A New Life –
What Happens When You Become a Christian?
First of all, it is a choice.
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
Romans 6:17-18
When a person hears the good news that God sent His only Son into the world to show us what the Father is like and to die on the cross for our sins, he or she must decide to believe or disbelieve. This is the first step and it is a conscious choice. Becoming saved is not about being swept away by a mystical force. It is not about an emotional rush which one waits around to occur. It is the acceptance of the gospel message and a decision for Christ to save you from sins as you turn from them.
Secondly, it is a new birth.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:3-4
To become a Christian one must contact the saving power, by faith, of Christ’s death. This occurs in baptism, the immersion in water by the command of Christ. It is an act of faith which has nothing to do with a physical cleaning. It is a reenactment of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Through it, Christ makes us into a new person by washing away our sins and giving us an opportunity to live without sin as a servant of His.
It is a great hope that we can experience “newness of life”. Don’t you want to shake all the dark episodes, the moral ghosts, and the poisonous heart which go along with sin? Don’t you want a new life? It is possible in Christ. It is possible by accepting the gospel message about Christ and being baptized into His death.