If someone said to you they want to become a Christian

[Wrg1405]

If someone asked you that question but said they didn't know how to how would you respond, how would you lead them?

Given the following

Romans 10:9-13
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

In the church the sinners prayer says something along the lines of "I know I'm a sinner and I confess that"

Yet if you read when Jesus said that he had to go back to heaven because the Holy Spirit must come to convict the world of its sin, that sin being unbelief in him.

Can anyone lead me to bible verses that say you have to say I'm sorry for my sins in order to become a Christian. When I say sins I mean works of the flesh and not unbelief in Jesus.

I want to put aside the following

1 John 1:9-10
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Not because I think it's wrong, to me it's more relational with God. If I sinned now and died 30s later before confession I'm still think I'm forgiven.

So your sat with someone who asks the question that I have mentioned above.

How would you lead them?

 

[Eugene]

Can anyone lead me to bible verses that say you have to say I'm sorry for my sins in order to become a Christian.

No I cannot.
The following is the result of many wartime foxhole conversions.
Act 2:21 . . . whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? . . .

1 Pet 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
Uh, I was at the end of my rope and everything else failed. Where could I go but to the Lord?

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Can anyone lead me to bible verses that say you have to say I'm sorry for my sins in order to become a Christian. When I say sins I mean works of the flesh and not unbelief in Jesus.

How would you lead them?

"6Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon." (Isaiah 55:6-7 NASB)

"...the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14“I tell you, this man went to his house justified..." (Luke 18:13-14 NASB)

 

[King Dan of Great the 1st]

Someone told me they want to know more about God so i told them to start by reading the NT gospel and scriptures, the scriptures can give more understanding and knowledge than me. Im not a Pastor or nothing.

 

[JohnDB]

Well...
It's the beginning of a mentoring program.

My next question would be "Why?" To find out what they knew and wanted to be the result of a relationship with God.

Then...As a particular result to the answers they gave...WE go from there to the same places we all go.

 

[smaller]

I tell them all the same. Ask Jesus into your heart, believe that happens, and it will happen.

Ultimately it's up to Jesus to show Himself to anyone. And to deal with His Own from there.

All that other hoo haa is just that. Some religious formula that somebody dreamed up. Jesus doesn't adhere to anyone's formula's like some slave boy.

 

[OzSpen]

If someone asked you that question but said they didn't know how to how would you respond, how would you lead them?

Given the following

Romans 10:9-13
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

In the church the sinners prayer says something along the lines of "I know I'm a sinner and I confess that"

Yet if you read when Jesus said that he had to go back to heaven because the Holy Spirit must come to convict the world of its sin, that sin being unbelief in him.

Can anyone lead me to bible verses that say you have to say I'm sorry for my sins in order to become a Christian. When I say sins I mean works of the flesh and not unbelief in Jesus.

I want to put aside the following

1 John 1:9-10
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

Not because I think it's wrong, to me it's more relational with God. If I sinned now and died 30s later before confession I'm still think I'm forgiven.

So your sat with someone who asks the question that I have mentioned above.

How would you lead them?

2 Cor 7:10 (NIV) gives a sequence that is prior to salvation: 'Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death'.

There is a need for contrition (godly sorrow) for one's sin against God that leads to repentance and salvation. There is no point in discussing salvation until we know that from which we have been saved, i.e. sin.

Exposing sin precedes the proclamation of the Gospel and the need for repentance that leads to salvation. However, this exposing sin to bring godly sorrow seems to be missing from many of the Gospel messages I hear in my country.

Exposing the bad news precedes the good news, is my understanding.

Oz

 

[Wrg1405]

2 Cor 7:10 (NIV) gives a sequence that is prior to salvation: 'Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death'.

There is a need for contrition (godly sorrow) for one's sin against God that leads to repentance and salvation. There is no point in discussing salvation until we know that from which we have been saved, i.e. sin.

Exposing sin precedes the proclamation of the Gospel and the need for repentance that leads to salvation. However, this exposing sin to bring godly sorrow seems to be missing from many of the Gospel messages I hear in my country.

Exposing the bad news precedes the good news, is my understanding.

Oz

So what would say one's sin against God is and how this relates to accepting Gods gift of salvation?

 

[OzSpen]

So what would say one's sin against God is and how this relates to accepting Gods gift of salvation?

Romans 1:18-32 (NIV) lays it out clearly. Rom 1:30 (NIV) says all ungodly people are 'God-haters' and their actions demonstrate this.

That's why 'godly sorrow' (2 Cor 7:10 NIV) is needed prior to salvation, the bad news before the good news. If we don't proclaim it this way, people don't know what they are being saved from.

Oz

 

[Wrg1405]

Romans 1:18-32 (NIV) lays it out clearly. Rom 1:30 (NIV) says all ungodly people are 'God-haters' and their actions demonstrate this.

That's why 'godly sorrow' (2 Cor 7:10 NIV) is needed prior to salvation, the bad news before the good news. If we don't proclaim it this way, people don't know what they are being saved from.

Oz

Thanks for replying.

So are you saying that the sin against God is hating God or doing evil things, or the first exacerbates the second?
Off course it does.

Today it seems to be the prayer to become a Christian is a formula prayer that includes "Please forgive me of my sins, but what are those sins? What is it that they are acknowledging?

I think what I'm trying to get at is, does a person who wants to become a Christian (not sure in today's society that means much) but a person who has come to the point who wants to place their trust in Jesus and have him as Lord and saviour and wants to confess that.

Maybe the following may help where I'm coming from

John 16:5-10
The Work of the Holy Spirit
“But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 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. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.

It seems to me that the sin Jesus talks about is unbelief in him. So is the first step of repentance. I refused to believe in you but now I do?

Romans 10:9-11
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the greasy grace camp. So to me the first step is not saying sorry/repenting for the things we have done wrong (works of the flesh) but repenting of unbelief in Jesus then allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us negate the works of the flesh and replace it with his fruit.

 

[OzSpen]

Wrg,

Rom 1:18-32 (NIV) states that one of the sins against God is that people are God-haters. Aren't we all rebel sinners who sin against God's law.

Prov 17:11 (NIV) states, 'Evildoers foster rebellion against God; the messenger of death will be sent against them'.

There you have it. Unbelieving evildoers foster rebellion against God. See also Jer 17:11 (NLT), which is clear about the human problem before God: 'The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?'

Human beings are desperately wicked in thoughts and actions towards God. If you don't believe me, watch the nightly TV news.

Here in Qld we are being confronted by the horrific murder-suicide associated with domestic violence where Theresa Bradford was slain by her ex-husband in front of her 4 children. I'm all for tightening bail laws associated with DV, but that doesn't get to the core of the problem. A secular society will never be able to deal with what causes these things: 'The heart is desperately wicked' towards God and some others.

Oz

 

[smaller]

Thanks for replying.

So are you saying that the sin against God is hating God or doing evil things, or the first exacerbates the second?
Off course it does.

Today it seems to be the prayer to become a Christian is a formula prayer that includes "Please forgive me of my sins, but what are those sins? What is it that they are acknowledging?

I think what I'm trying to get at is, does a person who wants to become a Christian (not sure in today's society that means much) but a person who has come to the point who wants to place their trust in Jesus and have him as Lord and saviour and wants to confess that.

Maybe the following may help where I'm coming from

John 16:5-10
The Work of the Holy Spirit
“But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 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. And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.

It seems to me that the sin Jesus talks about is unbelief in him. So is the first step of repentance. I refused to believe in you but now I do?

Romans 10:9-11
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the greasy grace camp. So to me the first step is not saying sorry/repenting for the things we have done wrong (works of the flesh) but repenting of unbelief in Jesus then allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us negate the works of the flesh and replace it with his fruit.

There are actually quite a lot of lies promoted in the christian sphere's when it comes to sin. Believers and sects often prompt newbies to stop sinning when in fact that is an impossibility. We are supposed to recognize that sin is an inherent condition of the flesh, and a box that we can't work our way out of, thereby finding, by faith, Grace and Mercy in Christ.

When we understand the dire state of sin, we are LESS apt to allow ourselves to be manipulated by it. But in no case does anyone become sinless after belief. That is where the lies flood in on the subject matter.

Paul actually claimed to be the chief of sinners after salvation, 1 Tim. 1:15. Kind of the opposite claim that most christians claim today, and way opposite of what most christian religious leaders claim.

A lot of people who have real experiences with Jesus have come to the end of their rope by the workings of evil/sin in their life. Few need to be reminded of from what they are fleeing.

That's what drove them to Christ to start with. I think the old Billy Graham methods were some of the best, him describing the evil and hopelessness of the world, then bringing it down upon the individual. They all knew it was a fact anyway. Billy just hammered home the fact.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

Believers and sects often prompt newbies to stop sinning when in fact that is an impossibility.

"14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14 NIV)

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?
4So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

9I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sisterc but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?13God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
(1 Corinthians 5:1-2,4-5,9-13 NIV) (Note the non-OSAS in vs.5)​

​

16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16 NIV)

"1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." (1 John 2:1 NIV)

 

[Jethro Bodine]

But in no case does anyone become sinless after belief. That is where the lies flood in on the subject matter.

One of those lies being being that since no Christian will ever be sinless, that makes it so it's okay to rationalize continued, unrepentant sin. Not true according to the passages above.

The grace of God was given to us to live in freedom from sin, not live in it with impunity.

 

[Kidron]

To be accepted by God, you have to have the very righteousness of God as your own.
Once this happens, you are born again, you are saved.
Salvation, is having >having< God's very righteousness as your own.
Grace, is God providing a way for you to have it, using Christ, His Blood, a Cross, a Death, and a Resurrection.
You dont do any of that, and that is why your bible says its a "free gift".
This is why 2nd Corinthians 5:21 is in your New Testament.
It is explaining to you that on the Cross, where God was hanging and bleeding and died, a holy and eternal transaction took place.
He took your sins and He Gave you His righteousness.
Had He not done this FOR YOU, then you would not have the righteousness that He requires you to have to accept you, and you would be unacceptable to Him.
Without God's righteousness becoming yours, you would be on your way to hell, followed by the lake of fire.
So, yes, you are righteous, you have Gods very Righteousness, or you are not saved.
You have God's very righteousness imputed to you as your own, or you are not born again.
This is why your NT tell you that as being born again, as a believer,....... "as Jesus is so are WE on this earth".
You ARE as a Christian exactly as Jesus is, regarding righteousness, or you are unsaved, lost, and currently damned.

 

[Wrg1405]

One of those lies being being that since no Christian will ever be sinless, that makes it so it's okay to rationalize continued, unrepentant sin. Not true according to the passages above.

The grace of God was given to us to live in freedom from sin, not live in it with impunity.

I know this is a big concern of yours and that your are addressing Smallers post.

However I would agree with Smaller in the fact we will not be sinless after giving our life to Jesus.

For me that needs to be dealt with after someone has come to Jesus and not before. To me that is where discipleship and a firm grounding comes in. We are not saved to continue the lifestyle that disregards God but however at times we will. When we do, we come before him and say "Sorry I got it wrong or struggle with this, it's not something I want please help me"

As I say that's post conversion to me.

I'm more concerned about the birthing process. How to be a midwife as such for someone who wants this new birth but doesn't know how to.

I think and maybe I didn't make it clear but if someone asks the question how do I become a Christian, what do I need to do or say then they probably not aware of what you and Smaller have talked about.

Lots of bible verses have been quoted and I've mentioned a couple. I will post them again. Before I do I just want to as the question, to you "What is/are the sin/s that a person needs to confess in order to be saved? Let's put aside post conversation discipleship and mentoring.

In the modern day church it seems to me the sins that need to be confessed are along the lines of works of the flesh.
The model prayer is "Forgive me of my sins" with no explanation of what those sins/sin are.

So given the following

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 16:8-10
And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;

Romans 10:9-13
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Now I come to you and ask the question

"What do I need to do to become a Christian" or rephrase the question.
"I beleive the claims of Jesus but not sure where I go next, I've heard the alter call now what"

Just imagine I'm sat next to you and asked the above, I don't know the bible just heard about Jesus.

 

[Kidron]

I know this is a big concern of yours and that your are addressing Smallers post.

However I would agree with Smaller in the fact we will not be sinless after giving our life to Jesus.

Let me ask you a question that you've never considered....
= Is the Righteousness of God, sinful or sinless?
So, if you have the very righteousness of God, and you do if you are saved..... then what are you..... sinful or righteous?

There is this idea that some have been taught, that you are lost then saved then lost then saved lost then saved then lost....., and your redemption is like a revolving door that keeps bringing you in and out of your relationship with God based on your minute by minute behavior.
That every time you commit a work of the flesh, that you have now become unborn again, and just as lost as you were before you were ever redeemed, until you can remember all your sins or pray some universal confess your sin prayer to cover them all, and then God takes you again.
Well, honestly, This is kinda crazy theology, but, many choose to believe this concept of.... "oppps, i just cussed, or i just chose to watch an "R" rated movie"....so now im lost AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN, so let me confess it and confess it and confess it and confess it, and then im saved again and again and again and again".
However.......This is NOT, salvation.
This is not the plan of salvation.
This is not the Gospel.
This is not the Grace of God.
This is "self righteousness".....and that is.....trying to make yourself right with God, by whatever literal means you have decided you need to keep doing to keep RE-saving yourself by doing it.
And you never take even a minute to think and realize...>"hey, all this that im doing to keep myself saved, or re-save myself, ....none of it could save me before i was SAVED BY THE LORD.....so, why do i think what cant save me before HE DID, ....now can keep me saved after im Saved by HIM".
Hello?
Lights on in there? ???? ?????????

Some who think they can be lost saved lost saved lost saved lost saved lost saved..... are trying to confess their way back to God, others are trying to endure to the end their way there, and some are holding onto their faith like a ball and chain hoping that in the end, if they didnt forget to do it the one day they were hit by a truck and died, they dont have to burn in the end.
And all of these are generally well intentioned believers, who simply do not understand the eternal consequences of the blood atonement when it has been applied to them only ONCE and forever.

 

[Jethro Bodine]

However I would agree with Smaller in the fact we will not be sinless after giving our life to Jesus.

We all know that. That's not in contention.
The danger is using that fact to rationalize staying in a besetting sin.

For me that needs to be dealt with after someone has come to Jesus and not before.

Actually being set free from sin is dealt with after getting saved. But it must be understood BEFORE getting saved that is what will be expected of you. And that is what the free grace/ hyper-grace churches are not telling people. Jesus said that one must weigh the cost before becoming a disciple of his:

"28“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29“Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31“Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32“Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace." (Luke 14:28-32 NASB)

If, for example, someone is not prepared to not be a drunk anymore, or look at pornography, or give up the homosexual lifestyle before they receive Christ's forgiveness, then they really should not approach God for salvation. They aren't ready yet. They will most likely fail if they do not understand first that becoming a Christian means turning away from sin with God's help. But it seems the church is afraid people will not respond to the gospel if you tell them that. Well, so what. The church had been doing that for hundreds of years. Why now should it be a concern that people who don't really want to turn from their sins won't accept the gospel?

 

[OzSpen]

Let me ask you a question that you've never considered....
= Is the Righteousness of God, sinful or sinless?
So, if you have the very righteousness of God, and you do if you are saved..... then what are you..... sinful or righteous?

kidron,

I'm not sure you understand the meaning of Rom 5:1 (NIV), 'Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ'.

We have been 'justified through faith', which means that we have been declared righteous before God and thus have peace before God, the judge. It's a forensic act (like in court). It is not an act by which every Christian becomes sinless.

1 John 1:8-9 (NIV) confirms that when we are justified by faith, we are not declared sinless: 'If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness'.

Christians, after they become believers, need to confess their sins to receive God's forgiveness - to wipe the slate clean, to be pardoned.

Oz

 

[Jethro Bodine]

We are not saved to continue the lifestyle that disregards God but however at times we will. When we do, we come before him and say "Sorry I got it wrong or struggle with this, it's not something I want please help me"

Which is exactly why I posted 1 John 2:1 NIV in my post.
The troubled, failing saint is not to be told he's going to sin anyway, so just accept it and do nothing. No, he is to seek God's gracious 7 x 70 forgiveness when he fails. But the hyper-grace movements say you do not have to do that. In fact, they teach that you are sinning if you do that. How horribly misguided and uninformed that doctrine is.

I'm more concerned about the birthing process. How to be a midwife as such for someone who wants this new birth but doesn't know how to.

I think and maybe I didn't make it clear but if someone asks the question how do I become a Christian, what do I need to do or say then they probably not aware of what you and Smaller have talked about.

I posted what I feel are perhaps the two best scriptural directives on how to be saved. It means admitting you are a sinner and asking God's mercy because you are a sinner. But if the sinner is never told that's what God is having mercy on you about then they will have not weighed the cost of coming to Christ and being his disciple. They will fail.

Before I do I just want to as the question, to you "What is/are the sin/s that a person needs to confess in order to be saved?

I think the general admission of living in sin and in disobedience to God is enough. The fellow in Luke 18:13 NASB did not detail his sins. He simply admitted he was a sinner. The details of your sin will be addressed by God after you get saved.

Now I come to you and ask the question

"What do I need to do to become a Christian" or rephrase the question.
"I beleive the claims of Jesus but not sure where I go next, I've heard the alter call now what"

Just imagine I'm sat next to you and asked the above, I don't know the bible just heard about Jesus.

Isaiah 55:7 NASB
Luke 18:9-14 NASB

These provide the framework for what a person needs to know/do to accept Christ.