Staying In Good With God
So you found the Lord. You heard His word, believed it, repented of your sins, confessed that you believed that Jesus was the Christ, and you were baptized into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, for the remission of your sins. Every last bit of that is Biblically correct, book, chapter, and verse. At least you aren't one of those who heard the word, believed it, prayed "the sinner's prayer" (which is nowhere found in the Bible, and never saved anyone), and went on in life, ignorantly unaware that your spiritual condition had not changed and that you were still lost in your sins.
The angels rejoiced in Heaven when you came to Christ (Luke 15: 10). When you did those five things above, you were added to Christ's church (Acts 2: 41; Acts 2: 47) and you put on Christ (Galatians 3: 27). But the question now arises: How do I stay in good with God?
Some avoid the question by saying that once you are saved, you are always saved. The problem is, if we view it that way, there are some parts of the Bible that just don't make sense. And those passages are scattered all over the New Testament-they are not in just one place.
We could go on, but at this point, more scriptures to show that a Christian may sin and a Christian may fall would be overkill.
So what is it, then, that Christians should do, after becoming a Christian? Living pure lives is one very lofty goal-Galatians 5: 16-26 outlines some direction. But what are some positives that the Christian should put in his life?
Bible study. See II Timothy 2: 15 for an admonition of that. The Bible will do you good, and its benefits are eternal. See II Timothy 3: 16, 17; and see II Timothy 4: 1-5, to see how the Christian will be able to know when he is being influenced by a false teacher. There will be false teachers out there, and they will be there because the people who have the itching ears will clamor for them.
Bible study is a great faith builder (Romans 10: 17). Ephesians 4: 11-14 talks about the various kinds of personalities that God put into the church so that people might be taught the Word and might be able to avoid false teachers when they come along. The only way you will know truth from error is if you study.
Go to church. It's a Biblical command-see Hebrews 10: 24-25. On Sundays, the services will include preaching (II Timothy 4: 1-5), singing (Ephesians 5: 18), praying (II Thessalonians 5: 17), giving (I Corinthians 16: 1, 2), and the Lord's Supper (I Corinthians 11: 23-34). Some congregations also meet on Sunday nights, Wednesday nights, or Thursday nights. Given the New Testament example of Christians having these meetings daily (Acts 2: 46), individual congregations could have as much of this as they are able. For the non-Sunday type services, they might have the preaching or teaching, singing, and praying, but they would not have the giving or the Lord's Supper on other than the first day of the week.
Going to church will help your faith to grow. You will also form friendships with others who can help you.
Pray. Prayer is our communication with God. We are told to be in an attitude of prayer constantly (I Thessalonians 5: 17). Jesus spent much time in prayer.
Be generous in our help of others. Part of the conversion process is to move from being people who have lusts for material things to being people who are willing to share with others (see Ephesians 4: 22-32). The early church gave to help those who were less fortunate ( Acts 2: 44-45 ).
Become a teacher of others. Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others is the biggest reason the church exists today. See Mark 16: 15, 16 and Matthew 28: 19, 20 for the marching orders of the church. Every person who lives in this world needs to hear the Gospel at least once before he dies.
We hope that by visiting this website, you have been blessed.
Sid Womack, webmaster
Please click on the doorway above to return to the Sermon index < |
