INTRODUCTION:
I speak of the three as being synonymous:
The church is not really something you join.
The only way to be saved is to be a Christian.
And if you are a Christian and are saved, you are automatically added by the Lord to His church.
Many would label us as very narrow-minded for making the assertion that the only way you can be saved is to be a Christian. Yet we believe this is true.
God's people, of course, who lived before Christ came, have an opportunity for salvation, because when Jesus died He died "for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." (Heb 9:15 KJV)
The only way you can be saved is through Jesus Christ, because only He was able to live a sinless life and then die a vicarious death for those who have sinned. "He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." (1 Pet 2:22 KJV)
(1 John 3:5 KJV) And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
(1 Tim 2:6 KJV) Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
We believe that all the other religions, other than Christianity, offer only a false hope of salvation or eternal life. (Acts 4:12 KJV) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Jesus declares: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (Jn. 14:6)
No matter how religious a person may be, if he rejects Jesus Christ, he rejects the only hope of salvation. In the latter part of Romans 9 and the first part of chapter 10, the apostle Paul spoke of those who "stumbled at that stumblingstone" in rejecting Christ. He went on to say, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
And thus, "narrow minded" though we may be, we affirm that the only way of Salvation is in being a Christian.
And to be a Christian is to be a member of the Lord's church. This church's roll-book is kept, not by man on earth, but by the Lord in Heaven.
The apostle Peter told the audience to whom he preached, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
The Scripture says, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:38--41) The "them" was none other than the church. And the One who did the "adding" was none other than the Lord. The last verse of the chapter declares, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be (or were being) saved."
And thus, being a Christian, being saved, and being added to the church, is spoken of as having one's name enrolled in Heaven.
Jesus told His disciples (Luke 10:20 KJV) "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
Then, in Heb 12:23 The writer spoke of the church as "the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven."
Concerning the final Judgment, the final day of reckoning, the Bible declares of that Heavenly city, "There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Rev 21:27 KJV)
So, this is what we are talking about when we talk about being Christians, being saved, being members of the Lord's church.
Now, to address the original question:
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A CHRISTIAN?
NUMBER ONE:
A PERSON MUST REALIZE THE SERIOUSNESS OF BEING LOST AND THE NEED OF A SAVIOUR.
Here is the way it is:
Man is an immortal (undying) being. At death, the body dies, but the soul, made in God's image, lives on. Concerning death, Solomon said, (Eccl 12:7 KJV) "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
Jesus told us of two men who died--the one an ungodly rich man, and the other a righteous beggar. Concerning their demise, He said, (Luke 16:22-23 KJV) "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; {23} And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom."
Clearly, death is not the end. (Heb 9:27 KJV) "...It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
At the Judgment, (Mat 25:46 KJV) Those on the left hand "shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."
Those who go away into everlasting punishment are lost. Those who find paradise are saved.
And thus, we must realize the NEED FOR SALVATION.
HERE IS THE SITUATION:
(A.) God is holy. (Rom 9:14 KJV) "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid."
(B.) No sin can enter His presence. (Rev 21:27 KJV) "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."
(Heb 12:14 KJV) "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."
(C.) WE ALL SIN. (Rom 3:23 KJV) "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
(1 John 1:8 KJV) "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
(1 John 1:10 KJV) "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
(D.) SIN IS WHAT CAUSES US TO BE LOST:
(Isa 59:2 KJV) "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
(Rom 3:23 KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
(E.) THE SHOCKING TRUTH IS THAT ONCE WE HAVE SINNED, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WITHIN OUR POWER THAT WE CAN DO TO TAKE AWAY THE GUILT OF SIN. We can't do it by self-abasement or self-punishment. Time won't take guilt away. There is no way we can be good enough or do enough good to take any guilt away. That is what we have to realize. As sinners, we are totally helpless. We are lost and in need of a Saviour. We must come to that realization.
(Psa 49:7-8 KJV) "None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: {8} (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever.)"
(Isa 64:6 KJV) "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
This is what the Scriptures are talking about when they declare that we cannot be saved by our own works, or our own achievement.
(Eph 2:8-9 KJV) "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: {9} Not of works, lest any man should boast."
(Titus 3:4-6 KJV) "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, {5} Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; {6} Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour."
FAILURE OF THE PEOPLE TO REALIZE THEIR LOST STATE AND THE NEED OF A SAVIOUR WAS A PROBLEM THAT JESUS ENCOUNTERED:
(John 8:31-36 KJV) "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; {32} And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. {33} They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? {34} Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. {35} And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. {36} If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
But then, after we realize the need for a Saviour, WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A CHRISTIAN, TO BE SAVED, AND TO BE A MEMBER OF THE LORD'S CHURCH?
ANSWER: IT TAKES THREE BASIC THINGS:
1. BELIEVING IN CHRIST:
(John 8:24 KJV) (Jesus) "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins."
(A.) BELIEVING IN CHRIST INCLUDES BELIEVING THAT HE IS WHO HE CLAIMED TO BE, that is, God's Son, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. It means that we trust Him, and we deem Him to be trustworthy.
(B.) BELIEVING IN CHRIST MEANS BELIEVING IN THE ATONING SACRIFICE THAT HE MADE FOR US AT CALVARY; we believe that He died for us, vicariously; that His blood is the all-sufficient atoning sacrifice for our sins. (Heb 7:25 KJV) "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."
(Heb 11:6 KJV) "Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
(Gal 6:14 KJV) "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
2. SUBSCRIBING TO HIS LIFESTYLE:
Some people believe in Jesus Christ, but they do not subscribe to His lifestyle. In this condition, a person cannot be a real Christian. A Christian is a follower of Jesus. That means subscribing to His lifestyle.
What is the lifestyle of Christ? To expound on His lifestyle is too broad a subject to enter into here. But we know the key points: He loved God. He worshipped God. He went about doing good, Acts 10:38. He taught: Do unto others as you would they sholuld do to you. He taught against sin, worldliness and immorality. To be Christians, we must subscribe to that lifeatyle. We are to follow His steps, (1 Pet. 2:21). To claim to be a Christian and do otherwise is pointless: (Luke 6:46 KJV) "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord," Jesus asks, "and do not the things which I say?"
Subscribing to the Lord's lifestyle is a call to repentance. Inasmuch as we see ourselves not living up to His lifestyle, we "repent," we "change," we "turn." THIS MUST BE DONE IN ORDER TO BE A CHRISTIAN.
(Luke 13:3 KJV) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Again:
(Luke 13:5 KJV) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Thus, we subscribe to lifestyle of Jesus Christ--the lifestyle that He both exhorted and exemplified.
BUT MANY PEOPLE STOP AT THIS POINT AND THINK THAT MAKES THEM CHRISTIANS. BUT NOT SO! To only believe in Christ and subecribe to His lifestyle only makes you a sympathizer.
We must go to the third point:
3. ACTUALLY BECOMING A CHRISTIAN:
(A.) There is a formal commitment involved in becoming a Christian. You may love a girl with all your heart, and want to spend the rest of your life with her; but that alone does not mean you are married to her. It is much the same in being a Christian.
The apostle Paul spoke of becoming a Christian as professing a good profession (or, confessing a good confession) before many witnesses. (1 Tim 6:12 )
We must be willing to publicly acknowledge our commitment to Jesus Christ. In Mat 10:32-33, Jesus said, "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. {33} But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."
And again, in Mark 8:38, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
That profession, or confession is exemplified in Acts 8:36-37: "And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? {37} And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
(B.) BUT THEN THE ACTUAL STEP THAT MARKS THE OFFICIAL ENTRANCE OF A PERSON INTO THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IS THAT OF BAPTISM.
The Bible speaks of it as being "Baptized into Christ."
(Gal 3:26-27 KJV) "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. {27} For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
(Rom 6:3-8 KJV) "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? {4} Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. {5} For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: {6} Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. {7} For he that is dead is freed from sin. {8} Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him."
Some would have you believe that baptism is not a part of becoming a Christian. But before baptism you are just a sympathizer. After having believed and subscribed to Jesus' lifestyle, it takes baptism to actually enter into the Christian community. Remember Acts 2:41? "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."
Just before leaving them, Jesus told His disciples, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matt. 28:18--20, NIV)
So, this is, basicly speaking, what it takes to become a Christian, to be saved, to be a member of the Lord's church. As such, your sins are forgiven, washed away by the blood of Christ. You are reconciled to God by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. Your name is enrolled in Heaven's roll-book. You are now a sheep in the Good Shepherd's sheep-fold.
You continue to pattern your life after the lifestyle of Jesus in your worship and in your daily living, as you live the Christian life, and a home in Heaven will be yours at the end of the way.
Don't you want to be a Chrsitian today?