HOW TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN

1 John 4:15 KJV “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God.”

The first step to take to become a Christian is to believe. What are you to believe? That Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He came to this world and died on the cross to save you and all of mankind from sin and death. Few Scriptures that will guide you through are John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him will not perish but have eternal life” John 14:6 “I am the way the truth and the life.” Matthew 16:15-17 “You are the Christ the Son of God...”

The next step to take is to realize and acknowledge that you are a sinner. These Scriptures will enlighten you Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” With this you come to understand that you were born a sinner. Your birth into this world immediately brought you into corruption. This was by reason of the sin of Adam (Genesis 3), where he disobeyed God's command not to eat from the tree ofthe knowledge

After acknowledging that you are a sinner, you need to confess your sins. This doesn’t mean you have to list out all the sins you think you have committed. For we even commit sins without knowing that they are sins. All you need to do is confess them collectively as sins.

After confessing your sins, you need to ask that they be forgiven. And who will you ask forgiveness from? Christ Jesus who you now believe in. For He is Lord and He alone can forgive your sins.

Next, you ask to be cleansed of your sins. What has the power to cleanse you of sin? The Blood of Jesus! The Blood was shed on the cross once and for all to take away the sins of all mankind. Through one man (Adam), the world was plunged into sin and through another man (Jesus), the world has a sure way out of sin. Christ gave up His life so that anyone who keys into His Blood may be washed of all iniquity.

This needs to be followed up with genuine repentance. What is the essence of confessing your sins and asking to be cleansed if you don’t intend to stop them? It will just be a waste of time. You need to confess your sins with the intention of letting go of them, turning your back on them and starting afresh. This is called genuine repentance.

Having genuinely repented, you need to ask Jesus Christ into your life to be your Lord and your all in all. Here, you are surrendering totally to His headship. You are making the decision to submit your will to Him at all times, everything else—your plans, work, friends, career, spouse, and so on, will be subject to His direction and nothing is to be more important to you than pleasing Him.

Congratulations! You have stepped out of darkness into light. You are no longer a slave to sin. You are no longer under the control of the devil. You are no longer subject to the flesh. You have now placed yourself in the perfect position to rise above the ways of the world.

Having asked for Jesus to be your Lord, ask for the Holy Spirit to come upon you. He is described as the Comforter, Counsellor and One who will guide you in all truth. The Holy Spirit will not just guide you in doing what is right but He will guide you in the will of God, which is what matters the most because there are certain things that may not be wrong so to say but because they aren’t the will of God for you, it will be wrong for you to dabble in them. The Holy Spirit will also help in your spiritual growth as He will guide you in all truth. With Him, you will be able to consistently draw closer to God. (John 14:26; John 16:13-14; Romans 8:26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11).

Now having done all this, don’t just stop there. Just like you grow physically, so also you need to grow spiritually. And how do you this? By praying, studying the Bible, holding onto your faith and walking in obedience to the Bible and to God when He speaks to you. Being a Christian is a life long journey and a Christian is to live life having in mind that his/her focus is not to be found wanting by God in the end. You must therefore strive constantly in drawing nearer to God.

Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), pray in all situations. Your prayers should not be offered only when you need something from God. You should also be mindful to praise God, thank Him for His blessings (Philippians 4:6) and do not forget of course to listen in the place of prayer because prayer is a two-way connection; you connecting to God and God connecting to you.

Study the Bible. The Bible is the written Word of God to teach you, instruct you, guide you, prune you, chastise you, encourage you, among others. The Bible feeds your spirit. Meditate on it day and night and you will never go astray (Joshua 1:8).

Be careful not to give room for doubt. With doubt comes fear and fear is anti God because He has given us a spirit of power and not of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). You need to learn to trust in God with all your heart, even in the midst of challenges don’t be in a hurry to give up or question Him. Keep trusting Him and the more you trust Him, the more your faith grows in strength and the more God shows Himself mighty for you. Don’t be a Christian that is always on shaky ground with God, so easily falls back and backslides to the ways of the world. Hold onto your faith.

Most importantly, obey! God highly values obedience (John 14:21; Luke 11:28). God is looking for people who are quick and ever willing to obey Him. Don’t engage in a wrestling of wills with Him or obey in reluctance. Let your response to Him always be “Let Your Will be done”.