Are You A Christian?
There is so much evidence for God. Knowing about the evidence that shows God and His Word are true is a great thing, but that alone won’t save you.
And simply believing God exists definitely does not make you a Christian. I was twenty-six when I had that fact explained to me.
I hope you will honestly ask yourself a few questions about yourself and God.
I am just telling you what God says.
Recent scientific polls show that most “professing Christians” in America think they are Christian because they have gone to church, their parents were professing Christians, and/or they believe in God.
God’s Word clearly teaches that none of those things in the previous paragraph make someone a Christian believer.
Christian beliefs come from Biblical teachings from God, which are historical events and facts that were also recorded in the Bible. If someone’s beliefs aren’t from the Bible, they aren’t Christian beliefs…it’s pretty simple logic.
Those polls I referenced above, and many others, also show that most people with those beliefs about themselves and a majority of other Americans think they will go to heaven because they feel they are good people. That is also not taught in the Bible.
Feelings are often unreliable! And in case you haven’t noticed by now, people are wicked and evil. Sure, according to the standards most societies judge by, there are many “good” people. However, the rating system of society is not the standard of God.
None Good.
God’s Word says none of us are good according to His standard. He made it all, and it doesn’t matter if you or I think we are good or better than a neighbor or coworker.
Sorry if you didn’t know, but we aren’t good.
I am not claiming you aren’t a nice-decent person or that there aren’t nice-decent people in the world. According to the world’s standards, you may be a swell person. What about God’s standard?
Try looking at the Ten Commandments and see if you have broken any of them in your whole life.
Have you lied or stolen, even once? I have. If you have, that makes you a thief and a liar. I am only telling you what God says.
How about when Jesus explained some of the commandments even further? He said looking with lust is adultery in our hearts. I think it’s fair to say we all failed that one! Don’t you agree?
We Need A Savior.
The commandments and statutes of God are great and good. Christian or not, following His commandments brings blessing. Christians should desire and aim to keep His Commandments, but nobody but Jesus has ever kept them perfectly. Most of us couldn’t keep them all for one day.
However, Jesus is perfect. He has been eternally perfect as God the Son, but He came to Earth and lived thirty-three years of perfection as a man. For over thirty-three years, He laid aside some elements and aspects of His all-powerful self and never sinned one time.
Jesus lived with all the same temptations as us, yet without sinning. By doing so, He could suffer and die on the cross, as the perfect Lamb of God, for the sins of all mankind. Jesus willingly shed His precious blood and died on that cross for our sins.
It is only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified that we can be saved.
7 That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
We must trust in Jesus as the perfect sacrifice as payment on our behalf. We can’t attain righteousness on our own, no matter how hard we try! He paid our ransom! Jesus secured our redemption!
We can’t keep the Ten Commandments perfectly, nor can we acquire perfection in any other way than through Jesus’ Blood and Righteousness. He lived a perfect and sinless life even though He was tempted in all points as we are.
God is Holy. And only Jesus’s sinless perfection given to us will satisfy God’s wrath, which we have stored up because of our sins.
Jesus took the payment for our sins on the bloody cross, and He still offers us His righteousness in return. That is the best transaction in the world!
We’ve Failed.
Adam and Eve failed the test. We failed the test. Only God could come to earth as a man and take that test perfectly during His earthly life. Jesus did that for us. Jesus is God incarnate. That means He is God in human form, and He will credit His perfection to our account as a gift if we trust and believe correctly by faith.
Do You Want Peace Inside? Do You Want Forgiveness?
Romans 15:13
We all need God’s forgiveness in order to have peace with God, and then we can have inner peace from God, now and in eternity!
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Without being forgiven, we can’t have peace in our souls, and we won’t go to heaven. Jesus came to earth to suffer and die on a cruel, excruciating cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
You are a sinful creature, and so am I. Some people are worse than others, but we all fall way short of His Holy standard.
God allows us to go our own way and reject Him by giving mankind free will. He made human beings, not androids.
Free will is necessary for us to express and experience love. Unfortunately, free will also allows the possibility for us to do evil.
Most people hate that evil exists in the world, but most don’t realize God hates it more than we ever could, and evil will come to an end one day.
His created beings hurt and abuse each other; by doing that, we also sin against our Creator.
However, He wants reconciliation. He provided a way for reconciliation at the cross but allows us to choose. He won’t force Himself into your heart and life!
Making sure you and your loved ones go to heaven when you die is the most important thing in the world. Yet, God offers so much more to us “before we die.” Peace, joy, and fulfillment are three gifts He will give to every believer once we become reconciled to Him by Jesus’s work on the cross.
You Must Be Born Again.
To go to heaven when you die, you must be born again. What does born again mean? It means saved, forgiven, justified, regenerated, cleansed, redeemed, rescued, and reconciled by the precious Blood of Jesus!
That is the definition of a Christian.
All those transitive verbs above essentially describe the same thing when discussing salvation. They describe being spiritually baptized on the inside. Jesus’ disciples baptized people in physical water “after” they were baptized on the inside by the Living Water, which is a phrase that describes The Holy Spirit.
You are not a Christian unless you acknowledge your lost condition, recognize who Jesus is, and put your faith and trust in Him and His payment on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin.
You must realize that Jesus alone paid your penalty, which are the terms set by a Holy and Righteous God.
If you haven’t believed those by faith and settled that with God, you are not a Christian.
Physical Water Baptism Saves Nobody.
Water baptism is Biblical only when done “after someone becomes reconciled to God” by accepting Jesus as Savior, by receiving His grace through faith. That can only be done by recognizing our sinfulness and fallen nature, recognizing that Jesus is who He claims to be in the Bible, and then by us receiving His forgiveness.
By Faith Alone.
Our forgiveness is only possible because of our sin debt being paid by Jesus on the cross almost 2,000 years ago. He paid our debt, but we must believe by faith to make the transaction our own.
Jesus said in Matthew 26:28, “for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
re·mis·sion
noun
1. The cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty:
2. Discharge from that which is due; relinquishment of a claim, right, or obligation; pardon of transgression; release from forfeiture, penalty, debt, etc.
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
re·deem
verb
1. to compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something or someone):
2. to gain or regain possession of (something or someone) in exchange for payment:
What Is A Believer? What Is A Christian?
A believer and a Christian are not only someone who believes in God’s existence. A believer is someone who has acknowledged their sinfulness and their need for a Savior. They recognize and confess that the Messiah, Jesus Christ foretold in the Old Testament, died for our sins and rose from the dead on the third day.
A believer is a saved soul who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior because of His finished work on the cross as payment for their sins.
All that is what is translated into the word believe in our Bibles.
Jesus Is Lord!
Jesus was and Is the Messiah that was prophesied. He Is God, The Son.
For our salvation, faith and trust in Him alone is the only thing that saves anyone.
That is what the Bible teaches.
If you think anything otherwise, you do not have a Biblical worldview. I was 26 before I learned what the Bible (God) actually taught about salvation. Satan and the world system he governs have deceived most people. I was one of the deceived.
I love you, friend! I want you to have the peace I have inside! I want you to know the joy only God can give, and I want you to experience heaven someday!
Are you ready to believe right now? If so, tell God what He asked you to confess in His Word. Pray a prayer similar to the one below:
This below is often referred to as the sinner’s prayer. It is a collection of scriptural facts condensed into a prayer. The words in the prayer alone won’t save you. It is ONLY by believing what you are praying by faith that saves you because you are confessing faith in Jesus Christ and His payment for your sins on the cross!
“God, I admit to you that I am a sinner, and I know I cannot do anything to earn my way into your kingdom. I truly believe that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the grave. I put my faith in His sacrifice to pay for my sin debt in full.”
In Jesus Name, Amen!