah is a perfect example, the world had become so wicked that God cleansed it. However, He saved a remnant. IOW, God is just but is also merciful where none is deserved.

God is just but is also merciful where none is deserved.

Amen. I think of the verse,

"Rom 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

If we truly understand that verse, then every time we question why something happens to us or why something didn't go the way we would like it to have gone, it is simply reflective of our sinful nature. God is giving us the very best for our lives even though we may not understand it. Therefore we should rejoice in all things, knowing that this is the will of God.

God's wrath, otoh, is really nothing more than a loving God protecting us and His creation from our evil devices.

God is just but is also merciful where none is deserved.

Please believe me when I say I’m not happy playing the devils advocate here. I’m seeking. My question concerning your statement is what about the babies; the one, two, three year old children that drowned slowly as they watched their mothers die also. You can say their parents were sinners but not these children who died horrific deaths and suffered deep psychological trauma at the same time. Why bother bringing these children into the world, some of them maybe only one day old, just to kill them so young? I’m guessing the response will be the catch-all that God is sovereign and there are some questions that only he knows the answer to. Boy, do I sometimes wish he left the inquisitive side out of my brain! Hold it. Then I’d be a liberal!

My question concerning your statement is what about the babies; the one, two, three year old children that drowned slowly as they watched their mothers die also. You can say their parents were sinners but not these children who died horrific deaths and suffered deep psychological trauma at the same time.

Do you believe the babies were sinless?

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