Being a Christian

By June Montgomery Andersen

Studying the Bible can be overwhelming. Where do you start? This book is a study guide that an individual can use or can be used in a study group to learn what the Word of God reveals to us Christians.

This study guide starts with accepting Jesus as your Savior, baptism, joining a church of your faith, prayer, tithing, and much more, such as the promises of God. This study guide will help anyone develop a close relationship with God and understand how much He loves us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9798892213776

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title

Copyright

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Sources

About the Author

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Being a Christian

June Montgomery Andersen

Copyright © 2024 June Montgomery Andersen

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2024

ISBN 979-8-88982-701-6 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89221-377-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Chapter 1

Being a Christian

What does it mean to be a Christian, and what does the Bible say? Let's explore the Word of God about being a Christian.

First, I would like to look at the promises of God, and then we will dive into His word deeper. There are five promises from God in the Bible that we will be exploring:

God is always with me. I will not fear (Philippians 4:6 NLT).

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will always provide a way out so that you can endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

God is always good. I will not despair (Proverbs 23:18, Romans 15:4).

God is always watching. I will not falter (Romans 8:3).

God is always victorious. I will not fail (Jeremiah 29:11).

According to Bibleinfo.com, there are 3,573 promises, but other scholars have counted many more. However, I have read the Bible several times and studied just the Old Testament and the New Testament separately throughout my life. I believe there are so many more of God's promises to us as children of God. The most significant promise is in John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We will study more of God's promises in chapter 2.

So the first step to being a Christian is to believe in Jesus Christ, that He is our Savior and God's son, who was given as a sacrifice to suffer the sins of the world, so we are forgiven of our sins. This is called God's grace.

Jesus started His journey with Mary, His mother, a woman living in Nazareth. Mary was engaged to Joseph, a Jewish carpenter. An angel, Gabriel, visited the Virgin Mary and shared with her the word of God. She would conceive a child—a son—by the power of the Holy Spirit (this book will discuss the Holy Spirit). The angel told her that she would name him Jesus. Then an angel, Gabriel, appeared to Joseph to share the same message from God.

Mary was pregnant with Jesus. (To continue to understand and study this story, look at the cultural context of an unmarried Jewish woman being pregnant and how Joseph handled this mission from God.) Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem because of an order from the Roman emperor that a census of all people be taken in their hometown. Mary went into labor and had Jesus in a stable. Jesus had a humble birth. However, the kings found Him by following a star that shone over the stable to visit and give gifts.

Jesus grew up living the life of a child, but He had His Father's spirit in Him, and He hungered to please His Father, God. Jesus started His ministry and journey to the cross at the age of thirty. There were no passages that gave the exact age of His crucifixion, but scholars have determined that Jesus was in His mid-thirties (Bible.org).

To read and study the life of Jesus, study the New Testament, which is the New Covenant, since Jesus Christ is our Savior and we live under God's grace. In the New Testament, the term grace means that which is a gift. It was truly a gift. A gift of life from Jesus Christ, our Savior and God's only son, so we can have everlasting life.

As stated in John 3:16, if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and that He died on the cross to give you everlasting life and repent of your sins, you have been saved.

The next step, according to the Bible, is baptism. Let's look at God's words on being baptized. The Bible tells us that John the Baptist baptized Jesus (Matthew 3:16). So the question is, are we required to be baptized? Since we follow Jesus and obey God, we need to follow Him by being baptized, but if we don't get that opportunity, then we are saved because of John 3:16. We don't necessarily need to be baptized because, according to the Word of God, the thief on the cross during Christ's crucifixion repented on the cross. He asks Jesus to remember him (Luke 23:39–43), which tells us that He wasn't baptized, and we necessarily don't have to be baptized, but as a follower of Jesus Christ, I have been baptized and suggest that it is good to follow Jesus and do the same. It represents our cleansing and new birth as Christians.

Galatians 3:26–27 tells us, So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Here are other verses in the Bible that discuss our faith in Jesus and clothing yourself with Christ: (1) Matthew 28:19–20; (2) 1 Peter 3:21; (3) Mark 16:16; (4) John 3:5; (5) Acts 22:16; (6) Romans 6:3; and (7) Luke 3:21–22.

The next important step is to pray to God. Praying to God is basically talking to God and developing a relationship with Him. Having a good relationship with God helps with our struggles. The Bible tells us about prayer. We all need prayer. We need prayer for ourselves as well as for others. The chapters in the Bible on prayer that I feel are helpful are as follows:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)