I Want to be a Christian

Romans 3:23  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Even though many people may try to live good, holy lives - even with our best effort, we fall short of the perfection God requires of anyone who would live in fellowship with Him forever. No doubt about it…we are sinners!

Romans 3:10 “There is none righteous, no, not one.”

In all the world, there is not even one righteous person. To be righteous is to be completely without sin. The Bible says that this is a state of being lost spiritually because of our sinful state. (Luke 19:10)

Romans 6:23a “The wages of sin is death...”

Try as we may, we cannot be “good enough” to be accepted by God. God is a righteous judge and must judge sin according to His holy standard. If He didn’t then He would not be just. Consequently, all who have sinned are deserving of His judgment, which is death…not just physical death, but also a spiritual death in which the sinner is forever separated from God in hell. This judgment takes place once we die, and there is no reversal after that point. No doubt about it, we are in big trouble, and there is nothing we can do about it!

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God sees us in our pitiful and helpless state. We are too polluted by our own sin to be accepted by God. And since our sin must be judged, Jesus Christ, who is completely holy and never committed any sin, willingly died on the cross to pay the cost of our sin. He died on our behalf and in our place. He could do so because He had a human body and because, as God, He had no sin of His own to be judged. He did this as a demonstration of His incredible love for us.

Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

While our sin would take us to the path of death and judgment, God has provided us with a detour to provide us with eternal life. This is a gift of God, based on the atonement of Christ and received by grace through faith. Romans 4:5 says, “But to the one who does not work [for his salvation] but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.” In other words, we achieve righteousness before God so as to be accepted by Him, not by our own works, but through faith in Christ alone. God credits Christ’s righteousness to our account as a free gift of His grace.

Romans 10:9,10  “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

For someone to have his sins forgiven (by having his judgment applied to Christ’s account), and to be declared righteous (by having Christ’s righteousness applied to his account) he must receive this gift of grace by faith alone. He must believe and confess the risen Jesus as his Lord (Master) and Savior with his mouth and with his heart. This is the only way to salvation – the one way that God has provided for us. Elsewhere in Romans, Paul said, “For we maintain that a man is justified [declared righteous] by faith, apart from the works of the Law.” (3:28)  Good works cannot eradicate the sins already committed or those we will yet commit. Only faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice for our sin will take the sin away and credit His righteousness to us.

Romans 10:13 “For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

This is one case where U-turns are not only allowed, but necessary! To receive the gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life we must call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The one who will do this has an assured future in heaven with God forever.

By sincerely praying a prayer to God like the one below will make you a true child of God and guarantee the forgiveness of your sins, and a future in heaven:

“Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a sinner and deserving of your punishment. I am sorry that I have offended you. I do not want to live that kind of life any longer. I believe that You died on the cross to take the punishment for my sin, and then rose again from the dead. I now take You to be my Savior and Lord of my life. Thank You for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal life. Please take control of the throne of my life and help me be the kind of person You want me to be.  In the Name of Jesus, Amen

Romans 12:1,2 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Once you have given your heart and life to the Lord…make it count by making your life a living sacrifice of service and worship to the Lord. Read your Bible and pray every day. Get connected with a good Bible-believing a teaching church where you can be nurtured in your faith. Let your mind and heart be transformed by God’s Word and practice what it says so that you will not follow the ways of the world, but the ways of the Lord. Never be content with where you are spiritually. Always seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!