What happened to you when you became a Christian?
What happened in you when you became a Christian?
Hi Mark, first off, welcome to CChat 
When I finally became to true believer (35 years ago this Nov 2nd), I felt (in that moment .. and still do today) like the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders by God, because I ~knew~ that my sins had been forgiven (the unbearable "weight" was the result of the guilt that I had come to feel because of my sin). I'm 65 now, and I have had many more than a few especially wonderful days during my 65 years (I am happy to report), but NONE that rival the utter joy that I felt on the day that God justified/saved me and I became a believer, not even close.
One of the things that happened to me back then (11/2/86) was that I was immediately able to discern spiritual things from God's POV for the very first time .. see 1 Corinthians 2:12-16, and because I was, I also realized that my life, as a non-Christian, had been FAR more sinful than I had previously thought that it was. I also realized in that moment how displeasing I must have been to God during all of those years (because of the sinful life that I had been leading), so my very first thought as a Christian (about how I wanted to begin to live the Christian life) was that I NEVER wanted to displease God like that again (because I also recognized and understood for the first time what He had to go through to save me/to atone for all of my sins and reconcile me to His Father .. e.g. Romans 5:8-10; Hebrews 9:22).
The thing was, I didn't know how. I mean, I knew about the BIG sins, but I didn't have any idea how to find/do God's will or figure out what He considered to be "pleasing", until the HS brought the word "Bible" to my mind, that is So, I ran and got the only Bible I could find (it was a KJV, I believe) and I began to read it for what seemed like the very first time (even though I had read the Bible previously, this was the first time that I truly understood it, that all of it seemed to make sense to me).
So, on that day (as I believe others have said), God graciously chose to save me (by His grace/UN-merited favor towards me) and justified me when I came to saving faith in our Savior (the Lord Jesus). I also surrendered the reins of my life to Him that day (as best I could) as my Lord and began to follow and obey Him as His disciple, trusting that He knew what was best for me, far better than I could ever hope to myself.
So this doesn't go on any longer, I'll stop there and jump over to your second question, about what happened "in me" when I became a believer. Here are some Scripture verses that should help explain what happened.
Ezekiel 36
26 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”
John 3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 5
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, ~has~ eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
2 Corinthians 5
17 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
Ephesians 2
1 You were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are His workmanship/[masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus for/unto good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
So God, who changed me (by giving me a new heart and a new spirit) and quickened/regenerated me (made me alive/caused me to be "born again") to "spiritual" life for the very first time (so that I could know Him/understand Him/know how to obey Him, etc.), made me His workmanship/masterpiece as a wholly "new creature" in Christ, for/unto good works (not because of any of them).
Sorry about the length of this post (but actually, it could have been WAY longer ).
Also, if you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask me/us (and I promise, for my part anyway, to do my best to keep my answers shorter that the ones I just gave you above).
God bless you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
~Deut
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"
2 Corinthians 5:21
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