Some time ago a friend asked me to write an article about the minimum a person must know and believe to become a Christian. I agreed, thinking, “That should not take too long.” But the more I thought about it the more difficult it has become, it took a long blog to explain the minimum a person needs to know to become Christian. The following is a summary of the blog, the details are below.
Summary:
To become Christian one must know they are not Christian and that they want to become Christian.
Simply put, it means people understand they are not Christian, and that Jesus gives away the right to become Christian, and when they accept his gift and commit the rest of their life to him they become Christian.
People become Christian because they want to become Christian. Becoming Christian means committing all you are to all you know about Jesus’ death for you, and then spending the rest of your life learning about, working for, and enjoying God. It doesn’t get any better than that!
The details:
Before getting to the answer to the question we need a working definition of a Christian for this article:
To be Christian means having a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
That definition is not exhaustive, but it sets the tone for the balance of this presentation.
The request suggests that it’s beneficial to be a Christian. The question also implies that people are not born Christian they must become Christian.
Therefore, as a basis for answering the question, it is first necessary to establish why people are not born Christian. Christianity is a relationship between God and man as defined and developed in and through the Bible. The Bible says that God created heaven and earth and people. It’s beyond the scope of the article to discuss the physics of how, when, and where that happened, the Bible states it as fact, so in this article, we’ll accept God as creator.
God populated the earth with plants and animals and then he created a race of beings in his image that he could love and that would love him in return. He wanted a relationship with his created beings. The Bible says God looked at his creation and said it was good.
God wanted a love relationship with his created humans and love requires a choice. Without a choice man would be a robot, and not a free being capable of love. The choice God set up for Adam and Eve was for them to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God’s rule was, the day that they ate from that tree they would die. Die was a foreign term and concept for Adam and Eve because they had never seen anything die, there was no death pattern in God’s creation – yet.
Note: death means there is a separation. When we die, our souls separate from our bodies, the body ceases to exist and the Bible says the soul continues living. Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree and immediately they were separated from God’s friendly fellowship.
They watched their first death when God killed an animal so they could wear its skin.
Not only were Adam and Eve separated from God, all their children were born separated from God. The result of pushing back against God, not obeying, and not loving means separation from God, forever.
The Good News is that story doesn’t end in the Garden of Eden! God loved his people but there was a problem, they had sinned (pushed back) and that caused a separation between them. The wages of sin is death (eternal separation) every person has their own acts of pushback so everyone is separated from God with a death sentence.
God had an understandable dilemma – he had set the rules, the rules were broken, his created humans were separated from him forever, but he still loved them and wanted a relationship with them.
God created more detailed laws and sacrifices to allow his creation to love him, but each time they rebelled. These rules and covenants were not a trial and error operation with God, rather they were established to show us that we cannot be good enough to earn back what Adam and Eve lost. Adam and Eve’s choice put us all on God’s death row and no amount of good behavior can free us from our death sentence.
The GOOD NEWS is that God had a plan. When God had finished demonstrating his point through laws, rules, covenants, and dispensations he executed his master plan. God sent his son Jesus to earth to demonstrate the Father’s love. Because of his love for his creation, Jesus died (for us) he paid for a debt he didn’t owe, because we have a debt we cannot pay and still live with God.
God accepted Jesus’ death as payment for all the pushback of all humans for all time. Jesus’s death satisfied God’s justice (the wages of sin is death), and now there is no sin issue between God and man, that debt is paid, and God raised Jesus from the dead to prove his satisfaction with the payment.
So, here’s what we’ve established so far:
· We are born separated from God.
· God sent Jesus to earth to pay our death sentence and God raised Jesus from the dead.to prove God’s satisfaction with Jesus’ payment
· Because of Jesus’ death for us, we have the opportunity to be right with God – righteous.
Now we can build on that background to develop an answer to the question about what is the minimum a person must know and do to become Christian.
It seems to me there must be two separate answers to the question, one for people that know about Jesus and one for those that don’t.
First, we’ll answer the question for those that know about Jesus. The problem is we are all born separated from God and our highest asset is to be put right with God again, to be righteous in his eyes. God has paid our death sentence through Jesus and now God asks us to believe him and accept his son. If we do he’ll declare us righteous (to be his children and to be in a right relationship with him).
In my mind, there are three Bible verses that give direction about the minimum people that know about Jesus to become Christian. I’ll quote two here and the third at the end of this section.
Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Anyone that wants to become Christian must understand there is a God, they are separated from God, and there is a free pass to come to God.
It’s impossible to tell the whole story of God’s plans for people and Jesus without quoting the whole New Testament. Therefore, I’ve selected some verses that describe God’s plan through Jesus. These verses are given as a basis for thought, everyone must decide if they accept Jesus in their own mind and heart.
Jesus (God’s son) is the only way to obtain a right standing before God.
1Jn 2:23 NLT Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Acts 4:12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Joh 14:6 Jesus told him [Thomas], “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.
John 10:7 so He explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.
John 10.9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through Me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.
Eternal life is one of the benefits of being Christian, and it comes through Jesus.
1Jn 5:9-12 NLT Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about His Son. (10) All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about His Son. (11) And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (12) Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
People are made right with God through Jesus and only him.
2Co 5:21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Being made right with God is a gift of God, not the result of our good deeds.
2Co 5:17-18 NLT This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (18) And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.
Eph 2:8-10 NET. For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; (9) it is not from works, so that no one can boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.
Jesus died in our place!
1Co 15:3-4 NET. For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received — that Christ died for our sins acording to the scriptures (4) and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures,
1 Peter 3:18 (ESV) 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
Rom 5:6 NLT When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
We become right with God by accepting Jesus’ payment for us – accepting it by faith, and then living out our decision.
Rom 5:1-2 NLT Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. (2) Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
Joh 3:14-15 ESV And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, (15) that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
Act 13:38-39 NLT “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this Man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. (39) Everyone who believes in Him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do.
Joh 3:16-17 ESV “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Joh 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
Joh 1:10-13 NLT He came into the very world He created, but the world didn’t recognize Him. (11) He came to His own people, and even they rejected Him. (12) But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. (13) They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 11:25-26 (ESV) 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Hebrews 7:25 ESV 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
The third verse about the minimum a Jesus follower must do and believe to be Christian is this:
Rom 10:9-10 NLT If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
So, let’s summarize to this point:
· We are born into this life separated from God
· Jesus died on the cross to remove the separation between God and man
· We can be reunited with God by accepting (believing) that God is satisfied with Jesus’ death as payment for our separation
The original question of this article was what is the minimum a person must know and believe to become Christian, here is a recap:
First, they must know (believe) that God exists
Second, they must have some understanding that they are separated from God, and that they are not Christian
Third, they must have some understanding that Jesus, God’s son, came to earth and died to remove the separation between God and man and that he became alive again (resurrected)
Fourth, they must accept Jesus’ payment for them and commit their lives to him
Fifth, they must at some point in their life tell others of their trust in Jesus
Sixth, their commitment to Jesus will make a difference in their lives
That sounds complicated, but it really isn’t. Simply put, it means they understand they are not Christian, and that Jesus gives away the right to become Christian, and when they accept his gift and commit the rest of their life to him they become Christian.
To become Christian one must know they are not Christian and that they want to become Christian.
Becoming Christian is a simple transaction but the implications are life-changing and eternal. Below the surface of becoming Christian, it means they trust Jesus’ death to pay their death sentence and to put them in right relationship with God. It means they dedicate their lives to the abundance, peace, and perfection Jesus offers.
It means there is a lifetime of learning ahead of them but they don’t need to have a lifetime of learning to get started.
Here is a list of some (just a few) of the things that a new Christian might not know, but will learn over their lifetime:
Baptism – is a visible act of pledging a good conscience to God (1 Peter 3.21)
Holy Spirit – when they became a Christian they were given the Holy Spirit as a seal and down payment of their inheritance from God.
Eph 1:13-14 NET. And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation) — when you believed in Christ — you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, (14) who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
Joh 16:7 NLT But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send Him to you.
The Bible is God’s word for our instruction
2Pe 1:18-21 NET. When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. (19) Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (20) Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, (21) for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
2Ti 3:16-17 NET. Every scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (17) that the person dedicated to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.
Jesus lived a sinless life – he didn’t have to die for his own sin (if he had his own sin he could not be savior)
Heb 4:15 NLT This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin.
Isa 53:9 NLT He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man’s grave.
1Pe 2:22 NLT He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.
Joh 8:46 NLT Which of you can truthfully accuse Me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe Me?
2Co 5:21 NLT For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
1Jn 3:5 NLT And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him.
They will discover they have peace with God.
Rom 5:1-2 NET. Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory.
They will discover they also have the peace of God.
Col 3:15 ESV And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Php 4:7 ESV And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
They will discover how much God loves them.
Rom 5:8-9 NLT But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (9) And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.
1Jn 4:9-10 NLT God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. (10) This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Joh 3:16 NLT “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
In summary, people don’t need to know much to become Christian. But, if they continue ‘not knowing much’ or continue not believing the Bible, or continue degrading God, or defame Jesus, then we may question if they put any trust and faith in Jesus. If they don’t have their trust in Jesus then they cannot be Christian.
***
Now to answer the question about becoming ‘Christian’ if you’ve never heard about Jesus. Obviously, people that have never heard of Jesus can’t be Christian in the same sense as one who has a Bible and knows Jesus.
The only place I know in the Bible that specifically talks about people that don’t know about Jesus is:
Rom 1:20 NLT For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
From that verse, we can conclude that all of mankind (past, present, and future) has no excuse for not knowing God.
A quote from the Life Application Bible helps develop the ideas in this verse [emphases (some paragraphs underline, bold) are mine]:
Romans 1:18-20
In these verses, Paul answers a common objection to belief in God:
How could a loving God send anyone to hell, especially someone who has never heard about Christ?
In fact, says Paul, God has revealed himself plainly in the creation to all people. And yet people reject even this basic knowledge of God.
Also, all people have an inner sense of what God requires, but they choose not to live up to it. Put another way, people’s moral standards are always better than their behavior. If people suppress God’s truth in order to live their own way, they have no excuse. They know the truth, and they will have to endure the consequences of ignoring it.
Some people wonder why we need missionaries if people can know about God through nature (the creation). The answer:
(1) Although people know that God exists, their wickedness blinds them to the truth. Missionaries sensitively expose their sin and point them to Christ.
(2) Although people may believe there is a God, they refuse to commit themselves to him. Missionaries help persuade them by sharing God’s Word and by pointing out the dangerous consequences of their actions.
(3) Missionaries help the church obey the great commission of our Lord (Mat_28:19-20).
(4) Most important, although nature reveals God, people need to be told about Jesus and how, through him, they can have a personal relationship with God.
Knowing that God exists is not enough. People must learn that God is loving and that he sent his Son to demonstrate his love for us (Rom_5:8). They must be shown how to accept God’s forgiveness of their sins. (See also Rom_10:14-15.)
Romans 1:20
What kind of God does nature reveal? Nature shows us a God of
· might,
· intelligence,
· and intricate detail;
· a God of order and beauty;
· a God who controls powerful forces.
That is general revelation.
Through special revelation (the Bible and the coming of Jesus), we learn about
· God’s love and forgiveness and
· the promise of eternal life.
God has graciously given us many sources that we might come to believe in him.
God reveals his divine nature and personal qualities through creation, even though creation’s testimony has been distorted by the Fall.
Adam’s sin resulted in a divine curse upon the whole natural order (Gen_3:17-19); thorns and thistles were an immediate result, and natural disasters have been common from Adam’s day to ours. In Rom_8:19-21, Paul says that nature itself is eagerly awaiting its own redemption from the effects of sin (see Rev_22:3).
For clarity on this subject, here is another commentary from Albert Barnes:
Romans 1:20
For the invisible things of him – The expression “his invisible things” refers to those things which cannot be perceived by the senses. It does not imply that there are any things pertaining to the divine character which may be seen by the eye; but that there are things which may be known of him, though not discoverable by the eye.
We judge of the objects around us by the senses, the sight, the touch, the ear, etc. Paul affirms, that though we cannot judge thus of God, yet there is a way by which we may come to the knowledge of him.
What he means by the invisible things of God he specifies at the close of the verse, “his eternal power and Godhead.” The affirmation extends only to that; and the argument implies that that was enough to leave them without any excuse for their sins.
From the creation of the world – The word “creation” may either mean the “act” of creating, or more commonly it means “the thing created,” the world, the universe. In this sense it is commonly used in the New Testament;
compare Mar_10:6; Mar_13:19; Mar_16:5; Rom_1:25; 2Co_5:17; Gal_6:15; Col_1:15, Col_1:23; Heb_4:13; Heb_9:11; 1Pe_2:13; 2Pe_3:4; Rev_3:14.
The word “from” may mean “since,” or it may denote “by means of.” And the expression here may denote that, as an historical fact, God “has been” “known” since the act of creation; or it may denote that he is known “by means of” the material universe which he has formed. The latter is doubtless the true meaning. For,
(1) This is the common meaning of the word “creation;” and,
(2) This accords with the design of the argument.
It is not to state an historical fact, but to show that they had the means of knowing their duty within their reach, and were without excuse. Those means were in the wisdom, power, and glory of the universe, by which they were surrounded.
Are clearly seen – Are made manifest; or may be perceived. The word used here does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament.
Being understood – His perfections may be investigated, and comprehended by means of his works. They are the evidences submitted to our intellects, by which we may arrive at the true knowledge of God.
Things that are made – By his works; compare Heb_11:3.
Heb 11:3 NLT By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
This means, not by the original “act” of creation, but by the continual operations of God in his Providence, by his doings, ποιήμασιν poiēmasin, by what he is continually producing and accomplishing in the displays of his power and goodness in the heavens and the earth.
What they were capable of understanding, he immediately adds, and shows that he did not intend to affirm that everything could be known of God by his works; but so much as to free them from excuse for their sins.
His eternal power – Here are two things implied.
(1) That the universe contains an exhibition of his power, or a display of that attribute which we call “omnipotence;” and,
(2) That this power has existed from eternity, and of course implies an eternal existence in God.
It does not mean that this power has been exerted or put forth from eternity, for the very idea of creation supposes that it had not, but that there is proof, in the works of creation, of power which must have existed from eternity, or have belonged to an eternal being.
The proof of this was clear, even to the pagan, with their imperfect views of creation and of astronomy; compare Psa_19:1-14. The majesty and grandeur of the heavens would strike their eye, and be full demonstration that they were the work of an infinitely great and glorious God.
But to us, under the full blaze of modern science, with our knowledge of the magnitude, and distances, and revolutions of the heavenly bodies, the proof of this power is much more grand and impressive. We may apply the remark of the apostle to the present state of the science, and his language will cover all the ground, and the proof to human view is continually rising of the amazing power of God, by every new discovery in science, and especially in astronomy.
Those who wish to see this object presented in a most impressive view, may find it done in Chalmer’s Astronomical Discourses, and in Dick’s Christian Philosopher. Equally clear is the proof that this power must have been eternal. If it had not always existed, it could in no way have been produced.
But it is not to be supposed that it was always exerted, any more than it is that God now puts forth all the power that he can, or than that we constantly put forth all the power which we possess. God’s power was called forth at the creation.
He showed his omnipotence; and gave, by that one great act, eternal demonstration that he was almighty; and we may survey the proof of that, as clearly as if we had seen the operation of his hand there. The proof is not weakened because we do not see the process of creation constantly going on. It is rather augmented by the fact that he sustains all things, and controls continually the vast masses of matter in the material worlds.
Godhead – His deity; divinity; divine nature, or essence. The word is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. Its meaning cannot therefore be fixed by any parallel passages.
It proves the truth that the supremacy, or supreme divinity of God, was exhibited in the works of creation, or that he was exalted above all creatures and things.
It would not be proper, however, to press this word as implying that all that we know of God by revelation was known to the pagan; but that so much was known as to show
· his supremacy;
· his right to their homage; and of course
· the folly and wickedness of idolatry.
This is all that the argument of the apostle demands, and, of course, on this principle the expression is to be interpreted.
So that they are without excuse – God has given them so clear evidence of his existence and claims, that they have no excuse for their idolatry, and for hindering the truth by their iniquity.
It is implied here that in order that people should be responsible,
· they should have the means of knowledge; and
· that he does not judge them when their ignorance is involuntary, and
· the means of knowing the truth have not been communicated.
But where people have these means within their reach, and will not avail themselves of them, all excuse is taken away.
This was the case with the Gentile world. They had the means of knowing so much of God, as to show the folly of worshipping dumb idols; compare Isa_44:8-10. They had also traditions respecting his perfections; and they could not plead for their crimes and folly that they had no means of knowing him. If this was true of the pagan world then, how much more is it true of the world now?
And especially how true and fearful is this, respecting that great multitude in Christian lands
· who have the Bible, and who never read it;
· who are within the reach of the sanctuary, and never enter it;
· who are admonished by friends, and by the providences of God, and who regard it not; and
· who look upon the heavens, and even yet see no proof of the eternal power and Godhead of him who made them all!
Nay, there are those who are apprized of the discoveries of modern astronomy, and
· who yet do not seem to reflect that all these glories are proof of the existence of an eternal God; and
· who live in ignorance of religion as really as the pagan, and
· in crimes as decided and malignant as disgraced the darkest ages of the world.
For such there is no excuse, or shadow of excuse, to be offered in the day of doom. And there is no fact more melancholy in our history, and no one thing that more proves the stupidity of people, than this sad forgetfulness of Him that made the heavens, even amid all the wonders and glories that have come fresh from the hand of God, and that everywhere speak his praise.
Summary: People become Christian because they want to become Christian. Becoming Christian means committing all you are to all you know about Jesus’ death for you, and then spending the rest of your life learning about, working for, and enjoying God.
Everyone that has ever lived has seen God’s creation and those that don’t acknowledge his power and creation by worshipping him find themselves separated from God and without excuse.
Well-stated, good doctor!