Becoming A Christian

What is a Christian?

A Christian is a person who has made their peace with the Lord God, the father of Jesus Christ.

Who is Eligible?    

Everyone.

No one is excluded from the possibility of becoming a Christian. The Christian Scriptures make that clear: “Whoever wants to …”.

And it is entirely voluntary. No one under any circumstances can be forced to become a Christian.

Our Natural Condition

The Scriptures tell us that no one is naturally in a right relationship with the Lord God. We are all on our own road instead of His: “Like sheep we have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way”.

This results in apathy about God, or selfishness or indifference towards others or perhaps living a life of wilful wrongdoing. The Scriptures calls all this ‘sin’: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”.

Some look at their own lives and say “You have no idea about my past and how bad I’ve been”, assuming there’s no hope of ever getting right with God.

The Scriptures address this. It uses language like “though your sins be as scarlet” and “our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us”.

None of this prevents the possibility of getting right with God.

Why It Is Possible To Become A Christian

No amount of doing good will reconcile us to the Lord God. No amount of self-inflicted punishment will do it.

The only way was for Him to take the initiative and do what was required.

Enter Jesus Christ!

The so-called ‘Jesus event’ of 2,000 years ago is God doing what needed to be done to enable reconciliation. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is God doing what none of us could do, satisfying all requirements.

What Am I Required To Do?

A call to the Lord God for mercy or a willingness to acknowledge one’s sin and ask for forgiveness is all that is required.

It could be “Lord God have mercy on me a sinner”, or “I believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again to give me a new life”, or “I now determine that I will follow Christ and trust Him with my life.” One person recently said “God, fix my life”.

What is important is that you trust Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, and what He has done for you. You give your life to Him, He will give a new and better one in return. The Scriptures put it like this: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you”.

As someone said once: “You’ll never regret it”.

The Importance of Connecting With Others

The Scriptures don’t know anything about solitary Christianity.

Christians live in community, encouraging and helping one another. When they meet together, it is known as “church”, whether in grand custom-built buildings or halls or homes. And this fellowship goes beyond meeting once a week as it develops into a mutual love and affection one for another.

And it extends beyond the local church to other Christians around the world.

All this is done in the context of the love each Christian has for the Lord God and Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures

Of course it is through the Scriptures (the Bible) that we have any understanding of all this, so it is important to read and understand them.

Thankfully it is easy to get copies of the Bible in Australia and Christians are encouraged to get their own copy and make a habit of reading and understanding what is written.

A link to an online Bible is available here (new window).

Prayer

The Christian is able to talk with the Lord God, as one might talk with a friend.

The Scriptures tell us “When he [the Christian] calls to me [God] I will answer”.

God is pleased to be close to the Christian, to listen, answer, comfort, protect and bless.