I Believe, Now What?
After we have come to know the Lord, it can be difficult to understand where to go next. Hopefully this article will give you a few ideas.
First, it is important to establish that we have done the four things commanded of us:
Repent
This means to confess our sins, asking for forgiveness and to turn from sin and to faithful obedience to God
Believe
You must believe in Jesus as Lord, his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave
Be Baptised
This is to be placed fully under water on confession of faith in God; Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Baptism represents death and resurrection with Jesus and this is a confession of lifetime allegiance to Jesus as your Master and Lord
Receive the Holy Spirit
We must ask and prayer to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God and a person. Often receiving and being filled with the Spirit is evidenced by the supernatural gift of speaking in tongues
After we have met these four conditions then we are to grow in our faith as disciples of Christ. If you have yet to obey any one of these four outlined steps, then whatever step you have not taken is what you must presently do.
Reading the Bible
New christians in the bible are described as new children who are to grow in the ‘milk of the word’. A new Christian is someone who has just been born again, and so they are like a baby in their spiritual walk. They need nurture, care, protection and food. This idea of ‘eating’ or being ‘fed’ is a kind of word picture that illustrates the idea of learning what is taught in the Bible.
Whatever state of spiritual growth, it is God’s word that feeds us, and just as food gives us physical strength, God’s word nourishes us and gives us spiritual strength. This means we must prayerfully read the Bible and that this must become a part of your daily life. If a baby is not fed, it will scream and cry until it receives food. If you don’t feed your spiritual life with God’s word, then your inner person will begin to scream and cry out for food. Don’t starve your inner person!
We need to treat the words of God as more important to our life than food itself. Job says ‘I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.’ (Job 23:12). Jesus likewise said that ‘man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God’ (Matt 4:4). Here he is quoting the book of Deuteronomy 8:3, and setting an example for us to follow.
One mistake a lot of new believers make is to read through the bible randomly without any plan, picking and choosing different verses as they come. We must avoid this and instead learn to read the bible daily and in order. This means deliberately reading it in order, both the New and Old Testaments. Doing this will give a larger perspective of the full biblical narrative and will keep us from deception. It will also shows us how the two connect.
Some people are quick to dismiss the Old Testament writings as unimportant now that we have the New Testament writings. However, the New Testament writers felt much differently! The New Testament itself is filled with many quotations from the Old. Jesus and the Apostles constantly taught and referred to these scriptures. We must read both in order to understand how they relate to one another.
Careful of Lies
All of us are liable to deception. It is people who think they can’t be deceived who are the most likely to be deceived, as they will not take measures to guard against this. There are many false teachers in the world seeking to seduce us away from the truth. Jesus says that the word is ‘truth’.
Do not think that because someone is really smart or they have a certain position that they must know more than you. The Bible is not meant to be a puzzle code that only a special elite class of people can understand, God has the ability to communicate his message clearly to his children. It does, however, take time, care, patience and persevering study.
The more immersed we are in scripture and prayer, the closer we are to God and his word. The further we drift from these things the more liable we are to deception for we are moved out of the protective boundary of the word of God.
Prayer Life
We must develop a prayer life. This is crucial. Above and beyond even reading scripture, you must pray. It is the test of spiritual life. Set yourself into a discipline and routine and grow from there.
You can pray while reading the bible or without. If you are struggling with how to pray, then learn to pray by reading the psalms and by finding the prayers made in scripture. You will only learn to pray by praying.
If you think you are too busy through the day and do not have the time, then wake up one hour earlier. You must pray. Pray about all things, pray throughout the day. Establish constant communication with God. Prayer needs to be as natural and breathing.
Nothing makes up for secret prayer with God. It is necessary and best done in the morning above all things. It will set you up for the day and its trials and you will be walking in harmony with God. Pray and then pray.
Find a routine that works for you. Morning, noon and night is when Daniel and the psalmist would pray. If you attain this habit you shall truly grow spiritually and be walking in communion with God daily.
Learn to aspire to communion with God above all things. You will soon see the areas in your life and the things which you need to change in order to better please God and he will start showing you greater and greater things about himself and his kingdom.
Keep praying and persevering, don’t stop if you don’t immediately see results. Jesus taught that perseverance in prayer was one of the most necessary aspects of prayer. ‘Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart’ (Luke 18:1).
Avoid Common Mistakes
One major trap for all believers is pride, especially new believers. Paul warns against new converts teaching in case they become puffed up with pride and fall. (1 Timothy 3:6-7). Be slow, take time and read through the bible multiple times and don’t think that just because you receive revelation you are suddenly a teacher.
Character is more important than knowledge and the building of character takes years. Wait on God (through active prayer, good works and study, not passive idleness) and allow him to form your character and relation to him.
There can be a haste to enter into the deep mysteries of the word and get enthralled by times, dates and seasons. Books such as Revelation and Daniel filled with mystery and intrigue are not to be the sole focus of our reading. The clearer epistles and simple instruction of God’s revealed will, must be laboured in more first. Serving God is to become a priority above serving our curiosity and intrigue. Jesus did not call us to predict future dates and events, but he did call us to serve him.
The dates and the seasons are in the Father’s hand, if you develop a strong enough relationship with the Father he will warn you when you need to turn to the right or the left. Stand firm in the clear teachings and grow in learning. Don’t be prideful and expect to have the deep mysteries unlocked to you when you’re not following the simple revealed and plain words of God’s revealed will. Trust in God is more important than knowing the future.
Local Church
Christianity is not a lone wolf religion. God expects us to commune with fellow believers. Find a local church where you can serve and grow. Make sure that they are a committed evangelical church that preaches repentance and believes in the truth of scripture. Set yourself there and grow where God has placed you.
Remember that no local church is perfect and is often messy. There will always be a mix of different types of people, our job is not to condemn, but serve where we can and seek to build up others.
Keep reading, praying and serving God and you will see his face. May God’s grace be with you.
