Introduction

When a person is thinking about becoming a follower of Christ, it’s important that they understand exactly what it is, they’re about to do.

Thankfully, the Scriptures give us everything we need to know, not only about how to become a Christian but also how to live our lives as Christians. Choosing to follow Jesus will certainly be the best decision you ever make in our lives.

When we look at creation, we can clearly see that someone must have created the universe and the world we live in, Genesis 1:1 / Psalm 19:1-4 / Romans 1:20.

Many people wonder where the desire not only to believe that God exists comes from but also where the desire to worship Him comes from. Solomon tells us that God ‘placed eternity in our hearts’, that is, God placed those spiritual inclinations in our hearts, Ecclesiastes 3:11.

The desire to worship God was placed in us when He created us, Genesis 2:21-23. Mankind was made in God’s image and that means we have the capacity for fellowship with our Creator.

Many people also wonder how we know right from wrong. Paul tells us that God’s law is ‘written on our hearts’, Romans 2:15. We judge things to be unjust based on a standard that is outside of ourselves. In other words, we know that something is wrong with our world because God placed His standards on our hearts.

What Is A Christian?

In its simplest terms, a Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, John 1:34 / John 11:27. So how do we demonstrate that we are His followers?

Christ’s followers believe that God exists, Hebrews 11:1, and they know that their faith in Him is pleasing to Him, Hebrews 11:6. Christ’s followers show the presence of Christ in their lives by both their words and their deeds, Colossians 3:17.

Christ’s followers accept Christ as being one with the Father, John 10:30, they understand that salvation and eternal life are gifts from God and are ours through Christ but not through a way of our choosing, Proverbs 16:25 / Romans 6:23.

Christians accept that they have sinned, 1 John 1:10, but know that His sacrifice provides for the forgiveness of those sins, Ephesians 1:7. Christians know Him as their Shepherd and are known by Him as His sheep, John 10:14.

Christians remain dedicated to the principles of Christ above our own desires, Matthew 16:24, they give Him more than just lip service, Matthew 7:21 / John 14:15, and love one another as He has loved us, John 13:34.

Why Become A Christian?

Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s standards, Romans 3:23, as a result, our sins have separated us from Him, Isaiah 59:2. The good news is that Christ died for us, even though we were sinners, Romans 5:8. If we want to be reconciled back to God, we must look to His Son, as He was the one who came to die in our place, John 3:16 / 1 John 4:10.

Christ alone is the way to God, the Father, John 14:6, Christ is the one true mediator between God and man, 1 Timothy 2:5. God has sent Christ to be our Saviour, 1 John 4:14 and it’s only in Christ, do we find eternal life, Romans 6:23. God wants all people to be saved, this is one reason He is so patient with people, 2 Peter 3:9.

How Do You Become A Christian?

I would like to take you on a journey through the Scriptures in order to help you evaluate where you are in your journey towards having a relationship with God.

I used to live near a city called Edinburgh when I lived in Scotland, in fact, I used to live in a place called ‘The Kingdom’. I know that there are many people who never knew there was a kingdom in Scotland, but that kingdom is called ‘The kingdom of Fife.’

I had a friend who wanted to go and visit this kingdom, so we went, and we drove over the Firth of Forth road bridge and we deliberately went into the kingdom. And if you have ever visited the Kingdom of Fife, you will know it is a beautiful place and I guarantee, you will like what you what you see.

The reason I told you that story is to help focus your mind on Mark 12:34, where Jesus says to a man who is standing in front of Him. “You’re not far from the kingdom.”

Now in a very similar way, my friend and I were only a very short drive away from the kingdom. A kingdom that my friend had heard about but never visited. A kingdom that was supposedly full of beauty, but my friend had never seen it. And in a very true sense, he wasn’t very far from the kingdom.

Of course, Jesus wasn’t talking about the ‘kingdom of Fife’, but He was speaking about a kingdom that is just as real and which can only be entered into by the deliberate desire of an individual. He was speaking of the kingdom of God. Jesus looks at this young man and I wonder if there wasn’t a look of sympathy on His face!

This man had been so wrongly informed about Jesus I don’t think he would believe anything that Jesus would tell him anyway. Jesus deliberately quotes from the Old Testament. A passage of scripture that every faithful Jew would recite twice every day.

It is known as “The Schema”, from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, where God said, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Notice something about that passage of scripture because it looks like the scribe was surprised at the answer. Mark 12:32 says, “Teacher you have truly said that He is one and there is no other but Him and to love Him with all of your heart, with all of your understanding and your strength and to love your neighbour as yourself is much more than the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” The Bible says, “The man was amazed”.

I would like you to notice something else. When Jesus SAW, that he answered wisely, Jesus didn’t just hear that young man speaking to Him, He SAW on his face an honest expression, when Jesus SAW that he answered wisely. Jesus said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God”. Mark 12:34.

I believe that Jesus saw in that man’s face, faith, and honesty. Here is a man who many might call a rationalist, or a ritualist, but there, standing before Jesus was a man who seemed to have more understanding than those who had been trying to trap Jesus.

And Jesus can bless a person like this abundantly. I would like for you to think about this man’s position and then I would like for you to think about your position and your position as being near to the kingdom of God.

Jesus said in John 3:5 “Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” There is a condition to which a person might enter, where it doesn’t matter about age, colour, background, or education. But which in reality, is just as obviously entered, as my friend went into the kingdom of Fife, that is, deliberately entered. He went because he wanted to go, not because anyone made him. Jesus said, “That’s how a person can enter the kingdom of God.”

It is also true that a man and a woman can be as near to the kingdom of God as my friend was when he was in Edinburgh and near to the kingdom of Fife and not be in it. It is the same with the kingdom of God, we can be near but not in.

Let’s look at the man in Mark 12 again. First of all, let’s say this about him. He was a religious man. The Bible tells us that he was a scribe, a person who gave some explanation to the Old Testament scriptures.

He was a person who possibly stood in front of a multitude of people and read out the Old Testament laws. And yet, I want you to notice, that he wasn’t in the kingdom. Jesus simply said to him in Mark 12:34, “You are near to the kingdom”.

Here was man, who knew that religion, which consisted of sacrifice and burnt offerings wasn’t the whole of religion. He knew that God demanded the heart, as well as the sacrifice. But he was a man who was only near to the kingdom.

Here was a man who knew that God was above everyone and over all things and that it was man’s duty to serve Him completely and yet he was a man who was only near to the kingdom, not in the kingdom. This man knew what he ought to do, but he was only near to the kingdom.

Here was a man who started with debate and ended with respect. Here was a man who started with a group, but Jesus answered him as though there were only the two of them present. He was near but not in the kingdom. We don’t know if that man ever did enter the kingdom, we just don’t know.

So let me bring it a little closer to home. How near to the kingdom are you? Are you as near as that man? If Jesus was sitting down next to you just now and you were able to talk to Him as that scribe did, I wonder if you would dare to be as open and honest as he was?

I wonder if Jesus might lovingly deal with you today in the same way he dealt with the scribe, lovingly, carefully, consciously, aware of that man’s need.

Let me ask you this question, Are you in the kingdom? Or are you near to the kingdom? Well, how can you judge? I have made a list of some steps that you might want to consider from God’s Word, to show you if you are near to the Kingdom or not.

The Bible

If you are near to the kingdom, what do you think about the Bible? What is your honest opinion of the 66 books, which we call the Bible? Have you checked its values? Have you checked its virtues? Have you checked its claims and condemnations?

Have you seen that it states very clearly that we are all without hope in this world if we haven’t accepted a sacrifice that God’s provided? A person’s faith is strengthened by listening and reading God’s Word, Romans 10:17.

If you believe that the Bible is the Word of God, you are one step nearer to the kingdom of God. Have you seen that within the Bible it clearly states that there are two classes of people in this world today?

It’s not speaking about Jews and Gentiles, it’s not talking about rich and poor, it’s not talking about black and white or male or female or even moral or immoral people. It’s talking about two classes of people because there are only two that stand before God. There are the lost people and there are the saved people, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10.

If you believe that the Bible is the Word of God, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 / 2 Peter 1:21, then you have come one step nearer to the kingdom of God. Because the Bible says in Romans 3:23, “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, there’s no one righteous, no not one.”

Do you believe that? Do you believe that without Jesus in your life you are lost? If you do, then you are near to the kingdom. You are near to the kingdom because Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “He came to seek and to save those who were lost.”

Believing

Does that belief in the Bible point you to see that Jesus is the saviour of all men? If it does, then you are nearer the kingdom than you were just with your belief in the Bible as the Word of God.

A person must believe the Gospel, Mark 1:14-15, that is, that Christ died, was buried, and rose again on the third day, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. The Gospel, which is the ‘good news’ of Christ, is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, Romans 1:16.

Jesus said one time, to some religious people that were speaking to Him, “You search the scriptures for in them you think you have life, and these testify of me.” John 5:39.

John the baptiser stood next to the river Jordan, he lifted his eyes and saw the Master coming towards him and said, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29.

John wrote his gospel and he said he wrote it, “That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and believing, you might have life.” John 20:31. You might have that quality of life, eternal life.

Do you believe the scriptures when it says in 1 Timothy 1:15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners?” Do you believe that heaven gave its absolute best so that it might take us worst and bring us to glory?

Then if you believe that, then you are near to the kingdom, but you are not in it. The scriptures, the saviour, but you are still not in the kingdom.

Repentance

Does this move you to do something? For example, does it motivate you to feel sorry in your heart for the sins that you have committed which sent Jesus to Calvary?

Then you’re nearer to the kingdom. The Bible calls this repentance, Matthew 21:28-29 / Luke 13:3 / Acts 3:19 / Acts 17:30 / 2 Corinthians 7:10. It’s probably the hardest step for anyone to make, to say that you are sorry for what caused Jesus to go to the cross.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He who knew no sin became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God.” Repentance isn’t just an about-turn; it’s about the revulsion of sin that caused Jesus to have to go to Calvary.

Jesus said in Luke 13:4, “Unless you repent, you shall all die.” When the Gospel was preached for the first time after the resurrection of Jesus, the first and greatest commandment was this, “Repent every one of you, repent.” Acts 2:38.

Confession

If you are sorry for your sins, then you are near to the kingdom, you may believe, you may see Jesus as the Saviour, and you may even repent, but you’re still not in the kingdom. Because the Bible goes on to say in Romans 10:9, “We need to confess Jesus as Lord”. And if you are prepared to confess Jesus as Lord of your life, then you are near to the kingdom.

Part of that confession means that you are not ashamed to admit it. Jesus said, “If you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed of you before my Father.” Luke 9:26. Paul says in Romans 10:9, “If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you shall be saved.”

Just simply saying that “Jesus is Lord” doesn’t mean anything unless it affects your life, 1 Peter 1:21. Confession means it’s all of your life saying, “I believe in Jesus and I’m going to stand up for Jesus no matter what.” Acts 5:29. That’s confession, it’s every day of our lives when we are prepared to stand up and be counted. It’s admitting that Jesus is Lord, that He’s the Master; that He commands; that we respect His laws and obey them, and we are not ashamed of Him.

To say, “Jesus is Lord” means that you are prepared to put Him above everything else and to give Him first place in your life, Matthew 27:33-40.

And if you are prepared to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you’re nearer to the kingdom, than you were when you just believed the Bible. You are still near, but not in.

My friend went to Edinburgh, and he could have turned around and never entered the kingdom of Fife. But he went deliberately one day, and he even paid to go over the bridge that took him into the kingdom of Fife. And really that’s what happens when a person enters the kingdom of God. I’m not saying you have to pay, but what I am saying is that you have to deliberately go and enter the kingdom.

In John 3 Jesus said, “Unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” He was talking to a man, who was a teacher of the Jews, a man who knew the Old Testament.

Nicodemus comes to Jesus and says, “How, How can this be, How can a man be born when he is old?” And Jesus points him on three occasions in that one chapter to the way that a man might experience new birth, John 3:1-15. This entrance into the kingdom, this quality of life.

Look at what He said in John 3:14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” That’s clear, isn’t it? Jesus says, “We are to look at Him and if we believe in Him with all our hearts, we might enter into the kingdom of God.”

How does that work out? Is this belief just a mental activity? Surely not. Belief in the Bible sense is never passive, it always motivates us to do something.

The people on the Day of Pentecost for example, after Jesus was raised from the dead and gone back to heaven were made to realise the truth of the scriptures when they heard of the sacrifice for sin of Jesus. When they heard that Jesus was elevated, that Jesus was able to draw all men unto Him and they cried out and said, “What must we do to be saved?” Acts 2:37.

Let’s put it another way. How can we be born again? Let’s put it another way. How may we enter into the kingdom of God? How can we come into that sphere? That spiritual realm, where Jesus reigns and we are His servants. How can we enter into that kingdom? Let’s put it another way. How can you become a member of His church? Matthew 16:18-19/ Acts 2:41.

Baptism

And Peter gave them the answer. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38.

And on that day, 3000 people that stood near to the kingdom were transported into the kingdom, the church, by their obedience to Jesus, Acts 2:41. By looking at the sacrifice and applying it to themselves.

How does it work out? It works like this. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Romans 6:3. There it is, we are baptised into His death.

Entrance into the kingdom is by your own deliberate admission. You go because you want to go into the kingdom of God, Acts 22:16. You enter his kingdom, his church, Ephesians 1:22-23, by obeying Jesus’ command to be baptised in order to be saved, Matthew 28:19-20 / Mark 16:16.

The Book of Acts is about the movement of the Gospel and Christianity from Jerusalem to Rome. Within its pages, Luke informs us how people became Christians and how the church began.

Notice the image below, take a moment to read the Scriptures on the left and consider the steps we have already mentioned above about becoming a Christian.

Heaven

The reward for being a Christian in heaven, eternal life with God, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10. However, we must continue to live in Him and confess our sins to Him, even after we become Christians, 1 John 1:6-10. We must also remain faithful to Him all the days of our lives, Revelation 2:10.

Conclusion

It’s not an easy decision to become a Christian, there are serious costs you must think about first, Luke 14:26-35.

The scribe was near to the kingdom, Mark 12:34, but we don’t know if he ever went in. Let me leave you by asking you this question, where are you at this moment in time?

If we can assist you further in your consideration of becoming a Christian, please get in touch. Becoming a Christin will certainly be the most important and rewarding decision you ever make.