How do I have a relationship with Christ?

That is an excellent question. Many churches today talk about having a relationship with our Lord and Savior, yet most fail to explain how. The only way we can explain how to have a relationship with Christ is to let him (Christ) tell us through the word.

John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandment 

When we consider a relationship with Christ we first need to consider who he is. He is our Lord and Savior. Him being our Lord means he owns us. The very definition of Lord in the concordance G2962 is:

he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding; master, lord; 

a. universally, of the possessor and disposer of a thing, the owner 

He is our redeemer, therefore, our life is not our own. We have been bought with a price:

1Corinthians 6:20

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Now with that understanding we know why Christ tells us that we have to do what he says if we truly love him. In John 15:13-16 he makes a very similar statement with more qualification.

John 15:13-16

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

In verse 13 he showed the ultimate display of friendship by dying for us. In order to have a relationship he is expecting us to do what he asks which requires us dying for him and producing fruit.

John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

How Do I Die for Christ?

Romans 12:1-21: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good , and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

For as long as we have been on this earth without accepting Christ as our Lord, we typically did things that benefited ourselves and operated on what we believed was righteous. However, now we know that our righteousness is as filthy rags according to Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

So we have to sacrifice our own personal desires and change our mindset to DESIRE to do the things that Christ says in God’s word. The importance in desiring to do what he commands is the difference between following Christ by the Holy Spirit and TRYING to follow Christ according to your flesh. Your flesh is the mind that you had before you accepted Christ. The Holy Spirit is what you received once you accepted Christ and are baptized.

What did Christ Tell us to Do?

To understand Christ and what he told us to do, we have to know WHAT Christ is. 

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word Was God.

Here you see John is speaking about Christ being the Word of God. He is not God but He is the word that proceeds out of God’s mouth. John further explains again in

1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one.

To be clear, when it says these three are one, it means that the Father, The Word (Christ) and the Holy Spirit operate together on 1 accord and agree in all things, but are different entities. 

So if Christ is the Word of God, then it makes sense why the scriptures say this:

Hebrews 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

So everything that God said since the very first words “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) was none other than Christ!

John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

And also, 

Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

Now when we see what Christ said in

Matthew 5:17-18: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. :18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

That word fulfilled means G1096 to become equivalent to, to come to pass, happen, of events;

This means the laws, statutes and commandments remain in effect until the earth passes away and Christ was and still is the law, statutes and commandments (God’s word).

God always wanted our obedience. He never desired a sacrifice. He being a merciful and gracious God in the Old Testament used sacrifices so our Forefathers could remain in fellowship with him and he granted the grace of an animal sacrifice so that the individual that broke the law (sin is the transgression of the law 1 John 3:4) would be saved in that moment. 

1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Fast forward to Christ-We don’t sacrifice bulls and rams anymore (he taketh away the first) because Christ is the sacrifice (to establish the second), however he still wants our obedience to the same laws, statutes and commandments that were spoken by God in the beginning. God does not change (Malachi 3:6). His commandments are true forever.

Hebrews 10:8-9 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; :9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

We couldn’t have true relationships with animals. We can have an emotional attachment but a true relationship is only acquired by being able to relate to something as the word relationship implies. Christ was a person just like us (Hebrews 2:16) and was tempted in all ways just like us (Hebrews 4:15), yet he overcame just like we can and have been commanded to do (Matthew 5:48 kjv).

This is the Relationship

He wants us to LOVE doing his laws, statutes and commandments. 

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

In the old testament most of our forefathers were doing the law out of fear of being killed if they trespassed the law. Now we keep the law because we love God and are appreciative and forever indebted to our redeemer. We understand that we wouldn’t sin willfully (break the law on purpose or live as a sinner) because we wouldn’t want our friend (Christ) to have died for nothing. 

Hebrews 10:26-29 

26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Though there is fiery judgment awaiting those that disobey Christ, we don’t do the law just to avoid death…We do it because we love Christ. We can’t keep the law in the spirit of fear because God didn’t give us that spirit. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Conclusion

To have a relationship with Christ we have to delight in doing what he says, He told us to keep his commandments-Love God and Love your Brother/Sister and they encompass all the laws, statutes and commandments! 

Matthew 22:36-40

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.38 This is the first and great commandment.39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

May God bless you!