Why Should I Be a Christian?

by Loren Stacy

"You should be a Christian so you won't go to hell."

"You should be a Christian because you are a terrible sinner and incredibly evil."

"You should be a Christian so you can have an easy life."

What would prompt you to become a Christian? Any of these reasons? If so, your relationship with Jesus Christ would probably be brief and full of disillusionment and frustration. Threat, guilt, and false promises should never be the basis of a person's decision to accept Christ.

What, then, is the proper basis? Let's explore it.

A Reasonable Faith

For one thing, Christianity is a reasonable faith. One section in the Bible, Romans 1:20-25, puts things in proper perspective:

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.

Intelligent Design

This passage makes two important points. First, enough evidence is in universe around us to prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that there exists a Master Designer, a Supreme Creator - God.

Michael J. Behe, associate professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, authored a book released earlier this year - Darwin's Black Box. This secular professor challenges the theory of evolution, based on his belief in an intelligent design behind the complex systems in the human body (World, October 12, 1996, p. 5).

Man's Rebellion

The second point in the Romans passage above is that man has refused to acknowledge God and is presently in active rebellion against Him. What we have is not a case of cannot believe, but will not believe.

Christ recognized this state of man when, after pointing out evidence for His own deity, He said, "These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life" (John 5:39, 40). The truth is that most people are not Christians because they deny the scriptural evidence for God.

What Is the Gospel?

Simply, the gospel is this:

God created man.
Man sinned and was separated from God.
God loves man.
God's only Son, Jesus, came to earth, lived a perfect, sinless life, accepted the guilt of our sins, died in our place, and rose again.
Anyone who accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior may be reunited with God and live forever.

This is the basis of every Christian's belief. Once a person has been presented with the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ (as you just have), he must accept or reject it. These are the only two choices. The decision is yours!

Thank God, we have a reasonable basis for our decision. We may always turn to the objective, historical facts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the subjective, personal experience that follows a complete commitment to Him.

Cause and Effect

There is a law of cause and effect at work within the universe: Namely, for every effect, there is a cause. Things don't just happen.

We are told by some scientists that man is the result of evolution preceded by a spontaneous generation of life from amino acids. Our solar system is the product of a "big bang," the explosion of an ancient star.

But from where did these amino acids come? From where the ancient star? Eventually, we come to an uncaused cause; we come to God.

Perfect Order

There is incredible order in the universe. Albert Einstein said:

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior Spirit who reveals Himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe forms my idea of God (Lincoln Barnett, The Universe and Dr. Einstein, p. 95).

DuNouy wrote:

The chance formulations of a typical protein molecule made up of 3,000 atoms is of the order of one to 2.02 x 10231, or practically nil. Even if the elements are shaken up at the speed of the vibration of light, it would take 10234 billion years to get the protein molecule needed for life, and life on earth is limited to about two billion years (Bernard Ramm, The Christian View of Science and Scripture, p. 148).

More overwhelming is what God has communicated to us:

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe (Hebrews 1:1, 2).

Who is Jesus?

Jesus came from a poor family, a minority group, and a small country that was under occupation by the Romans. Yet two thousand years later, Jesus is still seen as the most influential figure in history.

Jesus is deity (Philippians 2:6). He described Himself in various ways when He lived on earth:

To know Him was to know God (John 8:19; 14:7);
To see Him was to see God (John 12:45; 14:9);
To believe in Him was to believe in God (John 12:44; 14:1);
To receive Him was to receive God (Mark 9:37);
To hate Him was to hate God (John 15:23);
To honor Him was to honor God (John 5:23).

More About Jesus

Jesus supported His claims with actions. His character was flawless. We don't compare Jesus with others, we contrast Him with others. Jesus is unique - as unique as God.

Jesus was sinless. He never gave any indication of personal guilt. He was tempted but never justly accused (1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Even Pilate, His judge, said, "I find no basis for a charge against this man" (Luke 23:4).

Jesus also exhibited supernatural power. He calmed nature's storms; He brought dead people back to life; He healed the sick. But perhaps the greatest proof of His deity was His own resurrection from the dead.

Did Jesus Rise from the Dead?

Jesus predicted five times during His earthly life that He would die, how He would die, and that after three days He would rise from the dead and appear to His followers. Christ's resurrection is crucial to Christianity. If there was no Resurrection, we can't trust Scripture; we have reason to doubt the existence of God, and we're wasting our time in a foolish religion. What good is a dead Savior? Paul wrote, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith" (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Some suggest that Jesus merely fainted on the cross and only appeared to have died. So, after being beaten, crucified, mummified, and after losing much blood and spending three days in a cold tomb, Jesus got up, pushed aside a massive stone door, and walked away past Roman guards. Let's be serious!

The truth is, factual evidence proves Christ's resurrection:

Written accounts: The early church, Christ's contemporaries, continually referred to the Resurrection. Six independent testimonies to it are in the New Testament. Biblical writers John, Peter, and Matthew offer eyewitness accounts.

An empty tomb: The empty tomb must be explained as well. Some suggest that Christ's body was stolen. But who would have stolen it? The disciples were scared to death, and the tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers after Jesus' body was placed in it. Each of the twelve apostles eventually died as martyrs for Christianity. Would they have died for what they knew to be a lie?

Some suggest that Christ's followers returned to the wrong tomb. All of them? Every time? Even the Jewish leaders and the Romans?

No body: The Romans or the Jewish leaders would have loved to produce Jesus' body to smash rumors that Jesus had risen from the dead. They would have loved to put an end to this new and threatening religion. But they could not. They did not have the body.

Personal appearances: Jesus made ten distinct, recorded appearances at different places and times and to different people (500 at once) after His resurrection. People, such as the disciple Thomas, were convinced of His resurrection against their initial disbelief.

Changed lives: Finally, the risen Jesus changes lives. Every mature Christian has a story to tell of change, commitment, and growth since their personal encounter with Christ.

Will You Believe?

Considering the evidence, it is illogical to refuse to believe and become a Christian. If you are not a Christian, you can be. We have shared the gospel with you. Now you have to make a decision. Will you accept or reject Jesus Christ?

Remember, there is no one who cannot believe; there are only those who will not believe.

A version of this article appeared in the January '80 issue of the Bible Advocate magazine. For a free subscription, contact us at bibleadvocate@cog7.org Loren Stacy is pastor of the Church of God (Seventh Day) in Lodi, CA.

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