What
should I expect after I accept Jesus?
After
you accept Jesus and become one of His, you will want to learn about him and
all that he has done. To get the most
out of your studies, you need to learn how to understand the Bible. God gave his word to us in the form of a book
two to four thousand years ago. All we
need to know is in this book that we call the Bible.
To
understand what you are reading, there are several foundation blocks to learn
about that will make this book come alive.
You need to know the difference between: heaven and earth, law and
grace, Jew and Gentile, and sin and righteousness. Before there was grace, there was law and
before the law there was belief. Abraham
believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. After Abraham came the law, and in order to
obtain a temporary righteousness some innocent animal had to die and spill his
blood on the alter of God. The sacrifice of an animal didn’t originate with the
law, but was incorporated with instruction in the law. The sacrifice of the blood of animals can be
traced all the way back to Adam and Eve.
God himself did the first sacrifice when he made them clothes of animal
skin. The book of Genesis tell us that
Able presented God with a blood sacrifice and Cain with a fruit of the ground
sacrifice. Those sacrifices didn’t
remove the sin, it just covered it until the next sacrifice was done. After the law came grace, where God sent his
Son to shed his blood as a “once and for all” sacrifice.
A
simple definition of law and grace is this:
with the law, when you broke that law the punishment was severe and you
received what you deserved. With grace,
Jesus received what we deserved, even though he didn’t deserve it, and we
received what Jesus deserved, even though we didn’t deserve it.
A
lot of people have trouble understanding the foundations of Christianity, and
tend to get everything jumbled up. They
in turn find the bible confusing and contradictory at times. When just a couple of foundation blocks are
understood, you’ll find the entire bible fits together perfectly and nothing
contradicts anything else.
First
you need to understand there are two planes or dividers to our earthly
realm. Look at it as two dimensions of
the same world that we all live in. The
first dimension (heaven) is Gods realm, where God rules and his loyal angelic
followers dwell (we’ll call this dimension, light). The other dimension is where Satan rules
along with a few of the disloyal angelic creation plus everyone living on earth
(we’ll call this dimension, dark).
These two dimensions need to be differentiated to understand the
salvation message. You must also
understand that God still rules over the dark dimension and Satan must answer
to God and can only exhort authority that God allows him to exhort. He does not have full reign. As humans and created beings, we are all born
into the dark dimension.
I
came to a clearer understanding of these dimensions a few years ago. My wife’s very best friend was dying of cancer. In her final hours, she lay in bed with all
her family and friends, including us, surrounding her. Several times her breathing would get hard
and raspy, and then she would be perfectly still. No breathing movements from her chest. We all thought that was it, but a few seconds
later she started breathing again, woke up and would speak to us. On one of these episodes she told my wife
that she had just seen her family (that had passed on) and they were all
waiting for her. Then she said something
that has stuck with me ever since. She
said it is strange how close one world is from the other. A few hours later she was gone.
Let’s
say that John Doe decides to accept the offer God gave him and become a
follower of Christ. At that point, John
Doe is accepted into the light. However,
he cannot physically enter the light as long as he is still alive and living in
the dark. God will however, see him as a
member of the light, even though he lives in the dark. This is the part that is confusing to most
believers.
Ever
since Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden, we have all
been born in sin. No one was worthy to
stand before God. God, knowing we were all
without hope and stuck in the dark, decided to show mercy and give us a way
out. He sent us his only Son to come and
take our place. Through his sacrifice,
Jesus took all our sins away so we could live without sin. The first man, Adam, put us all under a
curse, but the second man, Jesus, gave us a way of escape. As in our above paragraph, when John Doe
decided to accept the gift of God and become a follower of Jesus, God lifted
the curse of sin and considered him a resident of the light.
Here
is the stumbling block. John Doe is now
a resident of light, but he lives in the dark.
His obligation to the light is to believe in Jesus and that’s it. God sees him as pure and righteous. There is nothing else for him to do. Jesus has already done everything. Jesus’ beating and stripes made a way for
John Doe’s healing, and the blood Jesus spilled on the cross took away John Doe’s
sin. He doesn’t have to do any works
like preach on the street, pay tithes, give to the blood bank, and attend
church or anything. All he has to do is
accept Christ and he now stands before God as righteous. He’s covered as far as living in the light is
concerned. The problem is he still lives
in the dark. When my wife’s friend Carol
passed away, her body was still here in the dark, but the Carol that lived in
that body left the dark and now dwells in the light. We all still live here in the dark, but as
far as God in concerned, we are heirs of the light along with God’s Son,
Jesus. When you believe in Christ, then
you have been purchased by Christ’s blood and now will share in Christ’s estate
with him. God considers you his, just
like Adam and Eve before they sinned.
Nothing in heaven or on earth can remove you from that inheritance.
To
understand the Bible, you need to be able to separate these two
dimensions. As far as being saved and
righteous before God, you are covered by the sacrifice of Christ and don’t need
to do anything else, but as far as living a Christian life before men, there
are things you must do, but these things don’t affect your salvation
(light). However, now that you are a
member of the light, God basically wants to use you in the dark as an
ambassador of the light. An ambassador
is a person from one country living in another to represent the country he is
from.
To
prove my point, in the book of Romans the apostle Paul states that we enter by
faith, not by works. Romans 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. In the book of James the birth brother of
Jesus, James claims that faith without works is dead. James 2:17
Even
so faith, if it hast not works, is dead, being alone. Which one is right? They both are. Paul is talking about John Doe and his relationship with God in the light, and James
is talking about John Doe and his relationship with Man living in the dark. If John Doe gets saved and his neighbors see
him going to church every Sunday, and always talking about Jesus they will know
that he is a Christian by his actions.
If on one day a neighbor comes over to John Doe’s house and says they
are having a tough time and ask for a few dollars or some food, and John Doe
has the means to help them, but turns them away saying “I’ll pray for
you.” What help is that to his hungry
neighbor, and how is Christ lifted up before others? John Doe’s actions are a reflection on his homeland
(light).
The
works that we do as Christians are solely for our benefit. God the Father keeps track of all our works,
and when we pass from this life to the next, our works will be repaid us in the
form of heavenly rewards. We just need
to understand, that our works benefit us, and our salvation is solely through
Jesus Christ. That is what Jesus meant
when he said, come to me and I will give you rest. You can relax and not worry about your
eternal salvation, because Jesus has taken care of that for you. Mathew 11:28
Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
By
simply believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was born of a
virgin, died on the cross and rose again alive, you will be saved for all
eternity. Once you are in the arms of
God, there is nothing that can remove you from that position.
Another
foundation block that a lot of Christians struggle with is the difference
between living by the “Law of Moses”, and living by “Grace.” Abraham in the Old Testament is a perfect
example. Through his descendants came
Moses, the one who God gave the Law to.
Abraham himself lived 400 years or so before the law, but God considered
him righteous because Abraham believed God.
The nation of Israel
John
1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. Under
grace we only have two laws. One is to forgive just as Christ forgave us, and
two is to love your neighbor as yourself.
So
as you study the Bible, you will find some scriptures are directed to the Jews
under the law, and don’t really pertain to us under grace. But it’s important to remember that all
scripture is written by God for our learning. Even though some scripture may
not pertain to our living in grace, those scriptures still have benefit and
meaning. Most of the entire Old Testament,
if you seek, you will see, points to Jesus Christ in one way or another.
To
sum up, Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him as righteousness,
but he was still under sin, and had to sacrifice innocent life to cover that
sin even though he was righteous. The
Jews under the law, weren’t accounted as righteous, but was accepted in their
sin under the law, by following in the law and sacrificing innocent animal life
to cover their sin. In both cases, when
they died, they couldn’t spiritually enter into Heaven, because of the sin born
into man. But in God’s love for man,
these that believed and followed the law of God went to a place called paradise
when they died, and the unbelievers went to a place of torment called hell. Luke
16: 22-26 And
it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into
Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up
his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his
bosom. And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy
lifetie receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now
he is comforeted, and thou art tormented.
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so
that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to
us, that would come from thence. Under grace through Christ
Jesus, his once and for all sacrifice removed sin completely from those that
believed, so they no longer needed to have another innocent sacrifice to cover
their sin because Christ righteous blood took that sin away. And now when the believer dies, that spirit
goes directly to heaven. When Christ was
crucified and died, He went down into the place called paradise, and preached
to those in there, telling them that now he has given himself as the ultimate
sacrifice and they that are in the paradise side with Abraham can now all leave
that holding area and enter into Heaven with him. This can be found in Mathew
27:52-53. And the graves were opened; and many bodies
of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. All the ones on the hell side must remain there until
the time when they will be called up for the great white throne judgment.
So
if you are a believer now, you can rest in Christ and know that you are
forgiven and saved. It is amazing how
many Christians know that they are forgiven, but can’t seem to forgive themselves. Each of us can look back over our lives, and
beat ourselves up over bad things we have done to ourselves, ones we love or
others we hated. It is important that
when you come to Christ, you must forgive yourself so you can live in peace
knowing that God will never count your past against you.
Psalm
103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far
hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Do you know why
God said he would remove our sins as far as the east is from the west, instead
of the north from the south? If you
follow the globe from the bottom going north, as soon as you reach the top, you
find yourself going back south, but if you start going east you find you are
continually going east, and the same with the west. Those two will never meet. There is a story in the Old Testament about a
harlot named Rahab. She lived in a city
called Jericho , and welcomed two Jewish spies in
her home and hid them from the rulers of Jericho
So
please, followers of Jesus Christ, accept his rest and don’t beat yourself up
over your past, but accept the wonderful gift Jesus has offered you. Your sins are gone both now and forever. The law was good, because it teaches us the
knowledge between good and evil, but the gift of Christ is better because it
takes away all sin for those who believe in Christ Jesus. John 1:29 The next day
John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin fo the world.
In
conclusion: What should you expect after
you accept Jesus Christ? Follow his lead
and forgive your enemies. As Jesus
forgave you, you forgive any that have wronged you. Hold no unforgiveness in your heart, but
freely forgive all that offend you, and that includes yourself.
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