Part 2: The calling to Christianity (Becoming a Christian)
A. God’s Calling
The Bible tells us that we are called to Christ by the Father. John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”
Jesus knew everything about you before the world was created. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.””
Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
B. Understanding Sin
God is perfect in every way, and He is completely Holy (set apart).
According to the apostle Paul, all have sinned against God and have fallen short of God’s glory. (Romans 3:23). The world views this fact with pride, but the truth is that we cannot understand God’s true holiness while on earth. - 1 Samual 2:2 There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God. - Isaiah 55:9
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” - Exodus 33:19 “And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
Sin is a result of satan’s desire to be God and his influence on us through temptation. All sin is rooted in the original sin to be God or the rejection of needing God.
C. Giving your life to Christ
What we are “to do”
The act of “being saved” is not really an act at all. God knows your heart and your thoughts. I know that giving your life to Christ can be silent, and private. However, the the apostle Paul has given us a clear definition of what it means to give your life to Christ. He says in Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And in 1 John 1:9 it says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
There is a difference between being saved by grace and living your life in Christ’s righteousness. However, the Bible is very clear that the two are a package. We are not saved by what we do, but our faith is no good if there isn’t evidence of our faith in how we live our lives.
