Taking the step
How to become a Christian
Becoming a Christian is not about joining an organisation or cleaning up your life first. It is about coming to Jesus as you are and trusting him.
The short answer
You become a Christian by turning away from your sin and putting your trust in Jesus Christ: believing that he died for you and rose again, asking him to forgive you, and following him as your Lord from now on.
1. Understand what God has done
The Christian message starts with God, not with us. He made you and loves you. Like everyone else, you have turned away from him, and that sin separates you from him.
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.
You cannot fix this by trying harder. But God has acted. He sent his Son, Jesus, who died on the cross to take the consequences of your sin and rose from the dead to give you new life.
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
If any of this is new to you, start with What is Christianity? and Who is Jesus?
2. Turn back to God
The Bible’s word for this is “repent”. It means a change of mind and direction. You stop running your life without God, admit that you have done wrong, and turn round to face him.
The time is fulfilled, and God’s Kingdom is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.
Repenting does not mean you must become perfect before God will accept you. It means you are willing for him to change you. The promise that goes with it is a clean slate. More on what it means to repent.
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.
3. Put your trust in Jesus
Faith is more than agreeing that certain facts are true. It is relying on Jesus personally: trusting that his death was for you, that he is alive, and that he will keep his promise to forgive and accept everyone who comes to him. More on what faith is.
If you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
When a frightened jailer in the Greek city of Philippi asked the apostle Paul what he had to do to be saved, the answer was as short as it could be:
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
Count the cost
It would be dishonest to pretend that this is a small step. Forgiveness is free, but following Jesus means that he is in charge of your life from now on, and that will change things. Jesus never hid this from people who wanted to follow him.
He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”
He also promised that nobody who gives something up for him ends up the loser. Christians down the centuries have found that to be true.
4. Tell him
You can tell God all this in your own words, out loud or silently. No particular form of words makes someone a Christian. It is Jesus who saves, not a prayer. But if you are not sure what to say, you could use something like this.
A prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you that you love me. I am sorry for the things I have done wrong and for living my life without you. Thank you for dying on the cross so that I could be forgiven, and for rising again to give me new life. Please forgive me. I turn away from my sin and put my trust in you. Come into my life by your Holy Spirit and help me to follow you from now on. Amen.
There is more about this prayer on its own page, including what to do if you have prayed it before.
For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
What happens when you do
If you have prayed that and meant it, the Bible makes you some remarkable promises.
- You are forgiven. Everything you have done wrong has been dealt with at the cross.
- You are a child of God. You have been welcomed into his family.
- You have a new life. God’s Holy Spirit has come to live in you and will help you change.
- You have eternal life. Nothing, not even death, can separate you from God’s love.
But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
You may feel joy or relief, or you may feel nothing in particular. Your feelings are not the test. What counts is that God keeps his promises.
Most certainly I tell you, he who hears my word, and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
How can I be sure I’m a Christian?
5. Go public
The Christian life is not meant to be lived in private or alone. Tell a Christian you know what you have done, find a church and ask about being baptised, which is how Jesus told his followers to mark this new beginning. The next steps page explains how.
Common worries
“I don’t understand it all yet.”
Nobody does. You need to understand enough to trust Jesus, and you will go on learning for the rest of your life.
“I’m not good enough.”
That is exactly the condition for coming. Jesus said he came for people who know they need him. Can God forgive me, whatever I’ve done?
“I’m afraid I won’t keep it up.”
You won’t, on your own strength. Christians keep going because God holds on to them, and he forgives them when they fall. Can I be a Christian and still sin?
“What will my family and friends think?”
Some will be glad, some puzzled and a few may object. That is a real cost for some people, and it is worth thinking through. How do I tell my family I’ve become a Christian?
“I still have doubts.”
Faith is not the absence of questions. You can come to Jesus with your doubts and bring them to him. What if I have doubts?
Not ready yet?
That is fine. This is the most important decision you will ever make, and it is worth understanding properly. You might:
- Read through the common questions people ask.
- Read one of the Gospels and see what you make of Jesus for yourself.
- Join a course such as Alpha or Christianity Explored, where you can ask anything you like.