Countless wonderful things happen when a sinner comes to Christ. Perhaps someone may be asking just what it means to come to Christ. People have a variety of ideas as to this. Because it is a matter of vital importance, let us look at what the Bible says concerning this positive action and what it means to come to Christ.

But, why is it necessary to come to Christ? Well, sin is the culprit. Right from the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned in disobeying God, they fled from God's presence and hid themselves among the trees of the Garden of Eden. Then, after Cain slew Abel, we read, "He went out from the presence of the Lord." And just so in regards to us all, in Isaiah 53:6 God speaks through the prophet who says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." Thus we see that right from the beginning of man's history, man became a runaway from God.

The call of God. Blessed be God, though He hates sin, He does love the sinner. Ever since man sinned, God, not willing that any should perish, has been calling man. In the Garden of Eden He called to our first father, Adam, who was hiding among the trees, "Adam … where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9). In Genesis 7:1, He called to Noah, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark." Noah came and was saved through the flood. When Jesus was here on earth, we hear Him saying, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). In Matthew 11:28 we hear His pleading invitation going out even today to all who have gone astray, and we have all, without exception, gone astray and come short of the glory of God. Yet He cries unto us, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

A call from God to come to Him is not only a pleading invitation full of love and grace, my friend. It is also a command of authority, for the person who does not respond to God's invitation must accept the consequences of perishing in his sins forever. Jesus says of the Pharisees who did not believe on Him as the Son of God, "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). "If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins" (John 8:24). What, then, does it mean to come to Jesus? From the Scriptures we have looked at, we can see that coming to Jesus is believing on Jesus. Coming is trusting in Jesus. It is the response of the heart to His call. It is the positive action of the will. Whosoever believeth, whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Now let us turn our attention to some truths of the Word of God concerning what happens when a person comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing we wish to notice is that Jesus receives him. Yes, He receives all who come to Him by faith. In John 6:37 He says, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." Oh, He delights to show mercy! He rejoices when the prodigal comes to Him. The woman in Luke 7:37 whose only name was "a sinner" came to Him and he received her and said to her, "Thy faith hath saved thee (v.50)." While on the cross with His hands outstretched, as if to beckon all to come to Him, the dying thief turned to Him in repentance and said, "Lord remember me." In response, he heard the gracious, welcoming words of Jesus, "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). This is what He promises to those who come. If He will not cast you out, He will take you in. Have you come to Him just as you are in repentance and faith?

When a person comes to Christ, that person receives Christ Jesus the Lord, as Colossians 2:6 tells us—"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him": hence, He receives you and you receive Him. Salvation is not a question of religious ordinances, assenting to a creed or the reforming of one's life. It involves the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. It is the acceptance of Christ, God's gift for man's salvation. In John 3:16 we see first of all God loving and God giving in these words: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." After that we notice in this verse, man believing and man having: "That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Romans 6:23 tells us that "the gift of God is eternal life." To receive a gift you must take it. Taking Christ and possessing Him is believing on Him, putting your trust in Him. Have you received Him, the Father's gift to you? Do you possess Him by faith and thus possess salvation and eternal life?

The next truth we mention is another of the blessings which come to everyone who comes to Christ and accepts Him as Saviour. Ephesians 1:3 says that we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ. Possessing Christ, receiving Him by faith, bestows these blessings the moment we believe, and we have them forever. We may not be aware of them at the time, but the Word of God clearly tells us of the many wonderful things that happen when a sinner comes to Christ and trusts Him as his Saviour. Christ is the Gift, and like a huge treasure chest, we have the blessings in Him.

Therefore the next thing we notice is found in John 1:11,12—"He came unto His own," that is, His own things that He created, "and His own," that is, His own chosen people—the Jews—"received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons [children] of God, even to them that believe on His Name." Hence, receiving Jesus by believing on His name makes one a child of God. John 1:13 tells how this is brought about: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Let us call this another blessing that happens to one who comes to Christ, that is, he is born of God. This, my friend, is what Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews who came to Him by night. He said to Nicodemus, "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). Just before that, in verse 3, Jesus had said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And also in verses 5 and 6, He said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The Lord very clearly was not speaking of being born again, as Nicodemus first thought, of entering his mother's womb the second time. No, not at all. He was not speaking of a natural birth, but of a spiritual birth. The word "born again" that is used here denotes a birth of an entirely new kind, or a birth from above. It is not physical (of the flesh), but spiritual, (of the Holy Spirit of God.)

The water speaks of the Word of God, for He speaks of "The washing of the water by the Word" (Ephesians 5:26). James speaks of the believer being begotten or born by the "Word of Truth" (James 1:18). Peter writes, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever … The Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you" (1 Peter 1:23,25). Hence, you see, a person who comes to Christ receiving Him, the living Word, and believing the written Word is, by the power of the Spirit, born anew, born into God's family. He becomes one of God's children. Is this true of you, my friend?

Now, along with this truth of being born of God is the precious truth that those born of God possess His life and nature. In 1 John 5:1 we read, "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." Continuing in verse 10, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son." What is the record? It's the Bible, the Word of God that we have which "stands like a rock undaunted 'mid the raging storms of time." And what does the record say? Verses 11 and 12: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." It is either one or the other. There is no middle ground. Then, in verse 13, notice how God wants His children to have the certainty of this blessing: "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life." Oh, what blessed assurance that gives! Friend, turn to those verses—1 John 5:1-13, read them and know that God has recorded them for your knowledge. When you come to Christ you can know, not hope, but know you possess eternal life, being born into God's family the moment you receive Him by faith.

Then, too, along with this goes another blessing; namely, one who comes to Christ receives the divine nature: "According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:3,4). Oh, what a great amount of truth is contained in these two verses! The divine nature is the very nature of God. This is implanted in the believer the moment he comes to Christ. It is the nature that enables the believer to desire the things of God. It is Christ in the believer that enables Him to live to the glory of God and to walk in the path of faith. It is new creation as 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us: "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." That is, it is a new position the believer has as identified with Christ; the new man, which the believer has put on. Paul expressed it like this in Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." You see, the very nature of God is embodied in the person of Christ, the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. And the one who comes to Christ has Christ dwelling in him, "the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Christ lives in the believer. The new nature is the very life of Christ and Paul continues to say in Galatians 2:20: "and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of [or, in] the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."

—Donald T. Johnson