What do I do now that I’m saved?
When we first get saved, God flushes out our old nature and
fills us with his loving Spirit. We
become a new creation. We’re filled with
hunger for the things of God and full of spit and vinegar and want to go out
immediately to become great evangelist or teachers. We want to share this
wonderful new love we feel for God with everyone. All of that is good, and is as it should be,
but there are a few things to learn first before your ready to go out and
change the world.
When we believe the Gospel and give ourselves to Christ, God
changes us. We become part of his
finished work. We are part of the clay
molded into the body of Christ. We are
not alone, ever. We immediately become
citizens of Heaven. We consider ourselves
dead to our old nature and way of living, and are now alive, but residence of
Heaven in our Spirit, but our bodies are here on the earth as Ambassadors of
Heaven. And as Ambassadors, we are now
strangers in this land and we represent our new home land. We are grafted into Christ and now become one
with him. We are now children of God,
and if we are his children, then we are heirs to all that is his. So there is much to learn before we can be
given stewardship over God’s estate. II
Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Becoming Part of the Body of Christ
First, consider yourself as part of Christ body. I Corinthians 12: 12 – 31 12) For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all
the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13)
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit. 14) For the body is not one member, but many. 15) If the foot shall
say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of
the body? 16) And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of
the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17) If the whole body were an eye,
where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? 18)
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath
pleased him. 19 And if they were all one member, where were the body? 20) But
now are they many members, yet but one body. 21) And the eye cannot say unto
the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again the head to the feet, I have no
need of you. 22) Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be
more feeble, are necessary: 23) And those members of the body, which we think
to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our
uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. 24) For our comely parts have no
need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant
honour to that part which lacked: 25) That there should be no schism in the
body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 26) And
whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be
honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27) Now ye are the body of Christ,
and members in particular. 28) And God hath set some in the church, first
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then
gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 29) Are all
apostles? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miricles? 30) Have all the gifts
of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31) But covet
earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. You
do have a purpose, but you don’t know what that is yet. We are not all eyes, or ears or tongues, but
we are all just as important in different ways.
We are not all called to be pastors, or teachers. God will assign to you
your position in the body. Your job is
to begin to study the scriptures and learn. Start with reading Romans Chapter 12. It's a good guide line for everyday living.
Being grafted into Christ
Second, we’ll learn what it means to be grafted into Christ.
Romans 11: 16 – 21 16)For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is
also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17) And if some of the
branches be broken off, and thou being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among
them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18)
Boast not against the branches,. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root,
but the root thee. 19) Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I
might be grafted in. 20) Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and
thou standest by faith. Be not high minded but fear; 21) For if God spared no
the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Paul is letting us Gentiles know that God
invited us to become one of his, because the Jews rejected him through
unbelief. Now, we can have access to the
very throne of God, if we believe what God is telling us. And what God tells us, is written down in the
scriptures.
Walking in the Spirit
Third, we’ll learn how to walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:
16 This I say
then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5: 22 - 23 22) But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, 23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. The things of the world that you loved before
giving your heart to Christ, will always try and pull you back. We are born with a sin nature. It is natural for us to seek out sinful
things. If we liked getting drunk before
getting saved, your body will try and get you to go out and get drunk again,
just one more time. Your new Godly
Spirit will try and talk you out of it.
Doesn’t matter where your weakness lies, whether its alcohol,
pornography, sex out of marriage, anger, hatred or whatever, that old sin
nature will try and come back on you. I
Corinthians 10: 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as
is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it. This will come through much prayer
and study of Gods word.
We are citizens of Heaven
Fourth we are to consider ourselves Heavenly people. God considers our citizenship now in Heaven
and we are his earthly Ambassadors. II
Corinthians 5: 20 – 21 20) Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21) For he hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Philippians 3:20 – 21 20) For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21) Who shall
change our vile body, that is may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself.
We are only ambassadors on earth. We have to visualize, that we crucified our
old way of life, and now we live by faith in Jesus Christ. Our life is heavenly, that is why we don’t
concern ourselves with earthly things before heavenly things.
I have a link on this website to Lesfeldick.org. I urge you to go into this website, and
scroll down and select his teaching and listen to them. He goes through almost the entire bible
teaching verse by verse. Get your bible
and a note book out, and begin to study the word of God. Remembering that all scripture in the bible
is from God, and is to be believed. That is our faith. I would urge you to start in Romans and study
the books of Paul first. For Paul is the
apostle called for out to teach us gentiles his message, the Gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
One more thing, let me quote from my mentor Les
Feldick. “We are not sinners because we
sin. We sin because we are
sinners.” When we are new Christians,
the drive in us to pull us back is sometimes hard to fight against. Occasionally you probably will fall. You probably will wake up feeling horrible
and regretful. But as you continue to strive and grow in the Gods word, these
drives to pull you back will fade away.
I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them:
because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. Hopefully you never fall back into any of the
old sinful ways, but if you do, don’t be afraid to get down on your knees. Pray and talk to God just like you would any
respectable authority that you know loves you. Confess your weakness and sin to
him, and ask for strength to be able to over come and desperately try harder
next time to overcome. God is faithful
and true to forgive you and wipe that sin off of your account.
Lastly is this:
Ephesians 6: 10 – 18 Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of
God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand. Stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all,
taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked, And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God:
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; These scriptures were given to
Paul by the Holy Spirit, when he was in captivity in Rome bound in chains. The Holy Spirit is letting us know that God
has given us armour to not only withstand the devil, but to defeat him. Firstly we must be filled with truth, which
is believing in what God says in his Holy Bible. If Christ says he died for you, and cleansed
your sins with his blood, you must believe that. Believe that Christ is who he says he is. Next is Righteousness. Our righteousness comes from Christ not
ourselves. We believe and try to act and
do things that we know are pleasing unto God, but never loosing sight of the
fact that Christ was perfect, and we are in Christ. In our current human bodies, we can never be
perfect as Christ was. The devil knows
that, and waits for us to mess up so he can whisper in our minds and let us
know that we messed up. Satan will
condemn you and try and get you to condemn yourself, but raise up your
breastplate of Christ’s righteousness and let the devil know that Christ was
righteous so therefore I am righteous because I am in Christ and he is
righteous. Then cast off those thoughts,
and give praise to God. Know and learn
the gospel ( 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4 ).
Christ died for our sins and was buried.
He rose up from the dead on the third day. Know it, and be ready to share it. The shield of faith, is our unwavering belief
that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and our belief in the Gospel. When Satan whispers in our ear that we are
not saved, we can boldly come into the throne room of God and rebuke him. Our faith is in Christ, and our faith will
protect us from all his accusations against us.
The helmet of Salvation is also key.
We must know that Christ forgave us of all our sin. We must know that we are saved, or the devil
will constantly come at you and tell you that you are not. Learn the scriptures in Romans, Corinthians,
Galatians, and all Paul epistle that tell you that your sins have been covered
as a gift from God to you for believing in his Son. It doesn’t depend on your works, or what you
do. The devil is a liar and the father
of them. Learn these scriptures for they
are the sword of God to fight off the devil.
Joyce Meyer has a wonderful book called “Battlefield of the
mind.” The entire book is about this
warfare we have against the powers of darkness.
Satan will always be putting thoughts into your mind to bring you down
or try and weaken your faith. These are
the battles we fight.
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