Let us now trace the steps of one
in the world as he comes to Jehovah that he might be a member of the
body of Christ.
[325]Because of the disobedience of father Adam, all of his children are
born imperfect, all sinners. "There is none righteous, no, not one."
(Romans 3:10; 5:12) All such are out of harmony with God. They have no
right to life. It has pleased Jehovah, then, during the gospel age to
draw to Jesus, the great Redeemer and Deliverer, those who have the
desire to come into harmony with him. The Prophet says: 'The reverence
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom'. (Psalm 111:10) The first thing
essential for one becoming a Christian is an honest desire to know the
Lord and to do his will. A man with this honest desire, then, realizes
that he is a sinner and born such; and he has an honest desire to come
to God. He learns that Jesus is his Redeemer and he wants to know more
about him and do his will. In his mind he does not approve the ways of
the world. He begins to think about the Lord and wants to know more
about him. He begins to turn his face in the right direction. When he
ceases to approve the course of the world, he is repentant to that
extent. Repentance means a change of mind respecting one's relationship
to evil.
[326]Jesus said: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath
sent me draw him". (John 6:44) The man now is drawn to Jesus by what he
learns of Jesus, what Jesus has done for him, and by his own desire to
follow a different course.
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