Who Can Become a Christian?

Good morning, I found this article and thought it was great for a mid-week post. Who can become a Christian? The answer in a nutshell is that anyone can.

 Paul said that God wants everybody "to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). Peter added that God is "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). Christ Jesus told us who can become a Christian. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). It seems that God quite sincerely wants everyone to be saved. "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). On another occasion Christ Jesus said, "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself" (John 12:32).

So strong indeed is the scriptural teaching about God's universal saving will that people have sometimes even concluded that all will in fact be saved, that no one at all will be lost. But this is wrong thinking, the Bible states: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9) So you see only those who call upon the Lord will be saved. It has been said that we are all the creation of God, but only those who trust in Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour can be called the sons and daughters of God.


So who can become a Christian? According to the New Testament, anyone can. It is certainly true that not all do make the decision to give their lives over to God. Some stubbornly insist on going their own way. "Whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36). Such people will not enjoy the salvation God has for the world. "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).


However, God does not abandon sinners in their depravity, but visits them with His grace and goodness. He sends His Spirit to draw them back to Himself. Yes, God works in sinners to draw them to Himself. But this does not mean that they will come. His drawing of them, being the call of love, is not irresistible. Love which did not leave the option of refusal would not be love. God deals with us as individuals. We are saved not by force, but by faith, the free decision to trust in Christ Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Who can become a Christian? Anyone can, because God's grace closes nobody out. There are no limits to His grace except those that sinners impose upon themselves. Christ Jesus, our Advocate, has become "the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). Salvation is so broad as to encompass potentially the entire human race. So let us enter in, and let us invite others to enter the kingdom of God.

- from the writings of Clark H. Pinnock