Becoming a Christian involves the acceptance of Jesus Christ’s forgiveness of our sins, which is based on His grace rather than our worthiness or deeds. A Christian makes a profession of faith in Jesus as Lord. However, Jesus instructed us to become more than forgiven and professing Christians when He said, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34, NLT).
We are to become disciples, devoted followers of Jesus. A disciple endeavors to live according to Christ’s teachings and to serve as His ambassador. The first component of our mission is in obedience to Jesus’ command to "go and make disciples of all nations"(Matthew 28:19, NLT).