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Your New Life -
Commitment

Are you ready to make a commitment to Christ and become a part of his community called the church?

Becoming a Christian—a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ—requires a decision. It requires a commitment to follow Jesus in his life and to put ourselves into the hands of God, just as Jesus did on the cross. We can do so knowing that, just as God raised Jesus from the dead, God will also raise us in the age to come.

The Bible talks about making this commitment:

"If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved [healed or restored to relationship with God]. For one believes with the heart and so is justified [made right with God], and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. . . . For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:9-10, 13)

If you are ready to make that commitment, you can do so by simply talking to God in your own words. That's all that prayer is. It doesn't have to be flowery or eloquent. It is talking to God honestly, as one person to another. It may seem a little awkward at first, but don't let that stop you.

As you talk to God, you might want to use these points as an outline. But feel free to say whatever you like; God is listening to you and wants to hear what is on your heart. Things you might want to include would be:

	Confessing your sin to God—ways you have tried to "go it alone" in your life and ways that you have sinned against God and others
	Accepting Jesus' life, death, and resurrection as God's way and your way of being reconciled to God and opening the door to a relationship with him
	Asking Jesus to be the leader and Lord of your life, and asking God's Spirit to come into your life to guide in how to follow the example of Jesus
	Thanking God for reaching out to you and accepting you on his terms, not yours

You may want to make this commitment in the presence of another person, perhaps a Christian who has also made this commitment of faith. It's okay if you do it alone, but you will want to tell someone very soon of your commitment.

The Bible also says,

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him" (Acts 2:38-39).

Baptism is the sign of our decision to accept and follow Jesus as saving Lord of our lives. Baptism is a symbol of joining Jesus in his death and resurrection, and it is symbolic of his cleansing of our lives from the sin that separated us from God.

You may have been baptized as an infant. Many churches and parents follow that practice as a pledge to see that young child eventually come to saving faith in Jesus as Lord. We encourage you to experience baptism now as a testimony to your actually entering into that faith relationship with God.

Talk to the pastor of your church to discuss more fully the meaning of baptism and joining into membership in the church.

But wait: we're not through yet . . .

All Bible passages taken from the New Revised Standard Version. This presentation written by Ronald W. Waters and freely adapted from "A Concise Reference for the Ministry of Evangelism" developed by the Commission on Home Ministries of the General Conference Mennonite Church and Mennonite Board of Congregational Ministries of the Mennonite Church.

Your New Life - Commitment

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Your New Life -
Commitment