God is Holy.  God is perfect, righteous, and without sin.  The Bible tells us that God is “of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” (Hab. 1:13).  This means that in order for us to have a right relationship with God, we must be holy as well, for He commands, “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44).  The standard of holiness that God expects us to follow is found in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20):

• “You shall have no other gods before me.”
• “You shall not make for yourself a carved image . . . you shall not bow down to them or serve them.”
• “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.”
• “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
• “Honor your father and your mother.”
• “You shall not murder.”
• “You shall not commit adultery.”
• “You shall not steal.”
• “You shall not bear false witness.”
• “You shall not covet.”

The problem is that we are not holy – all of us have broken God’s laws.  Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Have you ever been angry with someone in your heart?  Jesus said that anger is like the sin of murder (Matt. 5:21-22).  Have you ever stolen anything, told a lie, or wanted something that was not yours?  Have you ever taken God’s name in vain or made something in your life more important than God?

God is Just.  God must punish our sin: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).  Eternal punishment is what we justly deserve because of our sin.  Revelation 21:8 says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

God is Loving.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to live a sinless life, to submit to the cruel death of crucifixion, and to rise victoriously three days later (John 18-20).  By His sinless life, He showed us how we ought to live (Matt. 5-7; Heb. 4:14-16); and in His death, He gave Himself as the payment for our sins.  Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

Follow Me.  Jesus is the only way of salvation: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  However, becoming a Christian is not like paying a membership fee to join a club, nor is it a hobby or pastime.  Rather, it is a lifestyle that involves a radical change of mind, heart, thoughts, and actions.  Jesus said in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).

Many people today teach that becoming a Christian is as simple as saying a prayer; and they also teach that if you are saved once, you are always saved regardless of how you live.  However, this is NOT what Jesus, the apostles, and the early church taught:

• Jesus: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)
• Jesus: “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matt. 24:13)
• Paul: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Rom. 8:13)
• Tertullian: “The world returned to sin . . . and so it is destined to fire.  So is the man who after baptism renews his sins.” (ANF 3.673)

Becoming a Christian means becoming a citizen of a new kingdom (the kingdom of heaven) with a new Ruler (Jesus) and new laws (the teachings of Jesus).  2 Corinthians 5:15 says that Jesus “died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.”

Do you want to follow Jesus?  Are you willing to give up everything in order to do so? Jesus said to “count the cost” (Luke 14:28) of making this important decision.  If you are interested in this commitment, find a Bible and read the book of Matthew, with particular focus on chapters 5-7, which outline Jesus’ expectations for His followers.

What Now?  If you want to follow Jesus, the Bible says you need to “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38).  When you turn from your sins and show that repentance through baptism, God forgives your sins, redeems you from the bondage of sin and death, and makes you a citizen of His kingdom: “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14).

“What shall we say then?  Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  By no means!  How can we who died to sin still live in it?  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:1-4).

A commitment to Jesus Christ means that your life must change.  Will you be perfect?  No, you will continue learning and growing throughout your entire life; but the goal is to become more like Him every day, obeying His teachings more fully.  This process involves continual self-examination, repentance, prayer, and change as you study the Bible.

The struggle for holiness will be hard, but God will empower you through the Holy Spirit as you abide in Him.  Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 14:4-5).

So what does it mean it be a Christian?  It means a wholehearted commitment to Jesus Christ – denying yourself, taking up the cross, and following Him.  Jesus said that many would fall away from the faith, but “the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:10, 13).  The decision is yours—will you follow Him?