What is required in order to become a Christian?

Answer 1

The precise answer will depend on which Christians you ask.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary,? to be a Christian means:

"Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus."

?So to be a Christian, one must believe in the message of Jesus Christ and endeavour to follow His teachings.?Many denominations insist that receiving salvation? -?achieved by?coming to believe in God and repenting for sins - is the only factor required for becoming a Christian.

However, it should be noted that several denominations believe that?baptism is?also required for?one to be?truly saved, and thus truly Christian; eg. Roman Catholics. A further point to add is that Calvinism teaches election - in which a man cannot?lead himself to?salvation?(or, cannot become a Christian), rather God has pre-destined some to be saved, and the rest not to.

In conclusion,??the question 'what is required to become a Christian' provokes?almost as wide a range of opinion as does the question 'what is a Christian'.

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------------------ If I may I'd like to offer a bit more... The great debate in the issue of salvation boils down to "what must we do to be saved?" I doubt we'll ever know how many times this question has been asked, or how many times the answer has been debated. And there are probably as many answers as there are people doing the answering. In the majority of the world's religions the issue is the same, and very well intentioned people strive with all their energy to be "saved," or to learn what must be done to be saved. The word "saved" can often be substituted with enlightenment, perfection, oneness with the universe, re-incarnated, and so many other terms. This world is full of people who would do anything to be acceptable to God, to go to heaven, to do whatever it takes to be right with God. The answer comes in many forms. And there is always an answer, and always something or some many things one must do to achieve salvation. I can't think of any religion or system of beliefs that doesn't require something of the searcher to do in order to be saved. Except one. And that one is offered by the Son of God, Jesus Christ. In Christianity it is not what one must do to be saved, but what God has done to save the individual. Scripture tells us that "...God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us..." Again, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins." It is God who initiated the work of savlation, it is God who executed the entire plan, and it is God who completes the work. There is but one thing left for us - to believe. Faith is not necessarily something to do, but more simply to believe what has been done. Scripture tells us that "Christ is the author and finisher of our faith." It also tells us "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as result of works, so that no one may boast." Even the faith we exercise is supplied by God. When I believe I receive God's salvation. It is not "my salvation" it is "God's salvation." I don't earn it, I believe Him and what He has said concerning His Son. And God's salvation is not a thing per se, but rather a Person. What I receive is the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life..." He also said "...unless you believe I am He, you will die in your sins..." The he Christ is referring to is the Messiah. he Savior. And it was fully understood that Messiah is divine. God Himself. Jesus is not asking us to believe that He is a good teacher, a rabbi, or even a prophet. During a conversation with His disciples, Philip reaches a point of understanding and says to Jesus "...show us the Father and that is enough..." Jesus answers Philip "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father." This is but one of many incidences in which Christ makes Himself equal with the Father. In itself, this claim is one of the primary obstacles to people. Many are willing to say that Jesus was a wonderful person, born well before His time, a great teacher - but few are prepared to say Jesus is Lord (meaning God). The "life" offered in Christ is eternal life, not some temporary blessing on earth alone. John wrote: "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life--and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us..." In prayer to the Father, Jesus said "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Bottom Line? - To become a Christian is to believe God, to believe what God has said concerning His Son. Much of what that means can be found in the book of John, chapter 17. In this passage Jesus prays to His Father in heaven for the protection of His followers (since He is about to die) and for their unity in spirit and love for one another. Jesus says to the Father "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was... ...I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me... ...keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me..." Jesus says in the book of John, "he who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life..." His followers had believed what Jesus had told them about His Father and Himself, and this is the faith He is looking for in us. It is not what is required of us "to do" in order to become a Christian, but what we are to believe. The "doing" part has been handled from end-to-end by God, we are to simply believe, and in so doing we receive the person of Christ.