What Even is a Christian?
A Christian is a person who has placed all of their faith and hope into the one, true God (The Living Hope). This is the God of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, who gave all of humanity His one and only Son as a sacrifice for all the brokenness in the world, who also sent His Holy Spirit as a counselor to help lead and guide His followers.
It is likely that over time, you have come up with your own definition of who this Jesus is. You may have heard that He was a great teacher, or even a great Prophet, but like any other human was broken, and lived and died like the rest of us. You may also have heard that Jesus, being the Son of God, did great things and changed the course of humanity.
We believe that Jesus did in fact change the course of humanity, and was not just a random good person.
We believe that Jesus came into this world, as the Son of God, to show us His Father, and that we are invited to have an amazing relationship with Him.
He said it himself –
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6
“For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me.” – John 6:44
We believe that Jesus is drawing you, all of you – as you are, the imperfect you – to His Father.
What does this mean for you? You may be asking how you become a Christian.
It’s actually quite easy. It doesn’t matter where you are, or what you’re doing at this moment.
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9
Speak it with your mouth, in your heart, “Jesus is my Lord!” Believe in your heart of hearts that Jesus came to earth, lived and breathed a human life, died upon the cross, and was raised again to life, so that your sins may be forgiven, and that you may grow into a new life in Him!
Do that, and you’re a Christian!
Now what?
Do a couple things.
- Tell someone. This is crazy exciting. Let us at Living Hope know – one of our pastors or elders would LOVE to know this, and meet with you to share in your excitement.
- Find yourself a Bible. Maybe you have one covered in dust on your shelf. That’s ok. Maybe on your phone or tablet, download the app called YOUVERSION, its free, and its pretty great. Find the book of John, it gives a fantastic overview of who the Jesus is, and the first people that were impacted by Him. If you get through that, find the book of Romans, it helps us understand some of the traps we’ve encountered in our human lives.
- Find a community to grow alongside. Learn a little about ours!
There’s more to it all, but these are great places to start!