Becoming a Christian
Can anyone become a Christian?
Yes. Whatever your age, background, nationality, religion or past, the invitation to trust Jesus is open to you. Nobody is excluded and nobody is too late.
The invitation is for everyone
The best-known verse in the Bible says that “whoever” believes in Jesus will have eternal life (John 3:16). The New Testament repeats that word again and again.
For, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Whatever your background
Christianity began among Jewish people in the Middle East and within a generation had spread across cultures, languages and social classes. It is now the most widely spread faith on earth, and most Christians today live in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It has never belonged to one nation or race.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
Whatever your past
Jesus was criticised for the company he kept. He spent time with people whom respectable society had written off, and he explained why:
Jesus answered them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
You do not need to sort your life out before you come. You come as you are, and he begins to change you.
If you belong to another religion, or none
People come to Christ from every religious background and from no religion at all. Becoming a Christian does mean trusting Jesus alone as Lord and Saviour, so it is a real change of allegiance and not something added on top of other beliefs. For some people that carries a cost with family or community. If that is your situation, it is wise to talk it through with a church leader you trust.
Whatever your age
Children can trust Jesus, and Jesus welcomed them. So can people at the very end of life. One of the criminals crucified beside Jesus turned to him in his last hours and was promised a place in paradise that same day (Luke 23:42–43).
The one thing needed
The only people who miss out are those who will not come. Jesus gave this promise to everyone else:
All those whom the Father gives me will come to me. He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.