How to Become a Christian

Most people believe in God enough to pray to Him. What’s more, they think that, if they lead good lives, He’ll let them into Heaven when they die. But, there’s a big problem with this kind of thinking. Just because a person thinks that God exists, and just because a person leads a good life, doesn’t mean that he can get into Heaven. There’s something more to going to Heaven than that. And, God wants you to know what that “something more” is.

So, to understand what that “something more” is we have to begin with what God has said about Salvation. Salvation is the word that God uses to stand for freedom from sin and going to Heaven. And, all that we need to know about Salvation is found in the Bible.

In the Bible, God has told us that He doesn’t want to send anyone to Hell. In fact, Peter the Apostle says in 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.“ In other words, God doesn’t want to condemn anyone. Instead, He treats us with great love and patience, because He wants to fill Heaven with people who love Him and trust Him. But, there are a few things that we need to understand and do, so that we can spend Eternity with Him and not perish.

To begin, Peter says that we need to “come to repentance.” So, what does “come to repentance” mean? And, what are we leaving when we come to it?

Generally speaking, “coming to repentance” means that a person completely changes his heart about God and sin. So, as a person repents, he turns his back on selfishness, doubt, and rebellion; that is, sin. And, at the same time, he turns heart in humility, faith, and obedience toward God.

Now, let’s talk more specifically about what repentance and Salvation mean using a simple explanation called “The Roman Road”. Christians call this explanation the Roman Road because all of the following verses come from the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Here goes:

Romans 3:23 says: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In other words, none of us are good enough to win God’s favor on our own, because everyone has sinned. To put it another way: We all come up short of what God expects of us, because it only takes one sin to build an unbreakable wall between God and us. And, what’s really scary is this: All of us have committed many sins during our lives, so that wall has grown thicker and thicker with time. In other words, there are terrible consequences for the sin.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” How can death be the wages of sin? The terrible truth is that the only thing a man can ever earn from God is punishment because death is the penalty for all sin and it cancels out any good that a man can do as far as going to Heaven is concerned. In other words, there is a payment that we get for having sin in our lives; death. And, it prevents us from spiritually knowing God and keeps us from having eternal life with God in Heaven.

But this same passage also gives us a promise. God has given His Son Christ Jesus as a gift to us. In other words, Jesus took our punishment for sin on the cross, so that we can have eternal forgiveness of our sins and He rose again on the third day from the dead so that we can have eternal life.

Let’s put it another way: A wage is something that is earned, but a gift is something that is freely given with no strings attached. But a gift still has to be accepted. For example, a Christmas gift doesn’t really belong to a person until they take it from under the tree and open it up, and it’s the same with Jesus Christ. We have to accept Him as God’s gift for the forgiveness of our sins and our entrance into Heaven. Another Scripture confirms this.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In other words, God knew that because of our sin that there was no way for us to come to Him on our own. So, even though we were still sinners, Jesus died for us on the cross. He took our sins – all of our sins – upon Himself when He died on that cross. In other words, today there is no sin that God won’t forgive. Listen to this:

The man who wrote most of the New Testament, Paul, was a worse sinner than most people will ever be. He savagely persecuted the early church, and he killed many of the early Christians because of their faith in Jesus. But, God helped Paul to turn from his sins, and he trusted in Jesus Christ as his only hope for Salvation. Not only that, but he went to many countries to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ.

Now, you may be asking yourself this question: “But, how do I accept God’s free gift of Jesus Christ, because I want to be forgiven and go to Heaven, too?” Listen to this:

Romans 10:9-10 – “That 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.” In other words, we become Christians when we trust in all that Jesus did for us and we only trust in Him as our Lord and our Savior. Let’s put this truth another way: We have to verbally confess that Jesus is our Lord and believe in our hearts that God physically raised Him from the dead. Only God knows our hearts. So He will know that our faith in Him is real.

Do you freely admit that you are a sinner? Do you freely admit that you need God to forgive your sins through the person and work of Jesus Christ? Are you willing to turn your back, on your sins, and are you willing to start serving God and His Son with all your heart?

Then, please trust this, too. If you believe that Jesus, God’s Only Begotten son, died for your sins on the cross at Calvary – And, if you believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead – And, if you choose to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior for the rest of your life, then you can be forgiven for all of your sins and have Eternal Life? Listen to this:

Romans 10:13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

In other words, all that you have to do right now is to simply ask God and His Son, Jesus Christ, to save you; that is forgive your sins, guide you through this life, and then take you to Heaven when you die.

Think about it this way: Calling upon God is as simple as praying to Him. If you are still not sure what to do, you may want to repeat the following prayer. You do not have to repeat the exact wording. Instead, you can use it as a guideline and pray it from your heart:

“Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner, that there is nothing that I can do on my own to receive Your forgiveness. I know that I need a Savior. I believe that Jesus died on the cross to be my Savior and that He physically rose from the grave. I ask Him to come into my life as my Lord and Savior. I trust Jesus now as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me for of all my sins. I repent of my sins. Please come into my heart and help me to know You more. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying for me on the cross and saving me, so that I can have eternal life with You and Your Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen.“

If you have done this; Congratulations! You are now a Christian and will spend eternity with God in Heaven. Welcome into God’s family! Now, let someone else know what you have done.

This is just the beginning of a new life for you. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” In other words, Jesus wants us to become His disciples, to follow Him, and learn more about Him. He wants our lives to be transformed to be more like Him and He will give us the help we need to do make these positive changes.

So, please find a Bible-believing church nearby to attend. That way, you can learn more about the love, mercy, kindness, and faith that the Lord has for us. If you are in the Winnetka, California area, we would love to have you attend our church. If you are not in our area, then please find a Calvary Chapel or another church that believes that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, Word of God. In other words, please find a church that will help you to grow in the knowledge of God. But, no matter what you do, please e-mail us and let us know about your new faith in Jesus Christ.

We pray that you will continue to grow in your new faith in God and His Only Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We look forward to meeting you either here or in Heaven.