What Does It Really Mean to Come to Christ?

Key Verse

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

The Question That Completes the Journey

In the previous scrolls, we have step by step examined what salvation is.

We have seen that salvation is necessary because of sin.

That sin does not merely corrupt individual actions, but places the sinner before a holy and righteous God.

That a person cannot save himself through morality, religion, or good works.

That God's Law is not a ladder by which a sinner can climb his way back to God.

We have seen that salvation begins not with man, but with God.

God sent His Son.

Christ came into the world.

He lived without sin.

He bore our sins.

He died on the cross.

He rose from the dead.

And He accomplished what man could never accomplish for himself.

But now one final question remains.

What must a person do when he has heard the Gospel?

How does he respond to Christ?

What does it mean to come to Him?

Is it enough to know about Jesus?

Is it enough to call oneself a Christian?

What is true repentance?

What is saving faith?

And how can living faith be distinguished from merely agreeing with Christian teaching?

This is where salvation ceases to be merely a theological subject.

It becomes a question that concerns the person himself.

Christ Does Not Simply Give a Person Information About Himself

Jesus did not come merely to give people a correct system of beliefs.

He did not say:

“Learn more about Me.”

He said:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

Notice these two words:

“unto me.”

Christianity is not simply about agreeing with certain statements about God.

You can know the story of Jesus.

You can know that He was born in Bethlehem.

You can know about His miracles.

You can know about the cross.

You can know about the resurrection.

You can even answer correctly when asked about His divinity.

But knowing about Christ is not the same as trusting Christ.

The Gospel does not merely give a person facts.

It places him before a Person.

Before Jesus Christ.

Before the One who is Lord.

Therefore, the true response to the Gospel is not merely:

“Now I know who Jesus is.”

It is:

“I come to Him.”

But Why Does a Person Need to Come?

Because the problem of man is not simply a lack of information.

Man does not merely fail to know enough about God.

He has turned away from God.

Sin is not merely the violation of God's command.

Sin is rebellion against God as Lord.

Man wants to live not under God's authority, but according to his own will.

Therefore, true salvation cannot simply be the addition of religion to an existing life.

What is needed is a return to God.

That is why the first message of John the Baptist was:

“Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 3:2

And when Christ began His ministry, He proclaimed:

“Repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

Mark 1:15

These words contain the essence of man's response.

Repent.

Believe.

Turn away from your own way.

Turn to Christ.

What Is Biblical Repentance?

Repentance is often reduced to a feeling of guilt.

But guilt by itself is not repentance.

A person may regret being exposed.

He may regret the consequences of his sin.

He may fear punishment.

He may want to escape his inner pain.

And yet he may have no desire to abandon the sin itself.

Biblical repentance goes deeper.

Repentance means a change of direction.

A person acknowledges before God:

“I have sinned.”

He stops calling sin good.

He stops defending himself.

He stops making his own will the highest authority.

And he turns back to God.

Therefore repentance is not merely:

“I am sorry.”

It is:

“I was wrong before God, and I am returning to Him.”

This is exactly what we see in the words of the prodigal son:

“I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee”

Luke 15:18

And then:

“And he arose, and came to his father.”

Luke 15:20

He did not merely recognize his condition.

He returned.

This is the essence of repentance.

Repentance Does Not Mean Making Yourself Worthy of Christ First

Here it is easy to fall into another error.

A person may think:

“First I must fix myself, become better, overcome my sins — and then I will be able to come to Christ.”

But that would mean trying once again to make oneself worthy of salvation.

The Gospel says the opposite.

Christ does not wait until the sinner becomes clean enough.

That is precisely why He is the Savior.

If man could cleanse himself first, he would not need the cross.

Christ did not come for the sinless.

He came to save sinners.

Therefore repentance is not preparation for becoming worthy enough for Christ to accept you.

Repentance is turning away from running from Him and returning to Him precisely in the condition in which you need a Savior.

But Repentance Cannot Be Separated From Faith

Christ did not say:

“Repent — and that is enough.”

He said:

“Repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

Mark 1:15

Repentance turns a person away from sin.

Faith turns him toward Christ.

These are not two different ways of salvation.

They are two sides of the same conversion.

A person cannot truly say:

“I have come to Christ, but I do not want to leave sin as my master.”

Nor can he say:

“I have repented, but I do not need Christ Himself.”

Biblical conversion includes both repentance and faith.

Repentance leads to Christ.

And true faith means refusing to place one's ultimate confidence in oneself.

What Does It Mean to Believe in Christ?

Faith is more than agreeing that Jesus exists.

It is even more than agreeing that He died and rose again.

Faith has Christ Himself as its object.

To believe Christ means to trust Him.

To receive Him not merely as a Teacher, but as Lord and Savior.

To place one's hope before God in Him.

To stop saying:

“My good works will save me.”

And begin saying:

“My hope is Christ.”

Paul writes:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Romans 10:9

Here faith is connected not merely with acknowledging the historical fact of the resurrection.

It is connected with confessing Jesus as:

Lord.

This means that a person no longer places himself in the position of ultimate master of his own life.

“I Believe in Jesus” — But What Does That Actually Mean?

Those words can conceal very different meanings.

One person may say:

“I believe that Jesus existed.”

Another:

“I believe He was a great Teacher.”

A third:

“I believe He rose from the dead.”

But saving faith says more:

“I trust Christ.”

You can know about water and never drink.

You can know about a doctor and never accept the treatment.

You can know that a bridge will hold your weight and still never step onto it.

In the same way, you can know the Gospel and continue living as though Christ is unnecessary.

Therefore the central question is not only:

“What do I know about Jesus?”

But:

“Have I trusted Christ?”

Even Knowing the Truth Is Not Yet Saving Faith

James says:

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

James 2:19

This is a very serious warning.

Demons know that God exists.

They know the truth.

But their knowledge is not saving faith.

Why?

Because saving faith is not merely acknowledging a fact.

It turns a person toward God and brings him to trust Christ.

Therefore a person can have the right answers and still not belong to Christ.

He can know the Gospel and not live by the Gospel.

He can know about the Savior and never trust the Savior.

But Is Faith Not a Human Action?

Yes.

A person truly must repent.

He truly must believe.

He truly must come to Christ.

The Gospel does not call a person to remain an indifferent observer.

But here we must make a crucial distinction.

Faith is not the price of salvation.

A person does not purchase salvation by believing.

He cannot say:

“God saved me because I believed strongly enough.”

Paul says:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Ephesians 2:8–9

Salvation has its source in God's grace.

Its foundation is Christ.

Its price is His blood.

Its ground is His death and resurrection.

Faith does not create salvation.

Faith receives Christ.

Therefore all glory remains with God.

What Does It Mean to “Receive Christ”?

Receiving Christ does not mean saying a magical formula.

It does not simply mean repeating a prayer.

It does not mean writing a date in a calendar.

It does not mean experiencing strong emotions.

A prayer may be a genuine expression of faith.

Tears may accompany genuine repentance.

A decision may mark a moment of true conversion.

But no outward form saves by itself.

Christ saves.

Therefore the question is not:

“Have I ever said the right words?”

The question is:

“Have I come to Christ in repentance and faith?”

To Come to Christ Means to Receive Him as Lord

We cannot divide Jesus into convenient parts.

To receive Him as Savior while rejecting Him as Lord.

To want forgiveness while refusing God's authority.

To want salvation from the consequences of sin while refusing freedom from sin's rule.

Christ does not merely offer a person relief from his condition.

He calls him to belong to Him.

That is why His words are:

“Come unto me…”

Matthew 11:28

This is not simply an invitation to receive religious assistance.

It is a call to leave your own way and come to Him.

Living Faith Produces a New Life

Here we must be precise.

Good works are not the cause of salvation.

A person does not become saved because he begins doing enough good.

But genuine faith does not remain fruitless.

James says:

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

James 2:26

Good works do not purchase salvation.

They are the fruit of a life that God has begun to transform.

That is why Paul, after saying:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith…”

does not stop there.

He continues:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 2:10

The order is crucial:

not works → salvation → faith.

But:

grace → faith → new life → fruit.

A person does not do good works in order to become saved.

He begins to live differently because God has saved him.

What Happens When a Person Truly Comes to Christ?

Now we can see the completion of the entire journey we have taken through these scrolls.

A person comes to Christ in repentance and faith.

And God does not merely give him a new religious feeling.

His sins are forgiven.

He is reconciled to God.

He is justified by faith, not by his own works.

His standing before God changes not because he has become sinless, but because his hope is now in Christ.

He is born again.

God gives him new life.

He becomes a new creation.

His life begins to change.

Sin can no longer remain for him simply a “normal way of life.”

A struggle begins.

Sanctification begins.

A new life under the lordship of Christ begins.

This does not mean that a Christian never falls again.

It means that he no longer wants sin to remain his master.

The person who comes to Christ receives not merely a different view of life.

He receives a new Lord, a new hope, and a new direction for life.

Therefore Salvation Is Not Merely the Forgiveness of the Past

If we reduce salvation to God simply “overlooking” past sins, we have not yet seen the full greatness of the Gospel.

God does not merely refrain from punishing the person.

He reconciles him to Himself.

He does not merely cancel guilt.

He justifies.

He does not simply leave the person as he was.

He gives him new life.

He does not merely free him from his past.

He begins to lead him into a new life with Christ.

Therefore the Gospel does not end with:

“Your sins are forgiven.”

It leads further:

“Now you belong to Christ.”

And Now the Whole Way of Salvation Becomes Clear

At the beginning we asked:

What is salvation?

Now we can answer.

Salvation is not man's attempt to reach God.

It is God's action to save the sinner.

Man sinned.

He could not justify himself.

God sent His Son.

Christ died for sins.

Christ rose again.

God proclaims the Gospel.

A person hears.

God calls him.

The person repents.

The person believes Christ.

And the salvation God accomplished in Christ becomes his personal reality.

Not through his merits.

Not through his morality.

Not through the strength of his religious efforts.

But through Christ and God's grace.

So What Does It Really Mean to Come to Christ?

It means to stop running from God and return to Him.

To acknowledge your sin rather than justify it.

To turn away from a life centered on your own will.

To come to Christ as you are — guilty, unable to save yourself, and in need of mercy.

To place your hope not in your own righteousness, but in Christ.

To believe that He died for our sins and rose again.

To confess Him as Lord.

To entrust yourself to Him.

And to begin living not in order to earn salvation, but because God has saved you.

That is why the Gospel does not say:

“Become good enough — and then come to Christ.”

It says:

“Come to Christ.”

Not when you become worthy.

Not when you have conquered every sin.

Not when you can show God enough good works.

Come now — and trust the Savior.

Because salvation begins not with what man does for God.

It begins with what God has already done for man in Christ.

The Gospel Demands a Response

Now we have walked the entire path.

We have seen what salvation is.

We have seen what sin has done to man.

We have seen why man cannot save himself.

We have seen how God accomplished salvation through Christ.

And now we have seen what it means to come to Him.

Therefore the question is no longer theoretical.

Not:

“What do other people think about Jesus?”

Not:

“Is Christianity the true religion?”

Not:

“Do I know enough about the Bible?”

But:

Have I come to Christ?

Have I acknowledged my sin?

Have I stopped trusting in myself?

Have I trusted Christ?

Is He merely an object of knowledge to me?

Or is He my Lord and Savior?

Because in the end, the Gospel brings every person to this very place.

To Christ.

And here there is no need to invent another question behind which to hide.

There is God's answer.

There is the cross.

There is the resurrection.

There is grace.

There is the call:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

And now there is no need to look for another reason to postpone the answer.

Come.

Repent.

Believe.

Trust Christ.

And live with Him.

The series on salvation ends here.
It does not lead to another question.
It leads to the Savior Himself.