All heaven rejoices
Giving your life to God is a momentous decision – the Bible describes how all heaven rejoices when one person becomes a Christian (Luke 15:10).
However, becoming a Christian is actually very simple. In Romans 10:9, Paul puts it like this:
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Recognising our sin, and following Jesus
You see Christianity is all about recognising that we have offended God by our attitude and actions towards him – we have rejected his right to be our God and ruler. Christianity is about realising that God has done something about it in the death of his Son Jesus Christ and is now offering humanity a chance for forgiveness and a new life with him. Jesus has taken the punishment we deserve for our rebellion. We just need to accept this fact, and follow him.
So becoming a Christian is about changing your mind about God and turning back to him (this is what repentance means), and trusting all that Jesus has done for you (that is what faith means). Becoming a Christian is about deciding that rather than continuing to reject God, you want to turn back to him and live with him as your God and ruler. To do this you simply talk to him in prayer about. You may pray something like:
Dear God,
I know that I have not lived as you want me to. I have not loved you as I ought nor loved the people who live around me. I am sorry and want to change. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you that he lived and died for me and rose again and is the Lord.
Please forgive me and help me to live as you want me to.
Amen.
That is all!!
Yet when you do this God responds! He sends his Holy Spirit upon you to transform you, protect you and help you in your Christian life – you may not feel any different or you may feel something amazing, it doesn’t matter, the reality is that you have been transformed.
What do I do after I have prayed?
Once you have taken this step there are many things that you can do to help in your new life. The three most important are :
1. Continue to read God’s word
The work of God’s Spirit is to help you understand more and more about God and Jesus and he does this through helping you to understand the Bible. So read it and ask God to help you understand it.
2. Pray
Prayer is your way of speaking with God and expressing your thanks and depenence on him. Talk to him about everything – how you feel, how you are going and so on. Prayer is powerful – God hears and acts on our prayers.
3. Meet with other Christians
They will be able to help you as you start out on your walk with God. Find a good Bible-based church or youth group (contact us if you need help), and see if there are other Christians around your neighborhood, school, or work (you’ll be surprised where you will find other Christians).
If you would like more information, or want to explore Christianity further, visit http://christianity.net.au.