What is a Christian?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of a Christian is "a person who believes in Jesus Christ and follows his teachings."  I'm going to try to be brief with this because there is so much to explain, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Becoming a Christian begins with learning about God, Jesus Christ, and His Word, or the Bible. The Bible teaches us that we have all sinned and come short before God. Sin began when Adam and Eve took of the fruit of the tree of knowledge after God clearly told them not to. When the devil came in the form of a serpent, Adam and Eve chose to listen to the devil's words when he told them that it was okay to eat of the tree. Once Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, they came to realization that they had sinned. From then on, people have had knowledge of sin and they have sinned anyways, which is exactly what makes it wrong before God. In the beginning, people had to sacrifice animals to redeem themselves of sin because Jesus hadn't yet came to be able to take away their sins. Later on, when Jesus was born to a virgin, Mary, and grew up, he became a teacher to the world. He told the world that he was the Messiah, and that he would be able to save them from eternity in Hell once they died so that they could live with Him in Heaven one day. Some followed Him, but others did not, which led to the crucifying of Him. Pilate, who had power at the time, didn't like Jesus and His teachings, because he wanted to rule instead. Pilate made Jesus out to be a fake and liar. He got a lot of people on his side, and he sentenced Jesus to be crucified. Jesus was placed on a cross, nailed onto it by his hands and feet, with a crown of thorns in his head, he was spit on, cursed at, and mocked. There was two people on each side of Him, and one of them happened to ask forgiveness, or get saved, before dying, but unfortunately, the other did not. When Jesus died, he died to save the world of their sins; present and future. He took on the fire of Hell for us, so that we could live forever in Heaven.

So, what does that mean for us? How exactly do we ask for forgiveness? Well first, like Adam and Eve, we have to come to realization that we have sinned. We have to acknowledge before God that we have sinned and that we are sorry for it. All that we have to do is genuinely tell God that we are sorry for our sins and ask him to come into our hearts. If we really mean what we say and we acknowledge that we are sinners, then God will save us from our sins. I realize that this sounds like it is too good to be true because it sounds so easy. I was even surprised as I typed how easy it sounded, and it is. God isn't asking for a lot, especially compared to how much He has done for us. All He wants us to do is ask forgiveness, and live for Him in our daily life. He wants to be our friend, and for us to live by His Word and set of commandments and laws that He has set before us. He wants us to live forever with Him in Heaven one day, which sounds pretty great to me.

I hope that I did God justice with what I wrote. I hope that it is clear and understandable for those that might not know about God. But like I said before, if you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them for you. Please remember that God loves you no matter what you have done. He is full of mercy and will save you if you come to Him.