Becoming a Christian

Congratulations! You have either made the greatest decision of your life or are about to. It’s no accident that you're reading this. God loves you and has been trying to get your attention for years. Here in brief is God’s message of His love for you. God’s message of hope and restoration for our lives is for absolutely everyone no matter our past or present situation. It’s impossible not to be blown away by the amazing lengths God went to in order to get a relationship with us again. Read on; you don’t have a moment to lose.

God has made things very easy for us in the Bible so here is God’s message written with 4 very easy ways for us to respond to His awesome offer of life. It’s as easy as A,B,C,D!
All the bits in italics are taken right from the Bible so you can read what God says as we go along.

A: Accept

All of us know that we don’t know God personally. We may know about Him and have heard a lot of different ideas about Him. We don’t have a real relationship where we talk and listen to Him, feel His presence, see Him doing amazing things in our lives. That’s because we’re separated from Him. God says in the Bible that’s because we have done things and said things that displease Him and go against what He tells us is right.

Isaiah 59:2
‘But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear’

All of us have fallen short of the standard of goodness and righteousness God wanted for us and this world, and because God is a just God, there has to be a punishment.

Romans 3:23
‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’

This punishment, God tells us, is death. Not just physical death that we all know is coming one day, but spiritual death. That’s why we don’t know God now but even more importantly it means we won’t know God when we die and then for eternity. This is what the Bible calls Hell.

Romans 6:23
‘For the wages of sin is death’

So this is what we accept. We have lived doing and saying things our way, not God’s. This is sin. We have all sinned and deserve death now and for eternity.

B: Believe

This is the good news. God knew we had no way out of our situation and decided to rescue us Himself. He had no need to do this, but because of His great love for every single human-being He sent his only Son Jesus to earth. The plan was for Jesus to live a normal life yet not sinning: facing all the pressure we face daily, yet choosing God’s way. This He did 2000 years ago. Jesus walked this earth and taught about God and how to live the best for Him. Jesus demonstrated God’s love by healing, setting free and restoring to God’s best, thousands of people’s lives.

Acts 10:38
‘And how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him’

Some people around Jesus were jealous of his popularity and refused to admit their own faults. They falsely accused Him and had Him executed by the Romans by nailing Him to a cross. Jesus willingly allowed this to happen because in dying a horrendous death, totally undeserved, He took all our punishment that could not be dealt with any other way.

1 Peter 2:24
‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we would die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed’

God the Father wanted to show the world His Son was innocent and show He accepted the sacrifice Jesus had made for us, so He raised Jesus from the dead 3 days after He was buried. Wow!

Romans 4:25
‘He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification’

2 Corinthians 5:18
‘All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ’

So this is what we believe. Jesus is God’s Son, died an undeserved death for our sin and was raised from the dead. He did this to take our punishment and reconcile us with God.

C: Confess

This is the point where it becomes real for us because God asks us to say sorry for the things we know have pained Him. We confess to Him we’ve failed by going our way and doing things that have hurt others. God’s gift to us of a new start in return is incredible and totally free.

Romans 6:23
‘But the gift of God, is eternal life in Christ Jesus’
All that we do on our part is turn away from our way and choose His. This is repenting.

Acts 2:38
‘Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins’

Repentance starts with confessing our sins to God and then choosing a different way. So we confess to him our sin as the first step of turning back to God.

D: Decide

Romans 10:9
‘That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.’

Here we make a decision. God says that we can experience His salvation here and now. What that means is all the punishment we deserve for our past, and all the guilt and shame with it, is wiped away. It means our relationship is restored with God not just now but forever. We start a new relationship with God that will never end. A new beginning!
Our part is to accept this free offer of new life. It’s our decision to respond to His incredible love. To accept it we need to believe it and tell him we want to take His gift. It means talking out loud to God and saying a prayer like the one below.
In the words of the Bible:

2 Corinthians 6:2
‘I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation’

Make the decision to stop right now and talk to your creator, your Father God. Read this prayer though a few times, then slowly read it out loud making it your own.

Father God. Today I want you to know I accept that I have sinned. I have hurt you and others by what I have said and done. I believe Jesus you are the Son of God: that you died for me and were raised from the dead. Thank you so much. I am sorry for… (tell God the things you are feeling and are reminded of). I never want to fail you again and want to live the rest of my life and for eternity with you. I accept your free gift of life and welcome you into my life. Thank you again. Fill me with your love right now. Amen

Welcome to God’s family! When we pray a prayer like that, God gives us a new life and so much more. We are so excited for you. It is the best decision you have ever made. We want to support you and help you in any way, in your new relationship with God. You may have lots of questions, need a friend, need some prayer. Whatever it is, look no further. Talk with the person who may have pointed you to this website or contact us to find out the best place for you to get help. We pray that you know God’s love more and more as you grow into all the amazing things He has for you. Today is the first day of the rest of your new life!

Before you finish reading, here are 3 things you can do to continue in what you have started today.

Get a Bible. Read a few verses a day and stop to think about what God is saying through what you’ve read. Start at the book of 1 John (it’s right at the back of the Bible)
Talk to God. You can talk to him like you would talk to your best friend. There is no need to be shy or to try and use long words.
Find some Christians. It’s important that we make use of the spiritual family God gives us. We were made to be together not on our own.

Please tell us if you have prayed this prayer for the first time. If you would like someone to phone or visit you please email the office with your contact details. Office link

For more information try these websites:

http://www.the4points.co.uk