Being a Christian is not something that you are born into, and neither is it a culture or something you earn. It is a free gift given to us by God, and none of us even deserve it, but because God loves us so much, He gave up His only Son to die for us on the cross to save us from the damnation we were meant to get for our sins.
For one to become a Christian, they must have a relationship with Christ. To have that relationship with Him, they must repent and accept Christ as their Saviour after recognising their sins and their need for a Saviour. So being born into a Christian home does not make you a Christian, and going to church every Sunday does not make you a Christian.
In Mark chapter ten a rich young man came before Christ and asked Him how he can become one of His followers, Jesus quizzed Him about the ten commandments and the young man said he had kept all of them. Then Jesus told Him to give up all his wealth and possessions to follow Him, but the young man was not willing to go that far to get a relationship with the Lord. Which is the case for most of us regardless of our background.
We see ourselves as good people who have lived a good and righteous life, but there are things we are not willing to let go of in order to have a relationship with Christ. The things we prioritise more than a relationship with Christ are known as idols. Anything or anyone that you love more than God is an idol, for example money, sex, your house, cars, your spouse, or even your children.
Besides idols many of us believe that we are “good” people, but the word of God says something completely different. And before we get into the scriptures, we need to have a look at the definition of the word good.
The word good according to dictionary.com is defined as
morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious.Moral excellence means being perfect without sin but in the eyes of our Creator none of us are good. We are all sinners, and we know this, and this is why we like throwing around the saying “nobody is perfect.” We like using this statement when we have done something wrong, and we are being called out for it.
Here is a little test to take on yourself and see if you are a good person or not.
- Have you ever stolen something regardless of its value, for example a classmate's pencil? In my case, my answer is yes.
- Have you ever used God’s name in vain, for example saying “Jesus Christ!” to express disgust or saying “OMG, God-d***”? In my case, my answer is yes.
- Have you ever looked at someone with lust in your heart, with the desire to sleep with them? In my case, my answer is yes.
- How many lies have you ever told, regardless of how deep they were? In my case, my answer is countless lies.
Now, anyone who steals is a thief, even if they believe that what they stole is not valuable. It does not matter, theft is theft, and the victim will always agree. Using God’s name in vain is blasphemy, which was punishable by death in the Old Testament. Looking at someone with lust is a form of adultery.
But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. - Matthew 5:28 NKJV
This is the same for even when a woman looks at a man with lust and I do not need to explain what lying is.
The same way Jesus Christ quizzed the rich young ruler is the same way He taught us how to live by not doing certain things. Read Matthew 5:21-30 to see what Jesus said about murder and adultery.
How to Get a Relationship With Christ
To get a relationship with Christ, you do not need to attend church every Sunday or read your Bible daily or from cover to cover (not that it is not essential to do these things). Instead, you must recognise that you are a sinner and turn away from it to Christ. We all have our fair share of sins, for example alcoholism, sex before marriage, lying, hatred, watching illicit content, and so forth.
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” - John 3:3 NKJV
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. - Acts 2:38 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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. - Romans 10:9 NKJV
Salvation is a free gift and you do not have to earn it. Confess your sins to God and say, “I accept you as my Lord and Saviour please forgive me and cleanse from my sins in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.” Obviously, you do not just end with this, you now must live your life according to the Bible and live a life of obedience, you will fall short of God’s glory here and there, but you can still repent again as 1 John 1:9 says.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9 NKJV
Join a Bible believing and Bible obeying church, read the Bible on your own as well so that you may not be fooled. I recommend starting with the New Testament. I hope and pray that this has blessed you. Thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter of this topic.
