Next Steps
Are you a Christian?
Some people think they are Christians because of the Country or family they were born into, but being a Christian is a personal choice and there are steps that need to be taken in order to become a Christian
If you aren’t a Christian yet then just follow the three easy steps below.
If you have already given yourself to the Lord then you can scroll down past the prayer to the next steps.
How to become a Christian
Repentance is far more than just saying you’re sorry for something. The first thing we have to do is humble ourselves and recognise we are sinners. Real sin isn’t murder, lying or cheating – those are the consequences or effects of sin – Real sin is open rebelliousness against God. It’s saying we don’t need Him or want Him in our lives. It seems strange that some people think they can reject God all their lives, but that He shouldn’t reject them when their life ends. God gives us the opportunity to come to Him via the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, but we have to repent (turn away) from our sin and go to Him.
At the end of Matthews Gospel Jesus says to the Apostle, “Go, and make disciples of all nations…”
To be a disciple of Christ means to come under the teachings of Christ, to live the life that He calls us to, and is the outward sign of the spiritual change that takes place within us when we become christians.
Another mark of a true believer is their obedience to Jesus. In many passages of the gospels Jesus tells people to follow Him, and in John 14:23 Jesus says, “If anyone loves Me he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make Our home with him”. (emphasis added). We do this by finding out what His word says and then putting it into practice in our own lives. For example, Jesus commands us to love our enemies and to bless those who curse us. He commands us to forgive others just as He has forgiven us. We have to apply those commands to our lives daily. When we do this we get to know true freedom, peace, and joy just a little bit more each day – and that’s just a start!
A prayer of repentance
There is no hard and fast rule about how or what you should pray when becoming a Christian, but if you need a little help you could pray this:
Lord, I know that I’m a sinner and do not deserve anything from you, but I thank you that you loved me so much you sent Your Son to die for me to pay the price for my sin and make a way for me into Your presence. Forgive me of my sin and wash me clean. Come into my life and make my body the temple of Your Holy Spirit. I give my life to you and, from this day on, I will live every day You give me for Your glory, Amen.
Next Steps
In Matthew 28: 19 Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,”
To be a disciple means getting to know Jesus by reading His word, praising Him, praying to Him, and obeying Him. The way we do that is by getting alongside someone who already knows Jesus well and is living the life that Christ has called them to, and following their example. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”
Paul knows that he is following Christ as Christ intended, so he urges others to imitate him. The reference in verse 1 makes it clear that he seeks to imitate Christ and urges others to imitate Christ by imitating him.
Matthew Henry (a great expositor of the bible) explains these words in this way: “Follow me as far as I follow Christ. Come up as close as you can to my example in those instances wherein I endeavour to copy after his pattern. Be my disciples, as far as I manifest myself to be a faithful minister and disciple of Christ, and no further. I would not have you be my disciples, but his.”
The bible teaches us that we are all priests when we become a Christian, and that we are called into His service to do His work. Christianity is not a spectator sport but an active life where each must do their part. God has called us to do good works and that we should be an asset to our families, our church, and our community.
Galatians 6:10 says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
This is not something we are meant to do when we feel like it but something we learn and plan and intentionally put into practice daily.
Titus 3: 14 And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.
We have to learn to maintain, or constantly do, good works, to help others, to be the light of Christ in someone else’s darkness.
There is something very reassuring about a coal fire, but take one piece out of the fire and it soon grows cold and goes out. We are not saved so we can go it alone and God intended us for fellowship. We gain strength and resolve when we meet together as the family of God, and there are many scriptures that point to this truth, but it is easy to lose our way and lose our faith and grow cold and go out when we don’t have fellowship with one another.
Jesus says in John 13: 34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The ‘all will know’ is the world. How can we show the world we love Christ, or that we are His disciples, if we never meet up with other believers and love one another?
We would love for you to come to Oasis Church and join with us in fellowship, but wherever you go, make sure it’s a bible-believing church and become a committed member and an asset to that church. The local church is Christ’s idea, and He wants you to be an active member of a local church.
We are all commanded by Jesus to be baptised, in Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Baptism is a show of obedience to the call of Christ on your life and if you haven’t yet been baptised then tell your pastor or leader of the church you attend, and get a date to be baptised.
Check out the article below on water baptism
Water Baptism
What Is Baptism?
The word ‘baptism’ means to immerse, drench, or saturate, so water baptism means to immerse, drench, or saturate in water.
Sprinkling with a few drops of water is not baptism.
It is an act of obedience to Christ and is symbolic of dying to self, a washing away of sins, and coming back up out of the water to new life in Christ.
Who Can Be Baptised?
The New Testament talks a lot about baptism, but gives no clear rules about who can be baptised. However, there are examples and processes given in scripture that point us in the right direction.
John the Baptist came with a baptism of repentance, and when Peter finished preaching his first sermon at Pentecost, we are told that the people who heard him were ‘cut to the heart’, and they asked, “what shall we do?”
Peter’s response was that they repent and be baptised. (Acts 2: 36-38)
So only those who are so ‘cut to the heart’ or are made so aware of their sin that they respond by repenting can be baptised. In other words, only someone who is able to make a rational decision for Christ can be baptised. Babies and toddlers can’t do this.
What Are You Baptised Into?
State church tradition has it that you are baptised into a particular church or denomination, but that is not found anywhere in scripture.
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
And Peter says that we are baptised into Jesus (Acts 2: 38) You are not baptised into the church, you are baptised into the family of God.
