When Do You Become A Christian? 1 Corinthians 13

When Do You Become A Christian? 1 Corinthians 13 Just when do you become a Christian? For some the answer is easy. They remember the exact day and time. Indeed, some write down the date in their Bibles the moment they met Jesus and their heart was changed the instant it all became personal. They can tell you where they were, and what they were doing. They can describe the precise circumstances of their encounter with Christ. It was a radical change, going 90 miles an hour in a self serving direction, then suddenly turning 180 degrees and going 90 miles an hour for God. No guesswork is needed; they know exactly when their heart was changed. In the Bible, the apostle Paul would be someone like this. You can read about his conversion in the Bible s Book of Acts, chapter 9. For others, however, the answer is more difficult. They were born to Christian parents parents who didn t just call themselves Christians, but who daily lived and breathed Christ. They went to Christian schools where they were surrounded by Christian friends, teachers, administrators, and coaches. They spent every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday evening at Church among the faithful. In short, they never knew life without Jesus Christ being at the center of it. In the Bible, Timothy would be someone like this (described in 2 Timothy 1). And then there are those who seem to stumble into the Christian faith quite by accident. They weren t raised Christians, and they never considered themselves to be particularly religious, but through the years they met Manuscript By Win Green 1

Christian friends who softened their hearts to Christ. At school they had the good fortune to study under a couple of Christian teachers who made a big impression. They played soccer or softball under a Christian coach who encouraged them like no other, and even dated a Christian or two in High School who challenged them to clarify and articulate their beliefs. It would be hard to describe exactly when, but over time the Christian radio station became a regular stop on their radio dial, the books they bought began to include Christian titles, and prayer became a more or less regular activity while driving to and from work. After a lengthy process they could not deny that Jesus Christ had take 1 st place in their hearts, and that their hearts were indeed changed forever. So just when does one become a Christian? This is an important question for the 22 individuals who have come forward to commit themselves to Christ over the past eight months here at ECC. It s an equally important question for those of you who have never come forward to make such a commitment. And it s an important question to those who are raising children and grandchildren, or who have husbands or wives outside the Faith, or who are praying for friends or coworkers to receive Christ. Just when does one become a Christian? Not How does one become a Christian. That s easy. The answer to "how?" is simply to TURN! Turn from your sins and turn to Christ. Nor am I asking where one becomes a Christian. You can become a Christian anywhere at home, in the church, at work. I even heard a moving testimony of a person who came to Christ while on the toilet. No the question today is when. When does one become a Christian? Manuscript By Win Green 2

Actually, there are a number of different answers depending on whom you talk to. For example, the Protestant would say that a person becomes a Christian the moment they believe the instant they put their trust in Christ. The Catholic, however, would say a person becomes a Christian when they start acting like a Christian. There are still others who say that one becomes a Christian when they fall in love with Christ when it all becomes personal, and the heart of God permanently changes their hearts. Now let me take a moment to review each of these positions because it s important to know where different people are coming from. We can t be patient with one another within the Christian family if we don t understand where different Christians are coming from. I guarantee you that Catholic thought is just as sound scripturally as is Protestant thought. We can agree to disagree, but we don t have to do it disagreeably. So let s review the different ideas of when a person becomes a Christian. I. The Protestant: By Faith First the Protestants the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and Pentecostals: The Protestants maintain that a person becomes a Christian the moment they put their faith in Jesus Christ the instant they believe. Protestants maintain that the Biblical formula for salvation is simple: repent and believe. Repent means to turn away from our sins, and believe means to put the full weight of Manuscript By Win Green 3

our trust in Jesus power to forgive and restore. understanding comes straight from Scripture: This Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! (Acts 16:31) The most well know verse in the entire Bible is the one that affirms this very promise that salvation comes through belief. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life! (John 3:16) Therefore, a protestant believes that a person is a Christian the instant they believe in Jesus power to save them. It has nothing to do with good or bad behavior, or with just how religious a person is. One becomes a Christian WHEN one puts Jesus Christ in the driver s seat of their life. The most famous illustration of this is witnessed on the occasion of Jesus crucifixion. We all remember that Jesus was crucified with two other men at Cavalry, who were both criminals justly condemned for their crimes. One of them cursed Jesus as they hung together. But the other took a leap of faith and turned to Jesus saying, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. To which Jesus answered, Truly I say to you, this day you will be with me in paradise. (Luke) This criminal had done nothing to deserve a heavenly reward. Indeed, he Manuscript By Win Green 4

himself admitted that he was executed justly, which means he committed a crime deserving capital punishment murder, rape, child molestation. But the moment he opened his heart to Christ by FAITH and entrusted his soul to God, Jesus assured him that the reward of a Christian was his. When do you become a Christian? The Protestant believes, like the criminal who hung beside Jesus, that it is the moment you put your faith in Christ. II. The Catholic: By Faith & Works: The Catholic, however, would say that the Protestant answer is incomplete. They would point out that the devil himself believes that Jesus was and is the Son of God, and would maintain that they key difference between the devil and the Christian is that the Christian follows Christ, and the devil follows himself. The Catholic considers belief to be only half the equation. They would point out that Faith alone, if it is not reflected in deeds is useless. Here they note the Scripture that says: Faith by itself, if it has not works, is dead. (James 2:17) For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has said that Faith and works must be expressed together. Faith without works is always in danger of falling into mere sentiment, and works without faith can become a slavish legalism. For the Catholic, a person becomes a Christian WHEN their faith and works serve together in harmony. The Catholic is Manuscript By Win Green 5

quick to warn us that we will all be judged, not according to our faith, but according to our deeds, for as the Scripture says: I (the Lord) will give to each of you as your works deserve. (Rev. 2:23) God will render to every man according to his works. (Romans 2:6) God will repay every man for what he has done. (Matthew 16:27) An illustration from the Bible of what we are talking about is the rich young man who came before Jesus asking how to win eternal life. They young man had enough faith in Jesus to fall before Him on his face and call Him master which, by the way, is more faith than a lot of so called Christians ever demonstrate. He trusted Jesus to tell him the truth about the way to salvation. But when Jesus told the young man that the way to salvation was not just a belief but also an action to sell all his possessions and to follow Him that was a step that the young man was unwilling to take and he walked away. It is the only instance I can think of where Jesus offers salvation to an individual, and the person refuses. The rich young man was willing to believe in Jesus, but he wasn t willing to act on that belief, and he never did become a follower of Christ a Christian. The Catholic believes that actions speak louder than anything else, and they point to the Scripture that says: Manuscript By Win Green 6

He who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20) In other words, if you don t act in behalf of the neighbor you see, then you probably don t believe in the God you can t see. For the Catholic, a person becomes a Christian WHEN their Faith and their works are in harmony with Christ. III. The Way of the Heart: But there is still a third way of understanding just WHEN a person becomes a Christian what St. Paul describes as a still more excellent way. It is the way of the heart. Experience tells us that it is possible to have all the faith God can give, but still have neither love nor joy in their heart. This is one of the big reasons many have grown to hate organized religion because it represents to them all faith but no heart. At almost every wedding I attend the bride and groom asks that St. Paul s ode to love be read from 1 Corinthians 13. In it we read these words: If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. (1 Cor. 13:2) Manuscript By Win Green 7

Here St. Paul says that it is possible to have all faith and yet still miss the heart of the Christian Gospel. For if you have faith but not love, then you are nothing. Faith without love is not a thing of God, but a dry and lifeless creation of religion that saves no one. It is the dogma that rules men s lives without the spirit to bless them. This kind of faith, as St. James tells us, is dead, and needs to be buried. But St. Paul goes on to say: If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3) Here St. Paul cautions that we can do great works that we can be generous, give away all that we have for the sake of others and God s Kingdom. But if there is no love in it, we gain nothing. Good deeds without a good heart mean nothing. Indeed, Mother Teresa, just before she died reminded us that it is small things done with great love that change the world. St. Paul expressed this same idea when he wrote: What matters is Faith expressed in love. (Galatians 5) We can have the Faith of the Protestants and the pious good deeds of the Catholics, but if there is no love, of what good are they? The still more excellent way says that we become Christians WHEN we fall in love with Christ, for when we fall in love with Him it is not only easy to believe, Manuscript By Win Green 8

but we are compelled to act. What s more our hearts overflow for they are filled with the fruits of God s Spirit. The Bible declares that those in love with Christ are infused with nine gifts of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and selfcontrol. It is not a dull and dry experience of religion; it is instead a love affair. Remember how alive you were, and how sweet the world was when you fell in love with your husband or wife. You possessed boundless energy, and the creative juices just flowed. You did not have to guess just when you fell in love. The experience was unmistakable. There was once a Lawyer who approached Jesus with a question. He asked, Teacher, what is the greatest commandment of all? Jesus response was this, Love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind, soul, and strength. Notice, what Jesus didn t say. He didn t say, Believe God with all your heart. Nor did He say, Serve God with all your heart. Jesus answer to the question What is God s greatest commandment? was quite specific. He said, LOVE God with all your heart. This is what God seeks more than anything else that we love Him. It is the one thing in the entire world that God can t or won t do He can t or won t make us love Him. He leaves that for us to decide. IV. The Story of John Wesley and Me: So WHEN do you become a Christian? Well, if you are a Protestant it is the moment you believe when you believe the power of Jesus to turn you away from your sins and toward a new life in Christ. Manuscript By Win Green 9

If you are a Catholic, it s when your faith and your deeds are both rooted in Christ when the good that you do for others reflects your commitment to the Lord. And if your someone like John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, it is a still more excellent way it is the moment when your heart falls in love with Jesus Christ. The history of the Methodist movement is rooted in a man named John Wesley who had trouble naming just WHEN he became a Christian. He was born in 1703 the son of a Faithful Church of England pastor, attended Oxford University and studied divinity, preached all over England, and served as a missionary in Georgia. But even with this background, still he had no joy, no assurance, and no 1 st hand experience of God in his own heart. He had the form of religion, but not its power. Like the Pharisees of old, Wesley had the message of the Gospel in his mind, but not its spirit in his heart. At 35 years old Wesley decided to leave England to become a missionary in Georgia, but while crossing the Atlantic Ocean a terrible storm arose tossing his little ship like a cork upon the sea. Wesley assumed he would die with the rest of the ship s company, and he was terrified. It was there he confirmed that his religion was all in his head and not in his heart. There were, however some German Christians on board who calmly sang Hymns to God throughout the storm. They were not afraid to die, not even the children, and Wesley knew that they had something in their heart that He didn t. It took John Wesley two more years of hard struggle to let go of all his preconceived notions of what a Christian are. He had to let go of the idea that he needed to have all the right answers to know God. Manuscript By Win Green 10

He had to let go of the standard of moral perfection to be loved by God. He had to let go of all his religious beliefs and bias enough to allow Jesus to enter his heart so that John Wesley could fall in love with Him, and change his heart forever. When I was a boy I believed in God. Of course I also believed in the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny, and monsters under the bed. When I was in High School and College I did a number of different service projects to help the disadvantaged and poor. But it wasn t until 1981, when I was 25 years old that I fell in love with Jesus Christ. It was then that His hand touched my heart and I felt for myself just how good He really was. It was then that His voice spoke to me, and I knew just how sweet His spirit really was. It was then that the love of His heart poured into mine, and it all became very very personal, powerful, and purposed. It was when I know I became a Christian, saved from my sins, freed from my self-centeredness, and fully alive to the life of Christ. The Prophet Ezekiel described my experience perfectly when he wrote: A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heat of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26-27) Manuscript By Win Green 11

This is what the people of the world are craving a genuine experience of God s heart touching theirs. The person who can t pay their rent or mortgage isn t interested in my opinion on spiritual matters, he/she is yearning for new hope for their heart. The parents who tragically lost their child isn t interested in a new way of thinking spiritually, they are desperate for God above to touch their broken hearts. They man or woman who doesn t have a job isn t interested in a new world view they don t long for a religion of the head, they burn for fresh fire from heaven for their hearts. The victims of abuse child abuse, spouse abuse, or some abusive boss aren t interested in the most recent study done on the science of abuse they want healing for their hearts that can only come from above. Those who are lost, empty, and lonely don t want new opinions on the latest spiritual scholarship, they are desperate for God almighty to fill the void and sooth the ache at the center of their hearts. When does one become a Christian? It s simple. It s when your heart is touched by the heart of God, and where their was once doubt there is now faith, and where they was once despair there is not hope, and where their was once indifference there is not love. Manuscript By Win Green 12