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How To Become a Christian

Today I want to address the question, “How To Become a Christian?”

I know that we are given a lot of information on how to become a follower of Jesus Christ. This message is for someone who is on information overload and you are considering becoming Saved or becoming a Christian. This is the absolute most important decision you can make.

This message is for the unchurched. I want to go back to the basics of our faith. Prayerfully it will help you get a better understanding, for yourself. It is important for you to read the Bible for yourself. But let’s start right here. I know you may have so many questions and don’t know where to begin. This is normal and I want to help you. Let’s start with Love.

I pray that this will help you understand what it means to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I’m going to share with you today 4 Facts, 2 Responses, and 1 Question!

4 Facts

Fact 1. You were created by a loving God. You have great value. God loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with You.

• God created you. (Read Psalm 139:13-16).
  • God knew you before you were born—even while you were in your mother’s womb. He knew all about your family and your life until now (all the good and the bad). Nothing surprises God. God has not been absent but He has been drawing you to Himself. He wants to give you a brand new start and a new way of living. God can do that when you give him your life. Because…….
• God wants to have a personal relationship with you.
  • John 17:3 says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, who thou has sent”. God is not the universe or some force, or just another name for your own self esteem. God is a person, your Creator, who created you to be in relationship with him. Why? Because……
• God loves you.
  • John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
  • You can turn your life over to God’s control because He loves you and wants the very best for you. God loves you so much that he gave his Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for you. When you trust God you are actually trusting the One who knows you inside out.

Fact 2. Your sin keeps you from having a personal relationship with God. God has set some standards about right and wrong, and based on God’s standards there is such a thing as ‘sin’.

• What is sin? God is holy and perfect; people are sinful by nature. If you have ever tried to be perfect for just one day you’d realize you can’t do it. Sin means not understanding or caring about what is right. You defy God when you do know what is right but refuse to do it.
  • James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
  • 1 John 3:4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
• Who has sinned? The Bible says all have sinned. We simply cannot help it-we’re human. When Adam sinned way back in the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis, sin entered the human race and sinfulness is part of our natures.
  • Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
  • Romans 5:17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
• What’s so bad about sin? Sin leads to death. Because God is perfect He cannot have anything to do with us because we are sinners. He wants to have a personal relationship with us but he can’t because of sin. But because God loves us so much, he made a plan for us.
  • Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death.
  • Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

Fact 3. Only through Jesus Christ can you have a personal relationship with God. Jesus Christ came to show us that we can have a relationship with God. Jesus was a human being who lived on this earth so that we could understand what God is life. Having a relationship with Jesus Christ is a spiritual reality that must be experienced, and this is what will answer a lot of your questions.

• Why Jesus Christ? Remember how God cannot have anything to do with us because of sin? Well, he decided to deal with our sin. The problem was that God had made it clear throughout the Old Testament that sin leads to death. God cannot lie and He sticks to his word. In the Old Testament people sacrificed animals as a way to show how sorry they were for their sins. That was only a temporary plan. God’s plan all along was to send his Son, Jesus-a perfect human being-to be the final and ultimate sacrifice and die for our sins to be forgiven.
  • John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
• Why did Jesus have to die? Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty our sins deserved. He took our punishment so that we wouldn’t have to. Now, because Jesus paid the penalty the way is made for us to be able to have a personal relationship with a holy God. Jesus rose from the dead which is a promise to us that we will also rise from the dead and go to heaven to be with him, when this life is over. It is a promise to us that Jesus will be with us everyday of our life both now and forever. So now what! What do you need to do with this?
  • 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

Fact 4. You must personally respond by trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus made a way for salvation but it means nothing unless a person accepts it for him/herself. Even if you grew up in church, you still need to accept Jesus personally. Even if you have lived a terrible life, no one is too bad for God. You don’t have to clean up your act before coming to Christ! Jesus died to take away all that sin and to help you start brand new. Being good is not good enough…..remember God has standards of right and wrong! No one is too bad to be forgiven. God wants us all to come to Him. All people need to trust in Jesus in order to be saved. So what is your Response

2 Responses

I have shared with you 4 facts about how to become a Christian. So what is Your response? My prayer for you is that you take action today with these 2 responses.

Response 1. You respond with belief in Christ.

• You simply need to believe. That doesn’t mean that you don’t have any questions or that you understand everything. It simply means recognizing that you are indeed a sinner in need of a Savior. You recognize that you cannot be good enough for a perfect God on your own. And that you understand that God loved you so much that he sent Jesus to save you. If you believe that, say so. If you truly believe this say this:
  • Romans 10:9-10 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Response 2. You respond by receiving Christ.

• ‘Receiving Christ’ means acknowledging your belief in Jesus Christ. It means that you invite Jesus to come into your life and that you repent by turning to God from your present way of living. It means you begin the lifetime adventure of letting God direct your life! And the moment you ask, it is done. Jesus has come in!!!
  • John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.

1 Question

I want to ask you 1 question that will change your entire life forever. This is the most important answer you will ever give. There is no other question that is as life changing as this.

Question: Would you like to accept Jesus as your Savior?

You can express belief and trust in Jesus Christ through prayer. Prayer is talking to God. He knows what you mean even when it is difficult to express. You can use your own words or you can repeat this prayer:

Dear God, I know that my sin has separated me from you. Thank you that Jesus Christ died in my place. I ask Jesus to forgive my sin and to come into my life. Please begin to direct my life. Thank you for giving me eternal life. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

That’s it! I want to officially Welcome you into God’s family—my new brother or sister in Christ! I welcome you. Jesus loves you so very much and I love you. I’m so very proud of your decision to do life with Jesus.

In my next article I want to share with you “The Journey of a New Believer”!

The contents of this message were taken directly from ‘Tyndale Life Application Study Bible’ Pages 2782-2874.

Please visit my YouTube channel GoWalktheTalk for more on where your faith and encouragement connect!

You are God’s Beautiful People. Be Encouraged until next time!