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Why Be a Christian?Text: Acts 26:28-29 Introduction:
1. Does It Pay to be a Christian?
a. What advantage is it?
b. Why should you be a Christian?
c. These are some of the questions we want to answer in
this lesson.
2. What Do We Mean By Being a Christian?
a. A Christian in fact and a Christian only.
b. A baptized believer in Christ.
c. Not a member of some denomination that was started by
some man, that wears a human name, subscribes to a
human creed.
d. In New Testament there were only Christians.
e. Lord added them to his church. Acts 2:47
f. They joined no religious denomination.
g. All can be Christians and only Christians today.
(1) By embracing the gospel of Christ.
Body:
I. Why Be a Christian?
1. To be saved.
a. No one can be saved without being a Christian.
(1) If so, Jesus died in Vain.
b. What does it mean to be saved?
c. From what does being a Christian save one?
(1) Saved from Sin.
(a) The Christian Life is a changed life.
(b) It means to be saved from the love,
practice and guilt of sin.
(c) 1 John 2:15
(d) Love for the world leads to worldliness,
sin, sorrow, sighing, sadness,
disappointment, and death.
(e) From these Jesus is trying to save us.
(f) Luke 13:5
(g) 2 Corinthians 10:7
(h) Jesus wants to forgive us of the guilt of
sin. Acts 2:38; Mark 16:15-16.
(2) Saved From Hell.
(a) Matthew 7:13-14; 7:21-23
(b) Hebrews 5:8-9; Revelations 22:14
(c) John 5:28-29
(d) This alone should be enough to cause every
individual to want to be a Christian.
(3) Saved From Fear of Death.
(a) Matthew 10:28
(b) The true Christian can meet death with
courage and hope.
(c) Perfect love casteth out fear. 1 John 4:8
(d) If our souls are prepared to meet the
Lord, death is only a gateway into a
better world.
2. To Reach the Blood of Christ.
a. Until one becomes a Christian he does not reach
the benefits of the shed blood.
b. No one can go to heaven in his sins. John 8:21
c. Romans 3:23
d. Matthew 26:28
e. Therefore, a good moral man, whom the world counts
as good, cannot be saved without having his soul
cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
f. The things Jesus commands a person to do to be
become a Christian bring him into contact and
benefits of the blood.
3. To Be Reconciled to God.
a. Sin separates man from God. Isaiah 59:2
b. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 – In Christ – New Creature –
Reconciled.
c. Ephesians 2:16
d. Until one becomes a Christian, he is a rebel
against God, separated from God, and in reality is
a Traitor to King Jesus.
e. Therefore, one must become a Christian or remain
an enemy of God.
f. Jesus said, “he that is not with me is against
me.”
4. To Enjoy All Spiritual Blessings.
a. All Spiritual Blessings are in Christ. Ephesians
1:3
b. We get into Christ by faith and baptism. Galatians
3:26-27; Romans 6:3-6
c. The obedience that puts us into Christ makes us
Christians.
d. In addition to being saved from past sins, a
Christian is a citizen of the Kingdom. Colossians
1:13
e. …a child in the family of God.
f. An heir to a heavenly home.
g. Enjoys the privileges of prayer.
“Our Father Which Art In Heaven.”
h. Furthermore, the Christian enjoys a lively hope of
eternal bliss in heaven at last.
(1) This the man of the world does not have.
(2) To the Christian, hope is one of his priceless
possessions.
(3) It is an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast.
5. To Enjoy Genuine Happiness.
a. No one can be genuinely happy without hope;
b. no one can have a true hope unless he is a
Christian.
c. Therefore, no one can be really happy who is not a
Christian.
d. The pleasures of this life last but for a season.
e. They do not give real happiness, nor bring lasting
joy.
f. Solomon searched for happiness.
(1) Tried pleasures of this life to his heart’s
desire.
(2) Tried wealth unsparingly.
(3) Tried wisdom.
(4) Solomon said of these “all is vanity and
vexation of Spirit.”
(5) Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
g. 1 Timothy 4:8
h. Worldly thrills are deceitful and do not satisfy
the deeper longings of the soul.
i. Sin leaves its sting, with the soul mocked and
disappointed.
j. The Christian life is the only one that is really
worth living – The only one that can bring genuine
happiness to the souls of men here, and
everlasting joy in the hereafter.
6. To Be the Light of the World.
a. Philippians 2:14-15
b. Matthew 5:14-16
c. No one can be the right example and influence in
the world unless he is a Christian.
d. A person owes it to his wife, children, neighbors,
and community to be a Christian.
e. It is a blessing to the individual to be a
Christian.
(1) It is a blessing to his home;
(2) It is a blessing to his business;
(3) It is a blessing to the community;
(4) It is a blessing to the nation.
f. The influence of righteousness.
(1) Sodom – Genesis 8:22
g. By being a Christian, a shining light for Jesus, a
person can help salt – season, preserve – the
earth.
7. To Go to Heaven.
a. John 14:1-2
b. 2 Corinthians 5:1f
c. Hebrews 13:14
d. Revelation 22:14
e. The hope of heaven should inspire those who are
not Christians to renounce the things of the
world, and become followers of him who spoke as
never man spoke.
Conclusion: How to Become a Christian. Howard See
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