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How do I become a Christian? New Jesus Evidence Church
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Which religion is the right one?There are so many different religions how can you tell which one is the right one? Even in Christianity alone there are so many different Christian churches that it would seem that your chance of finding the best church would be very small. So how can anyone be expected to know which religion to join?The problem is that religion doesn’t work, the word “religion” means, “to bind”. Religion is all about people trying to work out what the truth is and thinking up ways to please a distant and uncaring god. Yet in spite of all their efforts religious people still seem to be unsure that they have done enough to please their god. Sadly some of the ways that religious people have tried to please their gods are the opposite of what pleases the real God, like sacrificing their children or killing harmless civilians in the name of a “holy” war. People become religious because they want to live a good life and to go to a good place when they die. But what is that place like? Most people only have a vague concept of a place where there are no problems but God has much better plans for us both in this life as well as the next; plans that are beyond our wildest dreams. Jesus said “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32 (NLT). Knowing God is meant to be about freedom. A song says “There is a God shaped hole inside all of us.” We were designed to know God and God does not want to be distant to us and he is anything but uncaring. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (NLT) But there is a barrier that we all face when it comes to knowing God and that is our sin. To sin is to do something that God has told us not to do. We have all done things that God has told us not to. ( Rom 3:23 ) Because God is holy he must punish sin and God's punishment for sin is death ( Rom 6:23 ) There is no way that we can do anything by ourselves that can make up for our sin but Jesus took the punishment that we deserved ( 2 Cor 5:21 ). The “good news” is that God cared so much he was willing to humble himself and come into this world ( Phil 2:5-11 , Col 2:9 ) and die an excruciating and humiliating death so that we could “know” him in a real and personal way. He did that so that God could become our adopted Father ( Eph 1:5 ) and so that he could be our friend - so that he could be closer than a brother ( Prov 18:24 , John 15:15 ). John 17:3 says “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth” (NLT). The Bible says that, “God is love” ( 1 John 4:16 ) and he wants us to know that love. He wants us to give our problems and burdens to him so that he can take care of them. He knows so much about us that he even knows how many hairs we have on our head. ( Mat 10:30 ) He has more thoughts about us than the number of grains of sand on the seashore ( Ps 139:17-18 ). He has a great plan for our lives; ( Jer 29:11 ) we are not an accident to him because he planned our lives before we were even born ( Ps 139:15 ). Christianity is not about religion it is about relationship. Peter Kelley wrote some good points on that theme in his post “ Does Man Make Religion?” The reason that religion does not work is because God is a holy God - that means that his sense of right and wrong is absolute - and there is no way that we can live up to his standard of holiness without God’s help. So all our efforts to please God by our own efforts are a waste of time. We judge right and wrong differently to God, to us murderers are very bad people and liars are not so bad. When it comes to being accepted by God it doesn’t matter how good you are because a miss is as good as a mile. If you are trying to jump the Grand Canyon it does not matter whether you jump 1 yard or 10 (or if you prefer 1 meter or 10) you still end up at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Mother Teresa might have made it further than most of us but she still fell short of God’s standard of complete perfection. Now unlike most religions the Christian God did not just lay down a set of rules and say “obey these rules or else suffer the consequences”. He knew we would not be able to live totally good lives all by ourselves. God was like a judge who judges someone as guilty, sets the penalty as the maximum fine and then takes of his robe, gets out his wallet and pays the fine himself. That is exactly what God was doing when he came to earth in a human body and was put to death by crucifixion. Jesus was paying the maximum penalty on our behalves when he died on the Cross. But that is not all he does for us because when we ask Jesus to become our Lord and Saviour, God starts changing us. We don’t become perfect overnight but God changes us bit by bit from the inside out. And he does this as he lives inside us; working in us to make us more like Jesus. Christianity is not about religion; it’s about relationship, relationship that is made possible because of Jesus. Jesus makes all the difference. If you were to go to Jerusalem, you could see the tomb where Jesus was buried but you won’t find his remains there because Jesus came back to life from the dead. Jesus is still alive today. See Acts 1:1-9 There is no one like Jesus. He stands out from everyone who ever lived. Not just because of his teaching but also his actions and his sinless life. If you doubt what I’m saying and you have never read the book of John in the New Testament part of the Christian Bible then I urge you to consider reading it. See “Why should I read the Bible?” for an article that talks about what Jesus is like and about a version of the Bible that is available to read for free over the internet and that is fairly easy to understand. Jesus’ teaching is about love; it is about showing kindness to anyone who treats you unfairly. Jesus is the bridge over the Grand Canyon that we can walk across instead of trying to jump across in our strength. So in answer to the question “Which religion is the right one?” no religion can get you to God. It’s not about religion it’s about a relationship with Jesus that starts when you ask him to come into your life and change you. This happens when you believe that his death on the cross has paid the full price for your sins. See “How do I become a Christian?” See “Evidence for Jesus” if you want to investigate the evidence for Jesus and for his coming back to life from the dead. Which Christian church is the right one?I used to work in a supermarket in Australia several years ago and while I was working there I discovered that over half of the brands of dog food (and many cat food brands) were owned by the same company. They had different labels and different band names but the same people were in charge. I also learned that the ‘own brand’ or ‘generic’ label products were more or less other bands with a plain package and sold for a lower cost because they had much less advertising costs. There are many different “brands” of Christianity that promote the same message. That message is that the one way to get to know God is through Jesus. They promote the message that it is only through Jesus that you can be forgiven. They teach that it was his death on the cross that paid for our sins and that you can start a new life by asking God to forgive you and make into a new creation. The Churches that teach that are actually part of the same Church, they just have different brand names. When someone comes to God they come to God in the name of Jesus and only in the name of Jesus. There is no other name anywhere that can save you. If a Christian sect teaches you can’t be saved unless you join their particular sect then they are teaching a lie. Jesus did not say if you are tired and weary, join a specific sect and they will give you rest. He said “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Mat 11:28) It’s important to go to a good church but going to church does not make you a Christian. Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m very much in favour of going to Church, it’s just that going to Church does not automatically make you a Christian; it is accepting Jesus that makes you a Christian. Once you have become a Christian it is important to go to a Church that teaches the right things about Jesus so you can grow as a Christian and find your destiny in God. A good Church will teach the right things about Jesus, they will help you to grow as a Christian and will have a passion about reaching lost people for Jesus. See “How can I find the right Church?”Why are there so many denominations?If all the different ‘band names’ are just different packages for the same thing then why did the Church get so divided in the first place? During the Dark Ages the Church became very religious and not very relational at all. The official Church lost touch with God and became more about religious ceremonies than it was about getting to know God in a real way. That was until Martin Luther came along. Martin Luther actually bothered to read the Bible and he took the Bible as more of an authority than the opinions of men. It was while Martin Luther was reading the Bible that he realised that religious activity does not save you but that faith in Jesus does. The official Church did not welcome Martin Luther’s teaching and so the Lutheran Church was born. Other denominations have been started for similar reasons; someone saw something in the Bible that was part of the teaching of the early Church but missing (at least in a practical way if not a theoretical way) from official Churches of their day. These people would either be kicked out of their old Church or they would choose to leave to start a movement that was more open to what God wanted to do in that day instead of hanging on to the traditions that they were used to. I believe that the trend since Martin Luther has been one of getting back to a relationship with God instead of hanging on to empty traditions. While divisions are unfortunate, God is much more interested in reaching lost people and drawing them into a real relationship with him than keeping traditions intact. If the existing Churches are so focused on their rituals that they will not listen to what God wants to do then God will just bypass the established Churches and start something new. That new movement will give itself a brand name and God will happily use that new movement until it becomes too inflexible and bound to their way of doing things. To God it’s doesn’t matter what the band name is, to him the only name that matters when it comes to being part of his Church is “Jesus”. There is only one Church as far as God is concerned. The people who have been saved by believing in Jesus are part of that Church whatever brand name their movement happens to be called. I believe that the important point is that God is in control, he knows who belongs to him and from his point of view the divisions in his Church are superficial.What about Christian Cults?Not all divisions are started when God bypasses tradition. There are some movements that start when people move away from what the Bible teaches. These sects or cults start when someone misunderstands what the Bible teaches about Jesus. They either decide that he could not be a real man or that he could not be the Almighty God. As a result their concept of what it means to be a Christian gets distorted because if they don't believe that Jesus is God they will find it hard to accept that he could have paid for all the sins of everyone and so they think they have to do something to earn their own forgiveness, so they start teaching that we are saved by faith plus doing good deeds. When that happens it is no longer about knowing God and letting him change you, it is about you finding your own way back to God. Of course they can be very persuasive because they tend to know the Bible a lot better than most genuine Christians. They might also have their own translation of the Bible, which has changes to the meaning of some very important parts of the Bible. It’s best not to get into a discussion with members of these cults until you are very familiar with the Bible and can quote the Bible back to them in the right context. It is also helpful to have background information on their specific cult and be able to point out where their so-called prophets have made false predictions. The best way to identify these type of religious sects is to ask them if people from other Churches will make it to Heaven. If they say “no”, or if they dodge the question or if they answer it indirectly then they are probably not preaching the real Jesus, they are most likely just trying to recruit you to their cult.Getting to know GodSo in conclusion, there is no right religion. Religion is about people trying to please God and people are completely unable to do that by themselves. Jesus came to provide us with a way back to God. By asking Jesus to come into our life, to forgive us and to make us a new person we can get to know God and be confident that he has done enough to earn our forgiveness so that we can live forever in a great place where there is no pain and where we are totally consumed by his joy and love. Not only that but he gives us peace and strength to face the situations that we find ourselves in during this life as well.If you want to get to know God then please read, “ How do I become a Christian?” |