Are You a Christian?

Many Think They Are Christians

There are over 2 Billion people worldwide that would claim to be a Christian. What does being a Christian mean and how do you know if you are one? Realizing this truth could be a revolutionary moment in your life.

What Do I Need To Know?

If you think you are a Christian, you may intellectually understand all or most of the other facts or concepts that you need to know such as:

• Perfection of the Supreme Being
  (God is holy/perfect and sin can't be near him)
• Problem of Sin
  (You fall short of God's perfect righteousness by even sinning once)
• Penalty of Sin
  (If your sins aren't forgiven you must be eternally separated from him)
• Performance is Separate
  (Being good is not the solution because you can't be good enough)
• Propitiation for Sin
  (God lived a perfect human life in Jesus and died taking your penalty)
• Proof of Salvation
  (Jesus rose from the dead to prove God's plan of salvation is true)
• Purpose of Salvation
  (God loves you, wants to save you, and be with you forever)

Still Wondering If You Are A Christian?

Maybe you kind of know all this stuff in your head as facts, but you still wonder at times what it really means to be a Christian or even whether you are one. If you are still wondering, really think deeply about it as you continue to read on.

Evaluating Your Life

Can you look to a time in your life that you trusted Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins? Have you turned from your sins and desired to obey God? Would you say you are living your life for Him or yourself? Do you have a desire to go to church, read the Bible, or share your faith? If you answered "no" to these questions, then you may have never personally surrendered your life to Jesus Christ and become a Christian.

Personal Surrender

Being a Christian is a matter of personal surrender. It must include both a complete commitment and surrendering of your life. It also must be a very personal thing whereby you are in a real relationship with God as a person, not just God as a concept or Christianity as a religious cause or club.

It Must Be Personal, Not Just Surrender

You could be committed or surrendered to ideas about God, but this doesn't necessarily make you a Christian. It must be personal to you. You could be committed to the idea that Jesus died for sin, but not for your own sin personally. You could be committed to Jesus as the Savior of the world, but not to Jesus as your Savior personally. You could be committed to a religious faith or church, but have no personal relationship with Jesus.

It Must Be Surrender, Not Just Personal

You may have personal knowledge about the Bible, but it's just head knowledge, lacking a personal surrender of the heart. The book of James in the Bible says even the demons believe and have an intellectual knowledge and agreement only. Does your faith have any significant effects on your life or is it more like a hobby that you fit in sometimes? Is your life filled with a lot of sinful behaviors or thoughts that you don't really have a desire to change or give up control of to God?

Realizing You Are Not A Christian

To have thought you were a Christian and then suddenly come to the understanding and certainty that you are not a Christian is a scary thing. It may be the hardest part of the "process" of becoming a Christian, but it is also the most important. If you continue going through life thinking you are a Christian when you are really not, it will become harder and harder to admit the truth of this because more and more of your life will be invested in that lie. Freedom is in the truth, even if it is a hard truth to face up to.

False Conversion

To just say a "sinner's prayer" does not automatically make you a Christian. Sure it is very possible to pray a "sinner's prayer" and really mean it from the depths of your being and in your heart. That certainly could mean you have personally surrendered to God. Only you and God know for sure if you were just going through the motions or if it was a moment of genuine personal surrender of your life to God.

Things That Don't Necessarily Make You A Christian

Here are some things that some people believe make you a Christian just by doing them:

• Repeating a "sinner's prayer" with/after someone
• Being baptized or going through "confirmation"
• Belonging to, attending, or being a member of a church
• Going down an aisle at an "altar call"
• Responding to an invitation at a "crusade"
• Praying a "sinner's prayer" silently or out loud at church
• Taking the Eucharist / Lord's Supper / Communion
• Being a good person and/or trying to keep the Ten Commandments
• Growing up in a Christian home

Recognizing Your Need

Once you recognize that you are not a Christian and seem to know deep down that you want to be a Christian, becoming a Christian is very simple. It involves a personal surrender of faith. A great acronym for faith is:
F-orsaking
A-ll
I
T-rust
H-im

Whatever it is that you are trusting in with your life; you must be willing to cast it aside and forsake it. Becoming a Christian is about recognition of a true ultimate need that you cannot meet on your own or in anything else except Christ.

How Do I Become A Christian?

You must realize that without Jesus you cannot be good enough to be allowed into Heaven nor have your sins forgiven. You must be willing to turn away from your sins and trust in Jesus alone to forgive and save you.

If you would like to become a follower of Jesus Christ, please read how to become a Christian.
If you choose not to follow Christ, please be aware of the consequences.