How Do I Become A Christian?
The most important thing to remember about becoming a Christian is what it really involves. It does not involve ‘becoming religious’ or following certain religious rules. Nor does it come about through undergoing a religious ceremony such as baptism. Rather it involves coming to know a Person personally. The truth is that until you have come to know Jesus Christ personally you cannot be a Christian, for to become a Christian involves receiving Jesus Christ into your life to be your Saviour, Lord and Strengthener. It involves Jesus Christ coming to live within you so that He can live out His life through you.
That being so it cannot be brought about by undergoing any particular religious ritual, nor simply by joining a church. Nor can it be brought about by making an effort to live a good life. All these things may be good in themselves but they cannot make you a Christian.
How then can I receive Jesus Christ into my life?
The first step necessary in receiving Jesus Christ into your life is to recognise that you are a sinner, and that you need a Saviour. The Bible gives us no grounds for doubting this, and it leaves us without excuse because it declares, ‘All have sinned and come short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3.23). Notice how sin is defined here. It is to come short of the holiness and purity of God. It is to come short of God’s goodness. Can anyone of us doubt that we fall short of this standard? Everyone of us has to admit that we have done things that we should not have done, and that we have failed to do things that we should have done. Consequently we know that we are sinners.
The next step is to recognise that because you are a sinner you come under the condemnation of God. The Bible says that, ‘God has fixed a day when He will judge the world in righteousness (that is, in terms of God’s purity and goodness) by that Man Whom He has ordained’ (Acts 17.31), and that ‘it is appointed to man once to die, and after that the judgment’ (Hebrews 9.27). And in the judgment the question that will be asked is, ‘did you come short of the glory of God?’ No excuse will be accepted. The only question then will be as to whether you ever failed. For as James puts it, ‘Whoever keeps the whole Law, and yet offends in one point, he is guilty of all’ (James 2.10).
If I am brought before a judge the question will not be about how good I have been, or whether I am better than someone else. The only question will be as to whether I am guilty of the crime I am charged with. And as far as God is concerned that crime is coming short of His divine standard, coming short of what He is, and on those terms we all stand guilty as charged. And the consequence of this is that we would suffer eternal death, for ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6.23).
To put it another way God has said, that He will, ‘inflict vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord’ (2 Thessalonians 1.8-9).
Now on these terms (and as far as God is concerned they are the only terms on which God will deal with us) we are all sinners, and we all come under judgment. So the only question that now arises is as to how we can escape God’s righteous judgment?
And the answer lies in what Jesus Christ has done for us. For the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ ‘Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross’ (1 Peter 2.24). In other words He took the consequences of our sin upon Himself. Or to put it another way, He ‘suffered once, the Righteous One for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3.18). Because He has died for us we can be forgiven. Paul agrees with this for he says, ‘He Who knew no sin was made sin for us, in order that we might be made as righteous as God in Him’ (2 Corinthians 5.21). That means that as a result of coming to Jesus Christ we can be counted as righteous in God’s sight.
How then do I gain this benefit for myself? The answer is by receiving Jesus Christ into my life. ‘To as many as received Him to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to those who truly believe in His Name’ (John 1.12). In order to become a Christian we must open up our lives and ask our LORD Jesus Christ into our lives. And once He comes to live within us He becomes our Saviour. He cleanses us from sin, He clothes us in His righteousness, and He puts a new life within us.
This is made clear in Revelation 3.20 where Jesus said to all of us, “Look I am standing at the door and knocking, if any man will hear My voice and open the door, I will come into Him and sup with Him and He with Me’. So becoming a Christian is all about opening our lives to Jesus Christ so that He can come within us and live through us.
In order to become A Christian we can pray something like this, 'Lord Jesus Christ, I cnfess to you that I am a sinner and worthy of God's condemnation. But you bore my sins in your own body on the cross. Thank you for dying for me and for my sins. Please cleanse me from all my sins and come into my life so that I might die to my sins and so that you may come and live out your life through me. I want you to enter my life as both Saviour and Lord. Thank you Lord, Amen.'
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