How to Become a Christian

Some people think becoming a Christian is all about being good, as if that makes the difference with God. It doesn’t. God is not primarily interested in our behaviour. What matters most to him is relationship.

When God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, they had a perfect relationship with him. Nothing came between them. That changed pretty quickly. Adam and Eve did the only thing God commanded them not to do. They committed the first instance of what the Bible calls sin. In doing that they turned their back on God. They lost their connection with Life itself. You can read about it in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, in chapter three.

So now everyone is born into the world with their back turned towards God. We do our own thing. We arrange our lives with ourselves at the center. We may seek to live a good life, we may even applaud the values the God holds dear, but we’re not interested in God Himself. We much prefer our independence.

This explains why the world is the way it is. It’s broken. Everything is disjointed, out of order. We’re all trying to be at the center, so we clash with each other. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. That is why there is suffering, pain and death in the world. The Bible says that sin entered the world through Adam, and death through sin. (Romans 5:12).

The Bible is pretty honest about our condition as individuals apart from God: We’re spiritually dead. We may look alive, but in fact we remain disconnected from God, from Life. More than that, when physical death ends our brief time on this earth, we will enter a state of permanent disconnection from God that is endless and unalterable.

Thankfully, God hasn’t left us in that predicament. Sin and death are not the last words. The story goes on. God Himself entered the world in the form of Jesus Christ. He experienced death himself, by execution on a cross - the Easter story. Through his death a substitution was made, if we’ll have the faith to believe it. Everything we’ve done wrong, every way in which we’ve fallen short of God’s perfection, every sin was placed on Christ. Through his death he experienced the judgment of God for our sin. God’s justice was satisfied, much like any judge will work to see justice done when a wrong has been committed. So Christ takes our sin on himself, and in return we receive his life. When God looks at those who are connected to Him through the death and resurrection of Christ, he sees the perfection of Christ. That is what allows us a place in the presence of God forever.

The difference between the person who has this connection and the one who does not? It’s faith. Faith is simply believing with deep conviction that the story I’ve just told you is true. Faith is being convinced that when Christ died, he died for your sin, personally. Faith is seeing clearly who you are and who God is.

So it’s not about being good. The Bible says we are connected to God because of the undeserved generosity we have received from him through Christ. You have been saved through faith – not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) That faith will change our life, because we now see what God has done for us. Our good works don’t contribute anything to our salvation. But we do good works out of gratitude and love for the God who has already saved us through Christ.

That’s the big question. It’s the most important question you will ever be asked. Have you been connected to God through faith in Christ? Have you been born again? Do you have a relationship with God?

Here at LifeSwitch we’d love to help you understand this more, in a way that is gentle and non-confrontational. If you have any questions, please ask. There’s an exciting journey ahead with God. It will lead you into eternity itself. We’d love to point you in the right direction.