Following Jesus
Christianity is an invitation to trust Jesus as God the Son and Saviour, receive God’s forgiveness and begin a new life in relationship with him.
Following Jesus begins by turning towards God and trusting in what Jesus has done through his death and resurrection. God forgives and welcomes people by his grace, not because they have achieved moral perfection.
The Christian life is then a journey of knowing God, being changed by the Holy Spirit and learning to live according to the teaching and example of Jesus.
Responding to Jesus
Becoming a Christian means turning towards the one God: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and placing trust in Jesus Christ.
It includes believing that Jesus is God the Son who became fully human, died for human sin and rose bodily from the dead. It also means relying on him personally for forgiveness, restored relationship with God and eternal life.
Jesus did not invite people merely to admire his teaching. He called them to trust him, follow him and allow their lives to be shaped by him.
Some people can identify a particular moment when they first responded to Jesus. For others, faith develops gradually through questions, prayer, reading the Bible and participation in church.
Repentance, faith and grace
Jesus called people to repent and believe. Repentance means recognising sin, turning away from it and turning towards God. Faith means trusting Jesus and placing one’s life in his hands.
Repentance and faith do not earn forgiveness. They are the way a person stops relying on their own goodness and receives the rescue God has already provided through Jesus.
Christians believe Jesus bore the judgement and punishment that human sin deserves. Therefore, those who turn to God and trust in him can be forgiven rather than face final condemnation.
Salvation is given by God’s grace because of what Jesus has done. It does not depend on completing enough good deeds, suffering enough, making religious payments or compensating God for past failures.
A Christian’s confidence rests in Jesus and his completed work, not in the strength of the person’s feelings or the perfection of their moral record.
A new relationship with God
Forgiveness does more than remove guilt. It restores the broken relationship between a person and God.
Christians describe this as being reconciled to God, adopted into his family and united with Christ. A person who was separated from God is welcomed and given a new identity as someone who belongs to him.
Christian life is relationship with the one God. Christians come to the Father through Jesus the Son and receive the presence and help of the Holy Spirit.
The Father welcomes and adopts, the Son reconciles and leads, and the Holy Spirit lives and works within believers. These are not three separate gods acting independently, but the one Triune God bringing people into his life and love.
Eternal life begins now
Eternal life is not only endless existence after death. It begins now as restored relationship with God through Jesus.
Christians believe that knowing God gives life a new centre, purpose and hope. They can begin living with him now while looking forward to the complete restoration he has promised.
Because Jesus rose bodily from the dead, Christians believe death will not have the final word. Instead they will be raised, live with God and share eternal life in his renewed creation.
A continuing process of change
Becoming a Christian does not mean becoming instantly perfect. Christians continue to fail, struggle, make mistakes and need forgiveness.
They believe the Holy Spirit begins changing them from within, helping them become more loving, truthful, humble, courageous and like Jesus.
This process is often gradual and uneven. A Christian may make progress in one area while continuing to struggle in another. Growth involves repeatedly returning to God, receiving his grace and learning to obey him.
The Christian life is therefore not a claim to moral superiority. It is a life of continuing dependence upon God’s grace.
Following Jesus in daily life
Following Jesus affects every part of life, including relationships, work, money, sexuality, honesty, forgiveness and the treatment of people who are vulnerable, excluded or overlooked.
Christians seek to love God and their neighbours, tell the truth, forgive others, resist injustice, act generously and care for people in need.
They do these things not to buy forgiveness, but because they have received it. Obedience and good works are responses to God’s grace, not the price of acceptance with him.
Where someone has caused harm, following Jesus includes admitting wrongdoing, apologising, making amends where possible and accepting appropriate consequences.
Christians may still disagree about how Jesus’s teaching should be applied in particular situations.
How Christians grow
Christians normally grow through prayer, reading the Bible, worshipping with other Christians and putting Jesus’s teaching into practice.
Prayer keeps their relationship with God active. The Bible grounds their faith in the story and teaching of Jesus. Church provides worship, Communion, encouragement, guidance, friendship and opportunities to serve.
Baptism publicly marks belonging to Jesus and the beginning of Christian life. Communion repeatedly directs Christians back to Jesus’s death and resurrection and reminds them that they continue to depend upon his grace.
When following Jesus is difficult
Faith does not remove every hardship, question or period of doubt. Christians may experience suffering, disappointment, temptation, unanswered prayer or times when God seems distant.
Difficulty does not necessarily mean that a person has lost their faith or that God has abandoned them. Christians are encouraged to speak honestly to God, seek support and continue taking small steps of trust.
Following Jesus may also involve difficult choices. His teaching can challenge personal desires, cultural assumptions and patterns of behaviour that a person has become used to.
Christians believe Jesus remains patient and faithful as they struggle, learn and begin again. Their hope rests in his grace rather than in their ability to follow him without failure.
A next step
There is no need to do everything at once. A next step might be to begin praying, read one of the Gospels, visit a healthy local church or speak with a Christian you trust.
Someone who has decided to follow Jesus may also wish to tell a trusted Christian, begin attending a church regularly and ask about baptism.
Someone who remains uncertain can continue exploring without pretending to possess a certainty they do not yet have. Honest questions are a normal part of the journey.
Whether faith begins suddenly or gradually, following Jesus starts with one honest response and continues through many small steps of faith.
You have completed the One-Hour Journey
You now have a connected map of Christianity: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; human sin and separation from God; the cross and resurrection; forgiveness by grace through faith; the Bible, prayer and church; and the gift of eternal life.
Christianity is more than a collection of facts, however. Its central invitation is to know God through Jesus Christ and begin learning to live in relationship with him.