A New Life
Praise the LORD! Something wonderful has happened! God has saved you! You are now a believer in Jesus Christ. There are now some things you need to understand:
I. What has just happened to you?
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8,9) Faith is based upon the words of scripture, not feelings. We are saved by faith and not feelings. Regardless of how you feel, if you have just now received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior by faith the following is true:
a. You’ve been delivered - "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:" (Col. 1:12-14)
b. You are on your way to heaven - "We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;" (Col. 1:3-5)
c. You’ve been born again - "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (I Peter 1:23)
d. You are now indwelt by the Holy Spirit - "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:" (Rom. 8:15,16)
Before you were saved you were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Yet now that you have believed upon Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you have been made spiritually alive (John 5:24). You are a new creature now (2 Corinthians 5:17), and there has been a dramatic change. Your body is now a temple of the Holy Ghost (2 Corinthians 6:19), who is the third person of the Godhead (1 John 5:7). Jesus Christ is in you (Colossians 1:27), and spiritually you are in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:13). Through faith you have experienced a deliverance. Being delivered form the present evil world (Galatians 1:4), the sins you have committed (Ephesians 1:7), and the wrath of God (John 3:36), you are headed towards heaven where you will be with Jesus Christ for all eternity (John 14:6).
II. You now need to understand...
"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." (John 16:12,13)
You have much to learn and the Holy Spirit will help you to learn them. Learning these things will be crucial in having close fellowship with Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ saved you because He loved you and desires to have fellowship with you (Revelation 3:20). There are blessings to being a Christian. Many Blessings which will be experienced either by the coming of Jesus Christ, or following physical death. Therefore there are both eternal blessings and present blessings that accompany being saved. Many of the saved have never learned some of these things which would help them in enjoying their salvation now. So they forfeit the present blessings of salvation. Here are only a few things you should seek to understand for now:
a. You are saved forever - "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38,39)
b. You should live for the LORD - "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s." (1 Corinthians 6:19,20)
c. You have two natures - "For I know that in me (that is , in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." (Romans 7:18-25)
d. Satan will seek to resist you - "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" (1 Peter 5:8)
The matter of heaven and hell is settled forever (1 Thessalonians 1:10)! The matter of eternal life and eternal damnation is settled forever (1 John 5:12,13)! God is the Judge and your case has already been tried, and God has ruled that you are now justified (Romans 5:1). Only by God’s grace could we ever be saved, and only by God’s grace could we ever remain saved (Galatians 2:21). You will never be lost again. That matter is settled. Through His death on the cross for your sins, and His bodily resurrection, Jesus Christ settled it for you (Romans 4:24,25; 1 Timothy 1:15).
But understand you have a body, a soul, and a spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Your soul was redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and your spirit was regenerated by the presence of the Holy Spirit within you, but your body has remained the same. It will not be changed until the coming of Jesus Christ, your body is still prone to temptation and sin. You cannot yield to the fleshly lusts of the body towards sin if you are to maintain a walk with Jesus Christ. You must yield to the Holy Spirit from within! You have two natures. One that cannot please God, and one that will not commit sin! God has just done something wonderful for you when he saved you. Show Him how much you appreciate it by living your life for Him, and just see what He will do in making your life full of blessings and victories. Remember that now you have an enemy who desires to bring reproach upon you and your Savior Jesus Christ. He does this by deceiving Christians into grieving the Holy Spirit, and walking after the flesh, and living their lives for the world. Don’t you be one of them.
III. Here’s what you need to do now.
Because you now have a spiritual adversary there are precautions you must take in overcoming him. They are:
a. Find a Bible Believing Church- "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:23-25)
b. Read the Bible - "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119:11)
c. Have a prayer life - "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;" (Romans 12:10-12)
Although Satan was defeated when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, he will not give up in seeking to bring reproach upon you and your Savior. He is a thief and will rob you of your joy, peace, and testimony. Yet there is strength in numbers, and it is not only profitable that you belong to a Bible believing church as a member, but it is also of a necessity. There you will hear the word of God preached, taught, and will receive encouragement from those who are in the same situation you are in.
Satan hates the word of God, because by it the Christian gains victory over him (Ephesians 6:17). God’s word is the vital part of communicating with God. He speaks to us through His word. The Bible is a spiritual book that can only be understood as you progress and grow spiritually (Isaiah 28:9,10). The problem with people not understanding the Bible, is that they haven’t read enough of the Bible to understand it. The Bible interprets itself. That is, the scriptures shed light on the other scriptures. Therefore it takes patience in learning and understanding the Bible. But you must read it. It strengthens you spiritually. It builds your faith. It renews your mind. Don’t neglect the word of God.
Prayer is how you speak to God. Prayer is approaching God and having fellowship with Him. Satan will work at keeping you from praying because he doesn’t want you to speak to God. God answers prayers (Jeremiah 33:3), and Satan knows it. Don’t allow Satan to keep you from praying.
Praise the LORD you are saved now! There was shouting and rejoicing in heaven when you were saved (Luke 15:7,10)! There are both eternal blessings and blessings which are for now. The eternal blessings are settled. The present blessings are conditional upon you growing spiritually, and getting stronger as a Christian. God bless you!
