When the rich young ruler knelt before Jesus and asked Him, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus told him straight out:
"...but if you will enter into life, keep the commandments. He said unto Him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honour your father and your mother: and you shall love your neighbour as yourself." - Matt. 19:17-19
The rich young ruler's reply was that he had done all those things from his youth. I doubt the same can be said for any of us. We know we have sinned and are in need of salvation or we would not have come to this place.
Jesus then told him to sell all he had, give to the poor and then follow Him. The rich young ruler turned away very sad, because he had much riches.
What I want you to see is that Jesus did not simply say, "Say this little prayer and we're good." He told him he had to do two things. One was to obey all the commandments, and the other was to sell everything he had, give it to the poor and come, follow Him. He also didn't beg or plead with the young man to convince him of his need for salvation. He told him what he needed to do, and let the young man decide whether he wanted to obey Him or not.
The reason for making mention of all of this is that it is easy to confess Christ on an emotional, endorphin induced high, especially if all that is asked of you is to say a simple prayer, no one looking, and keeping it a big secret. It is another thing to realise Who it is that you are dealing with, what it is you are commiting yourself to, and why, and following through with a sincere heart.
If you're still intent on commiting your life to Jesus Christ, then I recommend you take these steps. If you do, I assure you that you will have far greater assurance of your salvation and knowledge of God than if you skipped it. But oine other note before you begin. God accepts you as you are, and isn't asking you to get your life in order before you turn to Him. I don't think any of us could do that anyway, seeing as that is usually why we turn to Him in the first place. What is recommended below is more along the lines of clearing the air before you and God. Look at it like this. See yourself as the returning prodigal. You know you are a sinner. You need to unburden yourself of this if you want to have a clear relationship with God without shadows lurking in the background. So, ...
First, confess your known sins against God. Write out the commandments of God on a sheet of paper. You will find them at Exodus 20:1-17. Then take some time ~ God will wait for you ~ and consider all the ways you understand that you have broken those commandments. Write them down under each commandment and continue until you have covered what it is you know. If anything comes to your remembrance, write that down too. God is already helping you 'come clean' before Him.
Once you have finished, then confess each one of them before God. Read them out loud to Him. A simple prayer to this end might be:
"God, I know I am a sinner, and that my sins have separated me from You. I want to confess my sins before you now."
Once you have confessed your sins, then confess your faith in Him, and in His provision of Jesus Christ as the atonement for your sins.
"Father, I believe that you sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins, that You raised Him up from the dead, and that He now sits at your right hand in heaven. Because of His atonement for me, I have forgiveness of my sins. I thank you for your gift of salvation. I acknowledge Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha'Maschiach) as my Lord and my Saviour and that He has also made a Way for me to be fully reconciled to You. I thank you for this precious gift of Your Son to be my help and strength to live my life for you."
There is one thing more that you need to ask the Lord to do for you. If you are serious about living your life for Him, and being fully reconciled to God, then you also need His Holy Spirit to teach you how.
"Father, I ask that you fill me with Your Holy Spirit, to teach me, guide me and to help me live my life for You, that I might dwell with you forever. Thank you Father for your Holy Spirit to be my help, guide and Comforter."
If you have been sincere in your confession and request, you will experience a tangible, notable change take place within you. It might be as subtle as a feeling of immense relief, like a weight rolling off your shoulders, or it might be something stronger, but you will experience and know that something is now different in your life. This is because you have now been translated, spiritually moved out of the devil's kingdom of darkness, and into Jesus' kingdom of light.
You now belong to God, and are now a citizen of His kingdom. Rejoice, and then go tell someone. This is your opportunity to come out of hiding from God, stand fearless before man, and confess your faith in Jesus Christ. If God has done for you what He has done for so many others, this will be something you will want to shout from the rooftops to anyone who will listen. It just happens. If there is no one for you to tell, then send us an email and share your testimony. We will rejoice and pray for you to grow ever stronger in your faith and life in Him.
Next Steps
Now that you belong to Christ, you will probably want to know, now what? What do you do now?
There are two significant steps you need to take as soon as possible. Both are evidences of your commitment and will also enable you to live more fully for Christ.
First: Show forth fruits of your repentance and commitment to Christ. Examine your home, your books, your music and DVD collections. Is there anything there that dishonours God? Then get rid of it. Don't trust your own judgment, but ask Him to guide you. You may need to do several sweeps before you get it all, but trust God to help you in this.
Examine your relationships and employments. How have you been spending your time? Are there occupations, hobbies or habits that you need to let go of? Are there people in your life that you need to turn away from? Again, trust God to show you, and ask Him to help you clean up this area of your life. Both of these steps are also gradual processes, as the more you learn of God, the more you grow, the more you will recognize as needing to be laid aside for Him. But it is a good thing to start with what He is showing you right now, and there is probably much you already know needs to be jettisoned from your new life.
Second, you need to get water baptized. When you get baptized, you are making the "no turning back" commitment to die to your old life in this world, symbolized when you go under the water. Your faith in God, that He has and will raise you up to live a new life in Christ, with Christ in you, is symbolized when you come up out of the water. You go under like you; you come up like Him, in the resurrection life that is His. Once you 'die' to what you were, you and are raised up to the new life that is Christ in you, you enter into a covenant relationship with God. All He has is now yours, and all that is you and yours, is likewise now His. Christ in you is what gives you the strength and power to resist and overcome the devil and the flesh. While it may all seem symbolic, there is genuine power in it that will make the all difference in your life and walk with God. Without it, it would as if you chose to remain in a blasted and bankrupt Egypt, despite God making a way for you to leave it.
A Few Other Things
There are a few more things that are worth your while to undertake as soon as possible.
1. Find a church or fellowship with which to associate with those who have also taken this step and worship God. This will be necessary for those of you who are looking to be baptized. If you try to go it alone at this stage, you will be an easy prey to the devil. You need a family of other believers to reach out to, who can and will pray for you, and help you if they can.
2. Get a Bible. At this point, any bible you choose will be better than none. Having said that, you might want to choose two bibles: one for devotional reading, and one for serious study. For serious study, I recommend you begin with the King James Version, as the vast majority of free study materials are based on the King James Version. If you can handle the "thee, thy and thou's" of the KJV, stick with it as your sole bible until you get stronger in Spirit and better able to discern the witness of the Holy Spirit to God's truth. As you mature you will find that the Holy Spirit does not witness to half-truths, or similar truths, such as you will find in modern, easy to read versions.
4. Read that bible daily, constantly, for your faith depends upon it. Begin with the Gospel of John. Then read the Book of Romans. Then read the Book of Ephesians. These three books will form a good foundation of understanding the Gospel, understanding what God has done, and learning what God has made possible for us through our faith in Jesus Christ. Read the Bible daily. Use a reading plan to help keep you going.
If you do these things, you will make good progress in the things of God.
A Final Word of Caution
Expect trouble and opposition. There is a Gospel preached that is what is called 'cheap grace,' that will sell you a cakewalk and a rose strewn magic carpet ride to heaven. It is a lie. The devil does not give up his prey easily. You no longer belong to him, but he will not stop trying to turn you out of the way of following and trusting God, believing Jesus Christ and obeying the Word of God. The beginning will always be rough, but you need to persevere. God uses the perversity of the devil to strengthen and purify your faith and trust in Him to lead you, help you, defend you, and keep you. Lean on Him, and He will help you.
All of this may appear to be somewhat daunting, especially if all you were expecting was to say a little prayer, and have the job done. But therein is the problem. It is easy to be moved and caught up in an emotional moment and embrace Christ while on an endorphin high such as you might experience at a Christian concert or conference. It is another thing to make a considered, knowing confession of your faith and fully commit your way to God in the cold morning light of the Holy Spirit of truth.
If you have gone through these steps with a sincere heart, then you can rest assured that you now lie on the bosom of Christ, and that He has received you, embraced you, and will commit His all to keep you, teach you and uphold you. He will be your strength, your life, your all in all, helping you every moment of your life.