Becoming a Christian 

A      How to come to Christ

1. The world is not a perfect place; in fact it is spoiled: by war, violence, unhappiness.  We all bear some responsibility here; we are part of the problem.  The first step is to recognise this.  The reason that God seems distant is not that he is absent but because our sins have formed a barrier between us and him.

2. God has not abandoned the world he created to the mess we have made of it.  He planned a new start, from the bottom up "soul by soul and silently."  He gave his only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).  The second step is to believe that Jesus is to be trusted, that he is who he said he was: the Son of God and the Son of Man, who came to give his life as a ransom for many, and that he is risen and gloriously alive.

3. To come to Christ involves an act of commitment, first private (in your heart) and then more public (telling those close to you), transferring your allegiance from yourself to him, asking forgivness for your sins, turning away from anything wrong in the past, promising to be his disciple for the rest of your life, joining yourself to other believers in the Christian church.  It is only sensible to count the cost of such a move before doing it.  God will not call you into anything which will be wrong for you - but his call is challenging.

4. The final step is to tell God that you accept what he has done for you, and to ask him to come into your life as Lord and Saviour and to fill you with his Holy Spirit.  Take time over a prayer like this:

   Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your love for me.  I admit that I have gone my own way and I am sorry for hurting you and others.  Please forgive me.  I now turn from things which I know are wrong.  Thank you for dying on the cross for me.  Thank you for offering me forgivness and a new start.  I now gratefully receive your gift.  Please come into my life, be my Lord and my Saviour and live in me by the power of your Spirit.  Come to be with me for ever.  Amen.

B      What next?

1. Find a lively Christian friend who will help you to learn to pray and read the Bible.

2. Find a lively church to join.  If you are house bound, ask someone from your church to visit you.

C      How can I be sure I'm a Christian?

    If I have done the above steps then I can be sure because of:

1. A promise

   "Anyone who comes to me I will in no wise cast out."  (John 6:37).  Find your own promise in the New Testament to live by.  I can be sure I'm a Christian, not by relying on my feelings, which go up and down, but by relying on God's promise.

2. A sacrifice

   I can never be good enough to achieve heaven.  But God has not abandoned me to my plight.  He sent his only Son to die on the cross to reconcile me to him.  All I have to do is to accept his sacrifice on my behalf.  To say "I am a Christian" is to be faithful to the debt I owe him - it is not boasting about me.  Being sure I am a Christian is relying not on my achievements but on his sacrifice.

3. A guarantee

   "God has put his seal on us, and given us his Holy Spirit as a guarantee" (Ephesians 1:13).  Things actually happen inside the Christian which (when we remember them) show us that God is changing us.  The most important thing of all is that in our hearts we become more and more convinced that we really do belong to God's family.  "When we cry Abba, Father, it is the Spirit himself, bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:15).