One of the most challenging and practical things Jesus ever said was, “life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15, TNIV). Two thousand years later, we still need to hear this. But if that statement is true, then what exactly is life all about?

The apostle Paul, who at one time made it his mission in life to rid the world of followers of Jesus Christ, eventually—and quite ironically—reached this conclusion: “For to me, to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). In fact, he went on to declare, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things” (Philippians 3:8). Sounds pretty fanatical, doesn’t it? But was he right?

The fact that you are reading this tells me that you either share Paul’s belief that “to live is Christ,” or you want to check it out to see whether he may be on to something important for your life. Nobody wants to waste their life. And if being a Christian is what life is all about, then we owe it to ourselves to find out what that really means.

Clarifying the Misconceptions

If we were to ask people on the street what it means to be a Christian, we would undoubtedly receive a number of conflicting responses. Therefore, let’s take a few minutes to clear up some of the confusion.

What Being a Christian is NOT:

First, being Christian is not the result of natural birth. There is no such thing as someone being a Christian simply because he or she was born into a Christian family, or into a predominantly Christian society. The thought goes something like this: “I’m an American, but I’m not Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or whatever, so I guess that makes me a Christian.” But the Bible says, “Yet to all who received [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13, emphasis added).

Second, being a Christian is not merely agreeing with certain truths. The classic example of this is found in the Bible: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:19). No one would claim that a demon is a Christian! And yet, demons “believe” something that is true about God. It would seem, then, that it is possible to acknowledge or accept Christian truth without being a Christian at all. There must be more to it that simply subscribing to certain beliefs.

Third, being a Christian is not primarily being a good person. Of course, Christians should live exemplary lives, but they are not the only ones in society that appear to do so. In fact, many people who live basically decent lives would be offended if they were referred to as “Christians.” Further, the Bible makes it clear that living a life of good deeds can never make a person acceptable to God: “For by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). As one writer puts it, “You don’t become a Christian by acting like one. We are not on a performance basis with God.”

Finally, being a Christian is not simply engaging in “religious” activities. Christians are involved in many such activities, including being baptized, going to worship gatherings, taking communion, praying and studying the Bible, and so on. But these involvements do not make someone a Christian. Billy Sunday, an early twentieth century evangelist, used to say, “Going to church don’t make a man a Christian any more than going to a stable makes a man a horse!”

Amazingly enough, a person can be heavily involved in Christian activities for their whole life (even of a profoundly spiritual nature), and yet not be a Christian at all. Jesus made this point shockingly clear: “Many will say to me on that day [the day they expect to enter God’s kingdom], ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:22-23).

What Being a Christian IS:

If you take another look at Jesus’ statement in the last few lines above, you will begin to see what the real issue is concerning what it means to be a Christian. To those who felt they had been doing all the right things, the Lord responded, “I never knew you.” That is the issue. In the final analysis, it is not what you know or what you do, but who you know—or, more accurately, who knows you!

Look again at John 1:12: “Yet to all who received him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  You see, we don’t ultimately receive a list of beliefs, a code of ethics, a philosophy of life, or a set of religious practices. We receive him—a person by the name of Jesus Christ. And upon receiving him, we become one of God’s children! Let’s put it this way:

It is from this great truth that all the other things being a Christian involves will flow: our beliefs, our lifestyle, and our activities. And I deliberately say “our,” for being a Christian is not a private matter. Those who begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ become “fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19).

Okay, so how does one begin a personal relationship with Jesus and become a member of God’s family?

Becoming a Christian

One of the simplest and most helpful ways of explaining how a person can become a Christian follows the letters A, B, C, and D.

Something to Admit

The A stands for something to admit, namely that there is something seriously wrong with us that only God can fix. To put it in more traditional terms, we must admit that we are sinners and in need of God’s forgiveness, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

What does it mean to be a “sinner”? To begin with, it means that we are moral and spiritual failures who indeed “fall short of the glory of God.” Granted, we may look pretty good when we compare ourselves to the proverbial axe-murderer, but how do we compare with, say, Mother Theresa or, better yet, Jesus Christ? The Bible declares that “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), and we must be willing to admit that we are no exception—no matter how hard we try to be.

Further, being a “sinner” means being a rebel in God’s eyes, as we go about life generally without any regard for God himself—the One to whom we owe everything and must ultimately give an account. Both in our thoughts and our actions, we reject God’s authority over our lives as we go our own way and do our own thing (see Isaiah 53:6), proving ourselves to be basically self-centered people.

All of this has a devastating effect on our relationship to God, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). By “death” the Bible not only means our inevitable physical death, but our on-going spiritual death as well, which means being alienated from God and the life that he gives, and being subjected to his wrath (see Isaiah 59:2, Ephesians 2:1-3, Romans 1:18). As a result, we are “without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12), and left incapable of finding true, lasting contentment on our own—no matter how committed we are to living life to the fullest. Dr. Larry Crabb has summed up our condition well:

Are we willing to admit that, in our failure and rebellion, we have sinned against a perfectly pure and loving God? Do we recognize that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves from the consequences of our sin? This goes against the grain of our self-esteem (“There’s nothing wrong with me”) and self-confidence (“I can take care of it”), but we will never know the joy of a relationship with Jesus Christ until we admit our need for God’s mercy and grace.

Something to Believe

The B stands for the good news we are to believe. God loves us and is prepared to grant us forgiveness and a completely new life through his Son, Jesus!

Someone has well said, “You and your sins must separate, or you and your God will never come together,” and Jesus has resolved this dilemma: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18). He specifically died for our sins—yours and mine, paying the death penalty that we deserve, in order that we can be forgiven and reconciled to God. Incredible!

Think about the implications of all this. First of all, our sin must be an enormous problem. If the only way for us to be saved from the consequences of our sin was for God to pay the price for us by sacrificing his own Son, then nothing could be worse than the problem of our sin. But, secondly, it becomes clear that God must love us more than we can ever imagine. God could have left us to face the judgment we deserve, but he didn’t. Instead, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). What amazing love!

Who is this Jesus, anyway? How could the death of one man have such radical implications for all people? The answer, according to the Bible, is that Jesus was no mere man: “He is the image of the invisible God . . . For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 1:15; 2:9; see also John 1:1, 14). Jesus, amazingly, is both God and Man—uniquely qualifying him to be the very Savior we need. As God’s eternal Son, he alone can reconcile us to God, just as he said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Obviously, if Jesus was lying, or out of his mind, concerning who he was and what he could do, then God would never have raised Jesus from the dead. But as it stands, “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). This brings us to our next point.

Something to Consider

The C calls us to consider something. Jesus does more than offer us freedom from the consequences of our sin. He demands our allegiance as well. Second Corinthians 5:15 puts it this way: “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” Jesus is both Savior and Lord, or Master, and we must receive him as such. Rebecca Pippert explains this as she reflects on Lois, a friend of hers who committed her life to Christ:

We don’t do anyone any favors by passing over this important truth. A personal relationship with Christ is a commitment—not just a blessing. Even some outside the faith have come to realize this, as one writer shares: “I believe I am not mistaken in saying that Christianity is a demanding and serious religion. When it is delivered as easy and amusing it is another kind of religion altogether.” We must be delighted not only to enjoy God’s forgiveness in Christ, but also to follow Jesus as Lord of our lives. The Bible says, “whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6).

Something to Do

And this brings us to the D, which stands for something to do. All of the above can be regarded as true, but if we don’t personally receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, then we miss out on him completely. Have you asked Jesus to come into your life?

Paul explained that what we must do is “turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21). What is repentance? The New Bible Dictionary explains it as ‘not just a feeling sorry, or changing one’s mind, but a turning round, a complete alteration of the basic motivation and direction of one’s life.” Faith, then, is the flip-side of repentance. We turn from our life of self-centeredness and self-reliance, and turn to God, believing that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead, and desiring now to live for him.

If you have not yet made this absolutely vital commitment, then I would urge you to do so now. God loves you—no matter what you have done in the past—and he longs for you to experience the life that is truly life. Jesus himself said, “I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

While your own words are best, the following sample prayer may be helpful as you commit your life to Jesus Christ, beginning a personal relationship with him.

“What Has Happened to Me?”

If you have sincerely prayed to receive Jesus Christ into your life (whether just now, or in the past), then some incredible things have happened to you (whether you felt them or not). Read the following partial list, and realize that all of these statements are now true about you!

“I'm Not Ready for This; I’ve Got Questions”

If you’re interested, but not yet ready to commit your life to Christ, that’s okay. Pursue answers to your questions and doubts by talking with a trusted friend who is a Christian, or by allowing us here at Encounter to help you either in person or by way of the other resources on this website (see especially the other “Good Questions,” and the “Encountering Jesus” tab). It would be our privilege to help you in whatever way we can.