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Becoming a Christian
Thank you for accepting this booklet; we hope it will be a blessing
to you. Please read it with your Bible open. The Bible called the ancient
Bereans fair-minded, because “they received the word with all readiness,
and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were
so” (Acts 17:11). We hope you too will search the Scriptures to know
the truth. “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4). He cares about every individual and wants you
to be His child. When you become a Christian, you will be a child of
God. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as
many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians
3:26–27). When you become a Christian, God will bless you with the
forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life.
You should carefully consider the importance of becoming a
Christian. It is more serious than the purchase of a house or getting
married. It is the critical decision affecting your eternal destiny. Because
of this, the decision to become a Christian is not for little children. It
requires serious thought, a change of life, and the willingness to make a
total commitment. It is the most serious decision you will ever make.
We urge you to become a Christian soon, but remember that
becoming a Christian is a total commitment from that day forward. The
Lord Jesus said,
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it
to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For
whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be
ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the
holy angels” (Luke 9:23–26). Jesus also said, “No one, having put his hand
to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
The Bible makes a distinction between those who belong to Christ
and those who do not. Paul described the status of people before they
became Christians in Ephesians 2:1–3:
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which
you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were
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