Some
think Christian missionaries and preachers are converting non-Christians to
Christianity. This is not true. No one can convert you, it is only you and God
that can make you a Christian.
God did
not created man to be like Robot or machine, which need controller to move or
do anything.
God
created man (you and me and all) and give us freedom to choose. He gives us
choice between ‘to choose good or bad’,
‘Godliness or ungodliness’, ‘eternal life or eternal condemnation’.
When you
make a choice, God is to make final declaration and keep you in your chosen
position.
If you
chose Him, He will help you be liked Him and bless you. On the other hand, if
you chose not to be with Him, He will condemn you and banish you from His
eternal presence.
Yes, God
use man to tell others about His message. Missionaries and preachers are
instruments of God to tell you and others about God’s message of God’s love for
you and all men and women of the world. But it is you who will make a choice.
Here is
how one can become a Christian. Instead of my own version, I present here the
version of ‘The AIBI Christian Starter Kit’ :
How To Become A Christian
Matthew
7:7 (NKJV)"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be
opened
to you."
This is the basic secret of
becoming a Christian - you have to want to follow Jesus. I can't make
you follow
Jesus, no-one can. Its
between you and God. In your seeking there are a few facts that make the
journey a
whole lot easier and
quicker.
We call this set of facts
"the good news of Jesus Christ" or "the gospel" for short.
This article is about the
gospel and attempts to give
you a few facts to help you believe.
Fact 1. Everyone,
absolutely everyone has fallen short of God's glorious holy standards for their
lives. You might not have murdered but you probably have lied. You may not have
slept with someone else's wife or husband - but you probably have hated someone
or been unjust or cruel. Sin is not just sexual sin or murder, it includes
being greedy, jealous, and envious. It includes our thought life too! All that
we think in our imaginations is known to God. That is why Paul the apostle can
write: (Romans 3:23 NKJV) "for all have sinned and fall short of
the
glory of
God". All includes me - and it also includes you.
Fact Two: God is
holy and just therefore He punishes sin. The Bible says: (Romans
6:23 NKJV) "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Sin carries the death penalty.
There are two kinds of
death referred to in the Bible - physical death and eternal spiritual death.
Eternal spiritual death means going into torment in Hell forever and ever, it
means separation from God, from goodness, from
truth, from sanity, from
happiness and light. It is eternal torment and disintegration. When we refuse
to follow God and obey Him we are rebelling against our Creator and the Source
of Life. If we rebel against the Creator it
is us who lose. It is God
who sustains us, not the other way around! When we tell the Source of Life to
stay away from our life and not to interfere we are actually saying "don't
supply me with life". To sin, to disobey God, is to attack ourselves in
the long run. Its like speeding - fun until you have to stand before the Judge.
Unfortunately the sentence for a life of sin is not a speeding ticket - it is
eternal death.
Fact
Three: Jesus took our punishment for sin when He died upon the Cross. God
prepared a way for sin could be dealt with - through special sacrifices. In the
Jewish sacrificial system this was a perfect animal without spot or blemish.
Jesus was sinless and was the perfect sacrifice for all the sins of all people
for all time. The Bible tells us that God saw that everyone had sinned and was
in danger of Hell. He decided to rescue them by sending Jesus to die instead of
them. Jesus died on the cross went down into the world of the dead, took our
punishment fully and was raised from the dead three days later. Our sins were
"nailed to the cross" and dealt with when Jesus died.
(Romans 5:8 NKJV) But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.
Anyone who believes in Him
can now have their sins forgiven because Jesus' sacrifice has provided
forgiveness for everyone who wants it. Some people are too proud to want God's
forgiveness. They think they can get to Heaven without the help of Jesus. But as
we saw before they can't- because they, like you and I, are guilty before God.
And the thing about guilt
is that it takes only one crime to make you guilty and deserving of punishment.
A thief
cannot say "but I did
not kill" and a murderer cannot say "I did not steal" - their
one crime makes them guilty.
So it only takes one sin to
make us guilty before God and no-one can say they are good enough for heaven.
We all need to accept what
Jesus did for us and say thank you to God for it if we are to become true
Christians.
Fact
Four: The way to become a Christian is by living by two key truths.
These key truths are that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He rose from the dead.
The first says that He is boss of your life, of your family, and even of the
government. Jesus Christ is the "ultimate authority" ; He must be
obeyed. So when you read the Bible and see a commandment of Jesus you must do
it. Once you become a Christian you are like a soldier under the command of Jesus
Christ. However His commands are not petty or smallminded.
His commands are
life-giving, true and the way to salvation and a fulfilling life. Jesus says
"My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Being a Christian is not
meant to be an impossible struggle but a joyful celebration of life. The second
thing we have to live by is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This means
that we accept that He lived (how else did He die?), that He died (how else did
he rise from the dead?), and that God raised Him from the
dead on the third day. This
means that we too will be raised from the dead to have a life that both lasts
for
eternity and shares the joy
of heaven. The Bible states why we have to believe these things as follows:
(Romans
10:9-13 NKJV) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in
your heart
that God
has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. {10} For with the heart one
believes unto
righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. {11} For the Scripture
says,
"Whoever
believes on Him will not be put to shame." {12} For there is no
distinction between Jew and
Greek,
for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. {13} For
"whoever calls on the name
of the
LORD shall be saved."
A Prayer
For Those Who Would Like To Become Christians
If you
would like to become a Christian then please pray the following prayer:
Dear God, I would like to
become a Christian. I know that I have not lived as you want me to. I know I
need you to forgive me for all the sins I have done. I ask that you will please
forgive me because of what Jesus did on the cross. I believe He died on that
cross to take my sins and that You raised Him from the dead. I want to have
eternal life from God so
that I can follow Jesus and obey Him forever as my Lord. Please make me a
Christian now. Amen.
Hope you have chosen God
and His blessings.
God be with you for ever.
