Becoming a Christian is easy. That does not make Christianity shallow, there are great depths to Christianity and the mysteries of God. What does it take to be a Christian? A Google search will yield endless results and lists – none of which seem to be the same. Acts 16:31 reads, in part (NASB). “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” That scripture, however, is deceptively simple. 

I think the key here is to understand what is meant by the term “Believe in the Lord Jesus.” It is more than an intellectual belief. I believe that Hitler lived and died on this earth. That doesn’t mean that I am a follower of his or believe his doctrines, I am merely assenting to his existence. James 2:19 tells us “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” The demons know God exists, and it strikes fear into them.

To believe in Jesus (God) we must believe that He is. We must go beyond assent to look to Him alone for life and salvation. We must rely upon him, place our trust in him. We must commit our life and everlasting soul to him. This will not come immediately. After Paul’s conversion he spent three years learning about Jesus. And it was another 11 years before he went to Jerusalem. Paul knew scripture, he studied under the best Jewish scholars. But he still needed preparation and learning. Remember this when your path or learning seems slow. 

I am a CPA. That is not an easy designation to receive. I had years of study in college getting a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s, and a Doctorate. Then I had to meet an experience requirement and pass the examination. I knew accounting through long years of study and practice. It’s been six years since I retired from teaching and there is no way I would step back into the classroom to teach today. Accounting has changed and if it is outside the area of taxation, I no longer know it well. Fortunately, the path to salvation is not so intense. But it is a life-long learning process. 

Fortunately for us, God never changes. What does change is our concept of God and our relationship to Him. As we become transformed, we understand God better. Romans 12:2 reads “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

So back to where we were at the start. The door to eternal life is open, we must simply pass through with our belief in God.  But in going through that door, our lives will change. I would liken it to a marriage. When we first get married, we think we know the person we are marrying. But, as the years roll on, we are constantly learning new things about them and we are changing our beliefs and actions. In the same way, saving faith in Christ also changes us. 

What about all these lists that tell us what is required to be a Christain? The Scion of Zion website lists eight of “God’s Requirements for Christians.” Note that it does not state “God’s Requirements to Become A Christian.” You don’t join an organization and ignore the rules associated with that organization. I have served on the Boards of Directors for numerous organizations. They have rules. One is frequently mandatory attendance at Board Meetings. Fail to attend a certain percentage of meetings and you can be removed from your position. Because we have accepted and love God we will want to do what He asks. We will want to do His bidding. Don’t fear, if you don’t meet all these requirements God doesn’t kick you out – He still loves you. I don’t think God keeps a checklist to see how we are doing. But, if I don’t even have a desire to do what God requires I probably need to examine my faith. Micah 6:8 tells us “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” That’s better than a list of His requirements that no one agrees on anyway. 

I would modify the often stated KISS principle – Keep it Simple Saints. And remember, there is no final exam we have to pass to get into heaven if we are called by His name.

All of us want to know what the future holds. People turn to fortune tellers, Ouiji boards, astrology, psychics, and other things in an effort to predict the future. As Christians, we know these are futile. When faced with a decision, we struggle with which way we should go. We pray about it, we evaluate the alternatives, we consult with trusted friends. All of this helps, but there is still uncertainty. As the time comes to make a decision, we must choose one path or the other. 

In our prayers, we may plead with God; we may argue with him asking him, telling him to guide us; to make it crystal clear what path we should take. While I don’t deny that God may tell us “do this” or “do that,” our guidance usually comes from a relationship with Him. We pray, we weigh the alternatives, we may get a feeling that a certain direction is the right one. Our friends may support our direction but usually we don’t know for certain. And we don’t like uncertainty.  Why doesn’t God just tell us outright what to do? I think the answer is found in Hebrews 11:6 (NASB) “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

This passage does not refer to a blind, gullible faith. I am reminded of the story about a farmer who looked up in the sky and saw the letters “GPC.” He interpreted this as God’s word to him that he should Go Preach Christ. When he was relating this to a friend, the friend responded “Maybe it means Go Plant Corn.” The Book of Hebrews is an exercise in evidence and logic. The writer is focusing on true faith over insincere works.  Robot-like obedience without legitimate trust in God is worthless. Hebrews is a tribute to Old Testament figures whose actions prove their faith. 

Notice the importance God places on faith. If we don’t have faith, we can’t please Him. If we have a complete understanding of a situation, we do not have an opportunity to exercise faith. For me, that is the trouble with blind, robotic faith. If we say “God told me to do this or that,” and we follow that belief, we are not exercising faith, we are obeying perceived orders. It needs to be coupled with common sense. God wants us to have faith in Him, not in our feelings.

A person I know got a very strong impression from God that he was not going to contract the COVID-19 virus. That did not give that person a license to act irresponsibly, congregating in large groups, not taking sanitary precautions, totally ignoring the threat of the disease. He needed to exercise common sense, he needed to take actions to make him less susceptible to contracting the disease. “I have faith that I will not contract the disease if I act responsibly,” should be his attitude. Not “I’m bullet-proof, God told me I am not going to get the disease.”

Faith also requires action. If we pray for a job, we don’t sit home waiting for the phone to ring. We go out searching for a job, submitting applications, taking action. James dealt with this interplay between faith and works. Chapter 2:14-20 (ERV)  “My brothers and sisters, if a person claims to have faith but does nothing, that faith is worth nothing. Faith like that cannot save anyone. Suppose a brother or sister in Christ comes to you in need of clothes or something to eat. And you say to them, ‘God be with you! I hope you stay warm and get plenty to eat,’ but you don’t give them the things they need. If you don’t help them, your words are worthless. 17 It is the same with faith. If it is just faith and nothing more—if it doesn’t do anything—it is dead. But someone might argue, ‘Some people have faith, and others have good works.’ My answer would be that you can’t show me your faith if you don’t do anything. But I will show you my faith by the good I do. You believe there is one God. That’s good, but even the demons believe that! And they shake with fear. You fool! Faith that does nothing is worth nothing. Do you want me to prove this to you?”

Faith manifests itself in works. Works without faith is mere activity and demonstrates a non-existent, dead faith. Notice too, that belief alone does not save us. The demons believe in God. No works, no faith. Complete understanding, no faith. 

In Mark 9;24, a father exclaims “I believe. Help my unbelief.” This man was being genuine. He desperately wanted his son to be healed. He believed Jesus COULD heal him, but he had doubts IF Jesus would heal him. Doubts do not show evidence of a lack of faith, it shows we are human. The fully-human Jesus expressed doubts “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” If Jesus had doubts, it’s ok for us to have them too.

We are made in God’s image, his likeness. At creation, God said the earth was good. Upon creation of man and woman, he decreed it very good. What does it mean to be created in His image? It is not a physical resemblance. Although our children may have a physical resemblance to us, people will often exclaim “He’s just like his father,” meaning that he acts like him, he has many of the same characteristics. 

Being made in the image of God means we bear the righteousness and holiness of God. God’s attributes are perfect. Even though we aren’t perfect, we can reflect His love, grace, mercy, and so on. Since we are not perfect, we can’t perfectly reflect those attributes. But we can try. These attributes are what makes us distinctly human.

There are two implications to this. First, we are beings of immense value. God values us.  We have His attributes. We are human. Psalm 8:4-6 tells us (GNV) “what are human beings, that you think of them;    mere mortals, that you care for them? Yet you made them inferior only to yourself; you crowned them with glory and honor. You appointed them rulers over everything you made.” This passage is translated in various ways, but I believe this translation captures the meaning of the text. We, humans, are second only to God,  Hebrews 2:7 is a similar passage, reading “You have made him for a little while lower than the angels,” referring to Jesus when he was crucified.

So, in a simplified heavenly hierarchy God is supreme. We are in a position just below Him. We don’t become angels, that’s a step down. Angels are not in His image. 

The second implication of being created in God’s image carries with it certain expectations about our relationships.

The first implication  is in our relationship to God. Genesis 1:26 affirms that we are made in His image, being in His image is what makes us human. Nothing else is all of God’s creation is like us. That makes us pretty special. Every. one. of. us. 

Second is our relationship to others. In Mark 12 Jesus was asked “What is the greatest commandment?” I am sure that scribe was seeking a “ranking” of the Ten Commandments. But Jesus wasn’t about to fall into that trap. He, in essence, summarized them into two overriding commandments. “Love God, Love Your Neighbor.” Our expectation is to love. Every human being we encounter is someone made in the image of God. That person has value, he or she is created in God’s image, just as we are. Regard them and treat them with great worth.

Third is our relationship to self. In many ways this is an extension of the previous expectation. We are to put ourselves in proper relationships with God and with others. Hebrews 12 tells us to pursue peace with everyone and be holy (dedicated, set apart).

Fourth, is our relationship to Earth. In Genesis 2:15, God placed human kind in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and to keep it. We have stewardship over the Earth. We are in charge of taking care of God’s creation.

How awesome to realize that we are in God’s image. But it carries a tremendous responsibility. Vow to live in a way that people will see God in us. And let us also see God in others.