“What Comes After Forgiveness?” Pt 2 of 3:
An individual becomes a Born-Again Christian the moment they repent of their sins and ask Jesus into their heart. Lots of people use the term born-again these days and for some time I prefer to describe a devoted Christian as a “Follower of Christ.” The good thing about God is, He knows when our heart is right even when we can’t describe what we are. The true follower of Christ is known by his love for God and others more than words anyway.
Asking Jesus into your heart saves you from all your sins (unless you purposely hang on to some). You’re saved instantaneously but living the Christian life is a process until you die and go to Heaven. But after salvation (repentance of sin), what comes next? At salvation, the Holy Spirit comes into our heart and 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “All things become new.” I believe this “newness” begins with the renewing of our mind. We know what we used to be, and God is going to help us get to where He wants us to be. To get there, the Lord renews our mind or changes the way we think (see Romans 12:2).
As a new believer, we’re going to want to do Godly things. The Bible is our greatest resource. It’s a personal manual for every follower of Christ. We’ll want to go to church on the weekends and join a small group Bible study as this will facilitate spiritual growth. NOTE: This is a combination of personal Bible reading, prayer and attending church services. Don’t be afraid to share with others the commitment you’ve made to Christ. This will not only let others know you’ve made a major decision, but you will strive harder in your spiritual walk if you know others are watching. Besides, one of the Great Commandments is sharing our faith.
WARNING!! This isn’t to scare you, but to make you aware. When a person becomes a new believer, Satan will throw everything in hell at them! Why? Because he doesn’t want to give you up. Don’t be alarmed if things don’t go just right for a while. You aren’t perfect and may fall from time to time. But get this – you are now aChild of God and while Satan will attack you, the Lord will protect you. His Spirit will convict or make you aware you strayed or messed up. That’s a good thing! The Holy Spirit is our Helper, and we all need help. He’ll pick us up, show us our error and our mind (that’s being renewed) will help us understand what happened and we learn from the experience.
Many people question salvation after committing their life to Christ. I’ll give a “Part 3” to this series tomorrow but here’s a verse everyone would be wise to memorize because it will be helpful when Satan attacks: “Therefore, there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life SET ME FREE from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2). John wrote, “I write these things to you who believe on the name of the Son of God SO THAT YOU MAY KNOW that you have eternal life” (I John 5:13).
Pastor Carnes
