What Makes a Person Christian?
God loves us. He made us, and He wants to have a relationship with us. In fact, He created us so that He could have a relationship with us.
However, we have rebelled against God. We have all disobeyed Him. Our sins have separated us from Him and broken off the relationship He desires to have with us.
We can all think of things that we have done that have disobeyed God’s desires for us. We have hurt other people, or have shown disrespect for God or someone else. Each time we disregard God we multiply the guilt of our sin. This reinforces the broken relationship between ourselves and God.
Romans 3:23 says: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
To varying degrees, most of us are aware of our distance from God. As a result, we start doing all kinds of things like being a helpful neighbor, volunteering our time or giving our money to charity, and even going to church. There is nothing wrong with any of these things, but the Bible is very clear that none of these things can earn God’s forgiveness or reestablish our relationship with Him.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.
Since we each have committed sin, there are consequences which must be met. It is as if our sins have earned for us a paycheck. The penalty we owe is death which is a physical death as well as a spiritual separation from God for eternity.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…” If this is where it all ended it would be a very bleak picture. but the good news is that God loves us. In fact He loves us so much that he did for us what we could never do for ourselves. He paid the penalty that our sins have earned.
It is as if He provided a bridge over which we can find his forgiveness and restore our relationship with Him.
Romans 6:23 (continued) …but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.
Jesus became the bridge for us by coming to earth as one of us and dying on the cross to pay the death penalty that we owed.
Romans 5:9-10 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgement. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of this Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.
This is the key message of the Bible. This is what God wants each one of us to understand. But it is not enough to just know what God has done for us or even to agree with it. We have to act on it. God wants us to cross the bridge and come into a relationship with Him.
Peter 3:18 For Christ died for our sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
We walk over the bridge of the cross by humbly admitting to God that we have rebelled against Him, and that we need his forgiveness. With our sins pardoned and our debt paid, our relationship with God is firmly established because we are immediately adopted into His family as His son or daughter.
John 1:12 But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.
John 1:12 But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.
As you have read this:
Does this illustration make sense to you? Or is there a part that you wish to discuss further?
At this point in your life where do you appear in the drawing?
Is there any reason why you wouldn’t want to cross over to the other side?
At this point in your life where do you appear in the drawing?
Is there any reason why you wouldn’t want to cross over to the other side?
How to accept Christ’s offer: Trust God and His plan for forgiveness in Christ.
Admit to God and to yourself that you are a sinner.
Admit to God and to yourself that you are a sinner.
Believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin.
Invite Jesus to come into your life.
If you would like to email
Pastor Scott Howington he would love to connect with you and hear your story.