The gospel

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures - 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

What a Christian is and is not

• A Christian is a person who's been born again or made a new creature by God through faith in Jesus Christ
• Having intellectual consent to Biblical facts does not make you a Christian
• Going to church does not make you a Christian
• Being baptized does not make you a Christian
• Being born into a Christian home does not make you a Christian
• Having said a sinner's prayer or went up to an alter call does not necessarily make you a Christian
• Having made a decision for Christ/to receive Jesus into your heart does not necessarily make you a Christian
• The vital question is: Have you been born again? Are you a new creation with new desires for the things of God and hatred for sin? Do you have genuine faith and repentance?

How do you know you have genuine faith?

God wants you to be sure that you've been saved. Peter writes in 2 Peters 1 for people to make their calling and election sure. We need to examine our lives in light of what the Bible says a Christian is.

Here are some characteristics of a true Christian according to the Bible:

• Trust in Christ as having paid for your sin for satisfaction of God's wrath (1 John 2:1-2)
• Admission of sin and confession of sin to God for forgiveness (1 John 1:5-10)
• Desire to keep God's commandments and a lifestyle of obedience to what God says in the Bible (1 John 2:3-4)
• Love for other Christians (1 John 2:9-11)
• Your desire and goal in life is not to pursue things that gratify lusts of the flesh and eyes and pride of life, such as sex, food, entertainment, wealth and fame (1 John 2:15-16)
• A lifestyle of righteousness, and not of sin (1 John 3:4-10)

Do these characteristics describe you? Do you humbly say in agreement with scripture that you are a sinner hopelessly unable to save yourself and turn to Christ? 

If not, don't delay, run to Christ, trust that He paid for your sins in FULL on the cross, and that He will save you to the uttermost, don't rely on your ability to make yourself a better person, it will only lead to destruction.