How to Become a Christian
You may need to read this even if you think
you already are a Christian


Many people have been misled to believe that all it takes to become a Christian is "come forward" to sign a "decision card" or repeat "the sinner's prayer." This is a myth. More is involved.

Others teach that all you have to do is give mental assent to the proposition that Jesus died for you and then you get to go to heaven when you die. This too is a myth. More is involved.

Becoming a Christian is Like Becoming an American

If you were born in America, you are an American citizen. If you were born in another country, you have to be "naturalized" before you can become an American Citizen. Becoming a Christian is like becoming a naturalized American citizen.

Millions of people live within the borders of America who don't know what it means to be an American or how to become an American. There are millions of people here "illegally," and they have never legally become an American. They haven't studied the principles that made America great. They aren't particularly loyal to those principles. Others are American citizens by birth, but have never made a conscious decision to become American citizens, and don't really know what it means to be an American, or what makes America "the greatest nation on God's green earth."

Every Sunday millions of people sit in the churches of America (and the rest of the world) who don't know what it means to be an Christian or how to become a Christian. They haven't studied the principles of Christianity, don't know why Christianity is the true religion and all others are, to quote James Madison ("the Father of the Constitution"), "false religions," and aren't particularly loyal to those principles. Most of them approach religion as a Smörgåsbord: "I'll have some of this, and, oh, that looks nice, I'll have some of that; a little of this, and maybe I'll try some of that. . . ." Jesus Christ has no real authority in their life; they are their own authority, making up their own religion as they go along.

The purpose of this web page is not to tell you why you should become a Christian, but how to become a Christian. It may help you decide whether you want to become a Christian, and in some cases, may convince you against becoming a Christian -- a decision that millions of church-goers might as well make.

Over 100 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court declared rather forcefully that America was a Christian nation. You can read the decision here. Today, of course, our government denies that this is a Christian nation, and this denial makes America an apostate Theocracy, but back in the days when America was a more faithful Theocracy, only members of Christian churches could be citizens or vote in elections. To become a member of a church in those days, you had to prove you knew the basic principles of Christianity, usually by reciting a catechism, like that produced in 1647 by the Westminster Assembly.

Richard Gardiner says of the Westminster Standards:

indent.gif (90 bytes)The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) In addition to being the decree of Parliament as the standard for Christian doctrine in the British Kingdom, it was adopted as the official statement of belief for the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Although slightly altered and called by different names, it was the creed of Congregationalist, Baptist, and Presbyterian Churches throughout the English speaking world. Assent to the Westminster Confession was officially required at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. Princeton scholar, Benjamin Warfield wrote: "It was impossible for any body of Christians in the [English] Kingdoms to avoid attending to it." [Link goes to chap.23, "On the Civil Magistrate."]
indent.gif (90 bytes)The Westminster Catechism (1646) Second only to the Bible, the "Shorter Catechism" of the Westminster Confession was the most widely published piece of literature in the pre-revolutionary era in America. It is estimated that some five million copies were available in the colonies. With a total population of only four million people in America at the time of the Revolution, the number is staggering. The Westminster Catechism was not only a central part of the colonial educational curriculum, learning it was required by law. Each town employed an officer whose duty was to visit homes to hear the children recite the Catechism. The primary schoolbook for children, the New England Primer, included the Catechism.  Daily recitations of it were required at these schools. Their curriculum included memorization of the Westminster Confession and the Westminster Larger Catechism. There was not a person at Independence Hall in 1776 who had not been exposed to it, and most of them had it spoon fed to them before they could walk. [Link to Q. 127 of Larger Catechism; cf. also Q. 129.]

Because of these strict requirements, everybody in town went to church, but only the most mature were actually voting members.

Because America was a Christian nation, becoming an American was like becoming a Christian. To hold office in Delaware, for example required the taking of an oath, prescribed by the 1776 Delaware Constitution:

Art. 22. Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust . . . shall . . . make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: "I ________, do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, Blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scripture of the Old and New Testaments to be given by divine inspiration."

That's pretty much what it takes to become a Christian. ("But wait!" -- as they say on TV -- "there's more!")


"For our citizenship is in heaven"
Philippians 3:20

The King James Version translates the Greek word politeuma as "conversation," but you can see its relation to the English word "political." It comes from the Greek word polites, "citizen," which in turn comes from the Greek polis, which we might translate "city-state." Newer versions translate politeuma as "citizenship," "enfranchisement," or "community." It comes from the Greek word politeuomai, which means "be a good citizen," or "live worthy of being a citizen." In New Testament times, being a citizen was valued. It had certain privileges. In Acts 22, the Apostle Paul was imprisoned and almost tortured because the Jews were slandering him and fomenting a riot. His Roman citizenship spared him. Here's the passage in a modern translation:

24 The captain intervened and ordered Paul taken into the barracks. By now the captain was thoroughly exasperated. He decided to interrogate Paul under torture in order to get to the bottom of this, to find out what he had done that provoked this outraged violence. 25As they spread-eagled him with thongs, getting him ready for the whip, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is this legal: torturing a Roman citizen without a fair trial?"
    26When the centurion heard that, he went directly to the captain. "Do you realize what you've done? This man is a Roman citizen!"
    27The captain came back and took charge. "Is what I hear right? You're a Roman citizen?"
    Paul said, "I certainly am."
    28The captain was impressed. "I paid a huge sum for my citizenship. How much did it cost you?"
    "Nothing," said Paul. "It cost me nothing. I was free from the day of my birth."
    29That put a stop to the interrogation. And it put the fear of God into the captain. He had put a Roman citizen in chains and come within a whisker of putting him under torture!

Becoming a Christian means becoming a Citizen of Heaven.

In Philippians 1:27, Paul says,

Let your life as a citizen be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

William Barclay phrases it this way

Philippi was a Roman colony; and Roman colonies were little bits of Rome planted throughout the world, where the citizens never forgot that they were Romans, spoke the Latin language, wore the Latin dress, called their magistrates by the Latin names, however far they might be from Rome. So what Paul is saying is, “You and I know full well the privileges and the responsibilities of being a Roman citizen. You know full well how even in Philippi, so many miles from Rome, you must still live and act as a Roman does. Well then, remember that you have an even higher duty than that. Wherever you are you must live as befits a citizen of the Kingdom of God." [from Precept Ministries]

George Washington understood that being a Christian -- a citizen of heaven -- was a higher honor than being a citizen of any nation, even America, "the greatest nation on God's green earth." As commander-in-chief of America's Revolutionary army, he said the following in his General Orders of May 2, 1778:

The commander-in-chief directs that divine service be performed every Sunday at eleven o'clock in those brigades [in] which there are chaplains; those which have none [are] to attend the places of worship nearest to them. It is expected that officers of all ranks will by their attendance set an example to their men. While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian. The signal instances of providential goodness which we have experienced, and which have now almost crowned our labors with complete success, demand from us in a peculiar manner the warmest returns of gratitude and piety to the Supreme Author of all good.
—George Washington, , The Writings of George Washington, JC Fitzpatrick, ed., Wash. DC: US Govt Printing Office, 1932, Vol 11, p. 342.

Not all citizens live up to the privilege of being a citizen. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 19:12-14:

He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. {13} And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Do business till I return. {14} But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

Jesus describes the consequences of being a bad citizen:

He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will rent out his vineyard to other tenants, which shall render him the profits at the appointed time.
(Matthew 21:41)

To be a Christian, therefore, means being at the very least a good citizen. So what are the basic duties of citizenship?


What is Citizenship?

This question was answered in Remarks by the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Eduardo Aguirre at the Nixon Center in an address entitled, Civic Integration - Citizenship After 9/11. He said:

An obvious place to start is by asking, what is Citizenship? Citizenship is, by definition, a condition of allegiance to, and participation in, a governmental jurisdiction. It means, for a collective order, a pledge of loyalty, commitment to actively participate in civics and community, and willingness to serve when and where called upon.  

By choosing to become a Citizen, immigrants enter into a covenant with the United States. This covenant reserves the call to serve and bear arms, and demands loyalty to the Constitution and our laws.  

Before I depart, however, I remind you of what President Theodore Roosevelt, once noted, "The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight."

Let's take these remarks and draw a comparison between being a citizen of the United States and being a citizen of heaven. The numbers in brackets identify concepts we'll discuss below.

An obvious place to start is by asking, what is Citizenship? Citizenship is, by definition, a condition of allegiance to, and participation in, a governmental jurisdiction. It means, for a collective order, a pledge of loyalty, commitment to actively participate in civics and community, and willingness to serve when and where called upon.  
"Allegiance" and "participation."
"Loyalty" and "commitment" or
"willingness to serve."
[1] [2]

To be a Christian requires these things.

By choosing to become a Citizen, immigrants enter into a covenant with the United States. This covenant reserves the call to serve and bear arms, and demands loyalty to the Constitution and our laws.   To be a Christian requires one to enter into a covenant, which is called "the New Covenant." [3]

A Christian must bear arms, which are described in Ephesians 6. [4]

A Christian must have loyalty to God's Constitution and laws, which are the Bible. [5]

Before I depart, however, I remind you of what President Theodore Roosevelt, once noted, "The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight." Of course there are varying levels of ability, and some may not be able to "pull their weight," but Christians should be willing to help those in need [6]

Jurisdiction

Let's begin with Director Aguirre's words highlighted in red: 

Citizenship is, by definition, a condition of allegiance to, and participation in, a governmental jurisdiction

In order to become a Christian, you must recognize that you are a citizen of a governmental jurisdiction. "Jurisdiction" comes from two Latin words, juris, "law," and dictio, "pronounce," as in, "make a binding legal pronouncement." In the first edition of Webster's dictionary (1828), we read:
"Jurisdiction, in its most general sense, is the power to make, declare or apply the law. [The] power of governing or legislating. The power or right of exercising authority."

The word "jurisdiction" has two meanings. As used here, the Director speaks of a political entity, like a "State." To quote a more recent law dictionary:

3: the limits or territory within which authority may be exercised
Example: no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State -- U.S. Constitution art. IV
(called also territorial jurisdiction)

Christianity isn't limited to any physical or geographical boundaries. Every human being is always within the jurisdiction of God's Kingdom. God boldly enters the jurisdiction of every political entity and sets up a rival jurisdiction.

"Jurisdiction" also means the authority to govern or legislate:

2: the authority (as of a state) to govern or legislate
Example: the trade bill was within the Ways and Means committee's jurisdiction
Example: whether a foreign state shall be subject to the jurisdiction of another

broadly
: the power or right to exercise authority
Example: the department of consumer affairs has jurisdiction over such complaints

An 1856 Law Dictionary defines it as:

A power constitutionally conferred upon a judge or magistrate, to take cognizance of, and decide causes according to law, and to carry his sentence into execution.

God is a Judge. God is also a Legislator. God is also a King. God has jurisdiction over all three branches of government.

Isaiah 33:22
The LORD is our Judge, The LORD is our Lawgiver, The LORD is our King; He will save us.

God has authority to write a law and carry it out, and if someone brings a lawsuit against God, God acts as Judge in the case. God writes a law, and if someone disobeys the law, God acts as Judge in the case and also carries out the sentence. God has total jurisdiction over all the earth.

All subordinate jurisdictions -- all nations, all states, all provinces, all counties, all cities -- have a duty to acknowledge the higher jurisdiction of God and His cosmic nation-state (polis. Individuals have an obligation to acknowledge God as the Sovereign, and nations have the same obligation.

James Madison, "the Father of the Constitution," acknowledged God's sovereignty back in the days when the Supreme Court still acknowledged that America was a Christian nation. On July 9th, 1812, he observed the request of Congress to proclaim a day of prayer and fasting during the War of 1812:

I do therefore recommend the third Thursday in August next as a convenient day to be set apart for the devout purposes of rendering the Sovereign of the Universe and the Benefactor of Mankind the public homage due to His holy attributes; of acknowledging the transgressions which might justly provoke the manifestations of His divine displeasure; of seeking His merciful forgiveness and His assistance in the great duties of repentance and amendment, and especially of offering fervent supplications that in the present season of calamity and war He would take the American people under His peculiar care and protection; that He would guide their public councils, animate their patriotism, and bestow His blessing on their arms; that He would inspire all nations with a love of justice and of concord and with a reverence for the unerring precept of our holy religion to do to others as they would require that others should do to them; and, finally, that, turning the hearts of our enemies from the violence and injustice which sway their councils against us, He would hasten a restoration of the blessings of peace. Given at Washington, the 9th day of July, A. D. 1812. [SEAL.]
JAMES MADISON.

What James Madison did for America as a nation, to perpetuate America's existence as a Christian nation, every individual who wants to become a Christian must do, and make the same proclamation.

Extradition

Consider the concept of "extradition." Article IV of the U.S. Constitution states:

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

This is "extradition," which is defined as:

the surrender of an accused, usually under the provisions of a treaty or statute by one sovereign (as a state or nation) to another that has jurisdiction to try the accused and that has demanded his or her return

If you are convicted of treason you can be executed, and if you're convicted of a felon, you lose many rights of citizenship.

But if you commit a felony and flee to a nation that does not recognize the jurisdiction of Washington, D.C., and will not extradite you back to the U.S., you will have gotten away with it. The police can arrest you only where they have jurisdiction or a treaty of extradition.

Every single person who has ever lived is going to be extradited to God's Jurisdiction to stand trial. It doesn't matter if you live in an atheistic jurisdiction that does not acknowledge God and has no extradition treaty with Him. If you are guilty of evading the draft, you can flee the jurisdiction and go to Canada, where U.S. authorities have no jurisdiction.

But no matter where you go, God claims jurisdiction. You cannot escape "the long arm of the Law" when it comes to God's Law.

God has jurisdiction everywhere. On the other hand, nobody, no nation, no executive, no judge, no legislature, has jurisdiction unless God gives it to them.

Now let's consider the six other concepts important to a "citizen" as listed by Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Eduardo Aguirre:

  1. Allegiance and loyalty
  2. participation, commitment, willingness to serve; "pull your own weight"
  3. enter into a covenant
  4. bear arms (apologetics)
  5. constitution and laws
  6. pulling the weight of others, helping the needy

All of these are part of being a good citizen of America, and they are part of being a citizen of heaven as well. In order to become a Christian, therefore, you must be willing to assume all these duties. When you "sign up," you sign up for all these duties. If you don't want to play ball, don't sign up. If you refuse to play ball, don't call yourself a member of the team.

But if you're willing to play ball, and willing to show up for practice as well as the big game, that's a good sign you're a Christian. Because if you were unwilling to play ball, and unwilling to follow the Coach, you would not have signed up for the team. And the first thing to realize is that the only people who voluntarily sign up to play ball are those who have been saved. This is explained in the next part:

Regeneration

(Isaiah 58:7) Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

(Acts 2:45) And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

 


A Guide to Naturalization

A Guide to Naturalization (M-476) provides information on the benefits and responsibilities of citizenship, an overview of the naturalization process, and eligibility requirements.


Oath of Allegiance


Immigration Laws: Sec. 312.2 Knowledge of history and government of the United States.

There are many benefits to becoming a Christian. But you should not take the oath to enter into a covenant and become a Christian just to get the benefits. Your oath does not list all the benefits of being a Christian. You should become a Christian simply because you ought to. Becoming a Christian is the right thing to do even if there are no benefits. You ought to become a Christian even if there are no blessings, no rewards, nothing promised for you after you die. You ought to become a Christian simply because it's the right thing to do. Jesus said,

So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
(Luke 17:10)