Why should I become a Christian?

Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ saves the sinner, because He died on the cross, atoned for sin, and shed His precious blood. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7), is the divine testimony of Scripture. We cannot be saved by anything we can do. Our religion cannot save us. Our so-called good works cannot procure us God’s forgiveness But, blessed be His name, He points us to His Son. He bids us put our faith in Him. He tells us, “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Thank God, His name is enough.

Again, when an alarmed and sin-convicted man cried out, "What must I do to be saved?" Paul's reply was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house;" but why does he here repeat all these titles of the Saviour? Because he is presenting Him to this anxious soul as the Object of faith, and in such a way as to fully satisfy his awakened conscience. Jesus is not only Son of man in the glory, but has been there made "both Lord, and Christ." (Acts 2:36.) If the question of the troubled heart be, Is He willing to save me? The answer is, Yes; He is JESUS, and came into the world for the very purpose of saving sinners. If the inquiry be, Is He able to save me? The answer is, Yes; He is "LORD of all," and has all power in heaven and in earth; and His being the CHRIST, the anointed One in heaven, consequent upon His finished work on the cross, is the unquestionable proof that every one that has come as a sinner to Him the Saviour, is forgiven and blessed. How perfectly accurate, therefore, was the Apostle's reply, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

Yet, without the truth, how wretched one must ever be! I have sinned. How do I stand, and in what relation, to God? Are we doomed to be in utter uncertainty of the only thing that is of supreme importance? There are things that a man can come to, left to himself — dread and horror, hardness or indifference. But these fears are only the premonition of what, far more terrible and unending, will befall him if he lives and dies as he is. What is to become of his soul? My answer is: Christ is the truth; and Christ was here expressly on an errand of love, to glorify God, to save sinners by faith, to meet this dark and awful void, and give life and peace, with certainty, to the believer.

Two things seem to operate markedly in such cases: (1) A deep sense of sin and guilt, giving the strong urge to seek God's forgiveness; and (2) a conception of God far removed from that of the heathen religions, attracting them to trust the Saviour of sinners. Christianity stands out in vivid contrast to all other religions in that it alone offers a Saviour to sinful men. It was no wonder that the late well-known preacher, Joseph Parker, when giving a lecture on contemporary religions, paused impressively, saying, "Remember Christianity is not one of them." No, it stands altogether by itself in its own divine glory.

How little do men think of this! They imagine that "real life" is at an end when a man becomes a Christian, in truth and reality, not merely in name and outward profession; whereas God's word teaches us that it is only then we can see life and taste true happiness. "He that has the Son has life." (1 John 5:12) And, again, "Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." (Ps. 32:1) We can get life and happiness only in Christ. Apart from Him, all is death and misery, in Heaven's judgement, whatever the outward appearance may be. It is when the thick veil of unbelief is removed from the heart, and we are enabled to behold, with the eye of faith, the bleeding Lamb, bearing our heavy burden of guilt upon the cursed tree, that we enter upon the path of life, and partake of the cup of divine happiness — a life which begins at the cross, and flows onward into an eternity of glory — a happiness which, each day, becomes deeper and purer, more connected with God and founded on Christ, until we reach its proper sphere, in the presence of God and the Lamb. To seek life and happiness in any other way, is vainer work by far than seeking to make bricks without straw.

Salvation is not procurable by human efforts, for Titus 3:5-6 points out that we are saved by God's mercy, and not by works of righteousness which we have done. This is also emphasised in Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast." God in sovereign love has secured this great salvation for us in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Aged Simeon knew this when he said, "Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation." The Samaritans learned it when they heard Jesus speaking, for they said, "We know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." There must be personal contact with the Son of God to know Him as the Saviour. Peter, the great apostle, who truly knew the Lord said of Him, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Many religions and cults admit the problem of sin, but their answer is to seek salvation from sin through good works or by keeping rules and laws. The Christian's Bible teaches that Jesus Christ redeemed us from sin by dying on the cross. Nowhere is this more clearly stated than by the apostle Paul: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:23,24).

When you have chosen Christ as your Saviour, you have settled the question as to your destiny. His work secures heaven for you, and delivers you from the hell that you have deserved. This work Jesus accomplished alone, and He accomplished it perfectly; and your soul's salvation depends entirely upon Christ's work, and not upon yours at all.

And the reason why it is linked up in Him is that God is a holy God, and must punish sin, and that the Lord Jesus Christ took the guilty sinner’s place, satisfied all God’s holy claims, vindicated righteousness, and it is only on the ground of the finished work of Christ that God is able to offer forgiveness and salvation. No wonder the testimony of Scripture is that “there is none other Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

The personal character of present salvation should therefore be laid hold of by us. It is of the last importance to do so in these days of departure from the truth, and apostasy from the faith. To be saved, is to be saved! To be unsaved, is to be lost! The final issue is fast approaching! The coming of the Lord draweth nigh! The lights of the oil-less lamp-holders are going out! Those who “have not received the love of the truth that might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10) will soon be carried away by the strong sweeping currents of error, “that they should believe what is false, that all might be judged who have not believed the truth, but have found pleasure in unrighteousness” (v. 12). God has no pleasure in this, but desires rather that “all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). The Son of God came not to judge the world, “but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17 and 12:47). Upon the cross He bore the believer’s sin, and the judgment that those sins deserved; moreover, He was raised again from among the dead for their justification. On the basis of that work the believer is saved, for it is on account of this God righteously forgives sins, and the gospel brings “the knowledge of salvation … by the remission of their sins” (Luke 1:77). The first person outside of Judaism to be reached by the glad tidings was Cornelius. He heard words whereby he and all his house were saved (Acts 11:14). Those words pointed him to Christ, through whose Name everyone that believes on Him receives remission of sins (10:43). Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, for grace alone could meet the need of such; and while It is truly by the grace of God such are justified freely, through the great redemption which is in Christ Jesus, it is likewise true, we are “saved by grace” (Eph. 2:5, 8); not on the principle of works, so that none might boast. Grace is in Christ Jesus, and so is salvation (2 Tim. 2:1, 10). This latter is obtained there through faith, whether in regard to judgment, enemies, state, adverse influences, this present evil world or age. “Neither is there salvation in any other.”