What is a Christian?
The Bible is clear about what it means to be a Christian but many people have wrong ideas about this. Here are some wrong answers:
"I am a Christian because my parents were Christians"
- It is good to have parents who are Christians. They can teach you about Jesus. They can take you to church.
- One day, however, you must decide to follow Jesus. You alone can choose to do this.
- So, you may have Christian parents, but that is not enough to make you a Christian.
"I am a Christian because I live a good life"
- Christians should try to be good people. It is not good to live a bad life if you are a Christian.
- Maybe you are a good person, but that is not enough. No-one lives a perfect life; we all do things that are wrong.
"I am a Christian because I go to church"
- Christians should go to church. It is good to meet together with God’s people. The Bible says that we should do this. We meet to worship God.
- But people can go to church even if they are not Christians. The church should welcome such people, and pastors should help them to really believe in Jesus and to trust in Jesus.
"I became a Christian because someone baptized me"
- Baptism is important. Pastors in some churches only baptize adults; in other churches, they baptize children too. We are not concerned here about the differences between these churches.
- But baptism by itself is not enough. People can see the water that the pastor uses. Something that people cannot see must also happen. The person must really put trust their in Jesus. That is the more important part.
"I am a Christian because I prayed a prayer at a meeting many years ago"
- It is important for you to ask Jesus to come into your life. I will explain more about this later.
- But then you must live a Christian life. Many people pray this kind of prayer, and then do not do anything more. They do not join a church. They do not try to learn how to follow Jesus. They do not try to become a better person. Such people are not really Christians.
So, what does it really mean to be a Christian? The best way to answer this is to tell you again the good news about Jesus.
How to Become a Christian
1. God has a plan for the world
The Bible says that God made the world and everything in it. The Bible starts with these words:
‘In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth.’ (Genesis 1:1)
You may think that this great God does not take any interest in you. Why should he take any interest in you? He is the great God who made the earth, the stars, and everything else. He made everything that you can see. But God does take an interest in you. In fact, he knows everything about you. God made you so that you could know him. He is your friend. The Bible promises that:
‘God will make a new agreement with his people’ (Jeremiah 31:33)
When that happens, God says:
‘Then people will not have to teach their friends or their family about me. They will all know me already. The important people and the ordinary people will all know me.’ (Jeremiah 31:34)
God wants us to know him. He has given us the desire to know him. Why is it that so many people do not know God? The reason is that there is a problem.
2. The problem is sin
God made the world, and everything in the world was good. God allowed men and women to choose. They could do good or evil. He could have forced us to do only good things, but he did not force us. The first people chose to do what they wanted to do. They did not choose to do what God wanted them to do. All people have made the same bad choice ever since. We may choose to do only what we want to do. That is not what God wants us to do. The bad things we do are ‘sin’, and we sin when we do these things. The Bible says:
‘For all people do bad things and fail to make God happy’ (Romans 3:23)
This verse says that we all sin. It says that we ‘fail to make God happy’ That means that we do not agree with God’s plans for us. In fact, the Bible says that sin separates us from God:
‘But the wrong things that you have done have made you separate from your God. Your sins have caused him to turn away from you, so that he does not listen to your prayers.’ (Isaiah 59:2)
That is why it is difficult for people to know God. Sometimes they are ashamed of their sins. So they do not want to meet with God, who is perfect. Other people do not want to change their sinful lives, so they refuse to come to God.
It is dangerous to say ‘No’ to God for two reasons:
- The Bible says: ‘If you serve sin as your master, it will pay you with death.’ (Romans 6:23).
We all must die. The reason is that there is sin in the world. A person who sins all the time will die without hope. When a Christian speaks about hope, he means something good that God will give to those who trust him. This hope will last forever. When you think about death, are you glad or are you afraid? - The Bible speaks about heaven, but it also speaks about hell. It says:
‘If anyone's name was not written in the book of life, God threw that person into the lake of fire.’ (Revelation 20.15).
God is the judge of all people, and God wants people to know him. God knows even those who refuse to know him. At the end of the world, he will send them to hell. God does not want anyone to go to hell. That is why he planned to rescue them. His plan came about through the man Jesus Christ.
3. Jesus Christ
God sent Jesus to rescue us. Why? God did that because he loves us very much. He also knew that there was no other way. Only Jesus can bring us back into true friendship with God.
When Jesus died on a cross, it was so that God could forgive our sins. As it says in the Bible:
‘When Christ died on the cross, he carried our sins in his own body. He took this punishment so that sin would no longer rule over us.’ (1 Peter 2:24)
It is sin that comes between us and God. Jesus’ death was special. He is the only person who ever lived and never sinned. So, when he gave up his life, that could only happen once. He offered his perfect life to God. At the same time, it was God’s plan that he should take our sins from us. That is why God forgives us, because Jesus died.
The cross is also the place where God defeated evil. As it says in the Bible:
‘On the cross, Christ took away the power of the bad spirits that have authority to rule people. He showed clearly that he himself has won against them..’ (Colossians 2:15)
There has only been one really good man. That is Jesus Christ. Men and women chose to kill him. That was an evil thing to do. If you read the story of Jesus’ life, you will see how evil powers tried to fight against him all the time. When he died, it looked as though evil had won the fight. But we know that was not true. God allowed us to do this very bad thing to his son: he made it the best thing his son could do for us. So, on the cross, God defeated evil.
Jesus rescues us from sin and from the power of evil. And the Bible has more good news. He also rescues us from death and from the fear that we feel about death. Three days after Jesus died on the cross, he came back to life. His friends found that his grave was empty. Then many of them saw him alive again. He spoke to them and taught them much more about himself for 40 days. The message of the New Testament is that Jesus is alive!
Jesus also promises us that we will live again after we die. As it says in the Bible:
‘I have authority over death. I raise dead people, and I give people true life. Anyone who believes in me will live. Even if that person dies, he will continue to live.’ (John 11.25)
Every person must die. But the Christian can look forward to life after death. We will live with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Many people fear death, but Jesus also rescues us from eternal death.
4. What should we do?
When the first Christians told the good news about Jesus to the crowd, some people in the crowd asked: ‘Friends, tell us what we should do?’ God has made a way for us to know him, through Jesus Christ. He has done this for every person in the world, but he does not force us to accept his way. We must receive this good news for ourselves. How?
Repent
This means that you must turn away from what is wrong in your life. You may be aware of things in your life that are wrong. Perhaps you feel guilty about some things that you have done. As you get to know Jesus, he will show you other things that are wrong. What should you do? The Bible says:
‘Instead, we should agree that we have done wrong things and tell that to God. Then God will forgive us for our sins. He always does what he has promised to do. He always does what is right. He will forgive us and he will make us clean again, whatever bad things we may have done.’ (1 John 1:9)
If you want to live a new life with Jesus, you must leave bad things behind. You cannot live the new life and continue to do bad things.
Believe
You must believe that the message about Jesus is God’s plan. He wants to rescue people and to make them his friends again. As the Bible says:
‘Some people did accept him and they believed in him. He gave authority to those people to become God's children.’ (John 1:12)
You receive the good news like a very special gift. You must receive this gift for yourself. This means that you know the truth in your
The Bible also says:
‘The message is this: You must say clearly that Jesus is the Lord. Also, you must believe deep inside yourself that God raised him to life again after his death. Then God will save you. ’ (Romans 10:9)
5. How can I become a Christian?
If you would like to become a Christian, then say a prayer in your own words. You can pray something like this:
Tell Jesus that you are sorry for all the bad things you have done and ask him to forgive you. Ask him to help you to change the way you live.
Tell Jesus that you believe that he is the Lord. Tell him that you believe deep inside yourself that God raised him to life again after his death.
Ask Jesus to save you.
My decision
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