It's easy! Simply admit that you fall short of God's standard and ask Jesus to get you into heaven. It's your faith in Jesus that makes the difference. If you're following Jesus, you're a Christian!
Want me to explain more?
Ok. Here's the thing. Nobody's perfect. That's pretty obvious, right? After all, the world is full of evidence for that. Violence is everywhere as is all sorts of betrayal. People are doing things that are wrong all the time. 'Wrong' being anything that disobeys God. You can find out what God says is wrong by reading your Bible and listening to your conscience.
To get in right relationship with God you need to live up to God's standard. The bible says that standard is perfection. Uh oh! That leaves me out. And that leaves you out too! And believe me, God is a fully just person. There's no wishy-washy wiggle room with Him. You're not going to talk your way out of the punishment for sin. What's that punishment? Separation. God is holy and can't be tainted by anything unholy. You can't be hanging around in heaven mucking it up! Obviously, that means we've a problem.
The good news is that God loves us. He loves us all. Even those who are dreadfully horrible sinners. And He understands that we are not perfect and are not capable of being perfect. His love for each of us drives Him to help us. But, there is that problem that He has to punish sin.
So, what's the all-powerful Creator of the universe do about this dilemma? He loves you and wants to have a close relationship with you, but your sin must be punished. I'll tell you what He does. He takes the punishment for you! You see, this is where Jesus comes in. Jesus said that He is God - both God and man. Jesus took on himself all the sin of the world, died a criminal's death, was separated from God the Father, and thereby paid the penalty for our sin. He was the only one who could do this because He is the only man who is perfect. So, where does that leave you?
Well, you must realize by now that there's nothing that you can do to save yourself. Being imperfect, you can't do much. Your only hope is to rely on Jesus and what He did. And that brings us full circle to where we started. Remember that I said you needed to admit that you fall short of God's standard and ask Jesus to get you into heaven? Does it make more sense now? You'll never be good enough on your own. Even one little sin makes your efforts insufficient. So what are you waiting for? You know what to do.
Pray right now. Tell God that you are sorry for your disobedience and that you are through with it. Ask Jesus to save you and get you into heaven. That's it! If you are sincere, that's all it takes! That's how you become a Christian.
You'll still need to be made perfect. Hang out close to God and He'll do that for you. Make you perfect, I mean. Pray often. He'll hear you! Read your Bible all the time. Get involved with a good Bible-centered church. If you live close to Embrace Ministries in Ohio come and join us. If not, ask God to show you a church close to you. If you contact us we'll be glad to offer you any help we can.
Welcome to the Kingdom of God!