Becoming a Christian does not mean following a set of rules or adopting a philosophy so as to get saved or keep yourself saved. It means trusting in Christ (John 3:16) and receiving him (John 1:12). It means you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and that only through his sacrifice on the cross can you be forgiven of your sins, so that when you die and face God the Father on the Day of Judgment that you will not be sent to hell.

Escaping God’s judgment

Perhaps the most important reason for becoming a Christian would be so that you escape the righteous judgment of God and spend eternity with Him. This can only be accomplished by trusting in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Without Jesus, no one would ever have any hope of entering into the presence of God. After all, God is perfect and holy, and we are not. He must judge those who rebel against Him. If He did not, He would be approving evil. Evil is doing such things as lying, stealing, etc. If you have ever lied or stolen, then you are a liar and a thief. God cannot let liars and thieves enter heaven. So, in order to escape His righteous judgment it is necessary to trust God, and the means of deliverance He has provided is in the person of Christ. So, being delivered from judgment is a great reason.

Freedom from guilt and shame

You can experience greater freedom from guilt and shame. We are all imperfect, and we all make mistakes of varying degrees. Some of us have done some very bad things, so bad that when we remember them, we feel real guilt and real shame. But when we become a Christian, we trust that Christ has forgiven us of all the evil that we have done. If He can forgive us, then we can be set free.

Experiencing God’s presence

In addition, being a Christian means you will experience the presence of God in your life. It does not mean that everything will automatically get better and all your problems will go away. However, things usually get better when you follow God’s word and do what is right. He rewards those who seek Him (Luke 6:23, Colossians 3:24, Hebrews 11:6), and He does want good for us.

Fellowship with Jesus

Christians have fellowship with Jesus. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” So, God has not left us alone, and He desires a relationship with us. We experience a kind of presence of the Lord in our lives, and we can see that same presence in other people’s lives. There is a horizontal fellowship. That means one to another, we often enjoy the company of other Christians. The vertical fellowship is our relationship with God. But, we have a relationship with the Lord Jesus–a fellowship with Him that never leaves us.

Fellowship with other Christians

Within Christianity there’s the fellowship that we have with one another in church. Though not all churches are perfect, those who attend generally have a very common core of beliefs and desire to grow in their relationship with Christ. This mutual interest produces friendships, which is a good thing for people to be involved with.

The Bible becomes a living book

By becoming a Christian, the Bible becomes a living book. To unbelievers the Bible is often a book of stories and occasional wisdom sayings all mixed into history. To the Christian, the Bible is the inspired word of God that comes alive when we read it. This is because God is living in us and there is a kind of resonating that happens when we read the Bible. The Bible is full of great teaching.