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“I recently accepted Jesus as my savior. What are the next things should I do?”

Thank you for the question. I am so glad you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and welcome to God’s household. This is a miraculous work that God accomplished in you to become a child of God by believing in Christ as your savior. Congratulations.

Now I want to suggest you few points so that you can grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

First, start reading the Bible.

You can go to a website and read Bible on line. Biblegateway.com is a good on line Bible website. However, I really prefer you to have a Bible in your hand. There are several different translations of the Bible available now. All are good translations and faithfully translated from the original languages of Hebrew and Greek. You can select one that is easy for you to read and understand. Some of the good translations include New King James Version, New American Standard Bible version, New International version and Revised standard version. If possible, try to get a study Bible. Study Bible has study notes on almost all pages of the Bible which can help you understand the important passages. If you are unable to get a Bible, please let us know by going to contact/prayer tab in www.teachbible.org. I would recommend you to start reading the Gospel of John which is one of the Gospels in the New Testament section of the Bible. Or you can read one of any other four Gospels. Gospels helps you to read the words and actions of Lord Jesus Christ.

Second, start praying to God in the name of Jesus Christ.

Prayer is simply talking to your father in heaven. He loves you and saved you, right? And now He is eager to listen to your prayers. Therefore, talk to him. Give Him thanks for saving you, forgiving you, giving you eternal life in heaven. When you accepted Christ Jesus as your savior, God granted you eternal life. The moment you die, you will be transferred to heaven and you will spend eternity in heaven with God and Jesus Christ. Bible talks about the assurance of your salvation. He will never cancel your salvation. You are saved for ever and you are guaranteed eternal life in heaven. This is the promise of God in the Bible. Amazing and wonderful blessings you received and therefore thank God.

You can pray to God for your daily needs, about your fears and worries. Jesus taught disciples a model prayer when they asked to teach them to pray. This is in in Mathew 6:9-13 and in other Gospels. When I pray, I usually start like this- “My Father in heaven.” Then I will say thank you for His blessings in my life. I praise Him. This is how I start my prayer with thanks giving and praises. Then I pray to lead me in His will and plans every day because His plans are the best plans for your life. After that, I pray to give me my daily needs. Say all your needs to God.  He wants to hear from you all your needs. I pray to protect me so that I won’t sin against Him. I pray to deliver me from the evil one and wicked people. I pray to guard me safe today. Then after submitting all my needs, problems, worries and fears and praise Him again and thank Him for hearing my prayer. Then I will end my prayer by saying something like this, “I pray all these in the name of Jesus Christ, my savior”.

This is just a model prayer that Jesus taught the disciples but you are free to use your own words and styles in your prayer.  You can pray for more things or different things as well. You can pray for other people’s needs. It is called intercessory prayer-praying for others. You can pray for your spouse, children, family and other people who are in need of your prayers. The most important thing is you pray and talk to God.

Thirdly, locate a Bible teaching and Bible preaching church in your area.

 A church and other believers in Christ are essential for your spiritual growth. Jesus said “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18). Christian Church is Christ’s enterprises and He is building it in this world. By becoming a member of a local church, you are allowing yourself to be a part of God’s work in our lifetime.

Fourthly, obey the Lord in water baptism and Lord’s Supper.

Water baptism is a commandment of the Lord. (Matthew 28:20 and several other passages in the Bible). When you connect with a Church the leaders of the Church will be happy to help you to obey this commandment. Please tell them I want to obey the Lord in waters of Baptism and they will arrange an occasion for you. Similarly, there is a second ordinance or commandment. This is the observance of the Lord’s table. (Luke 22:15-20).  In observing the Lord’s table, a local church as whole is remembering the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It reminds us that the Lord is risen and He will come back to take us home with Him. In other words, this is a remembrance time of what the Lord has done for us. This is a time to give the Lord our worship and thanks giving for his sacrificial death, burial and resurrection for our sake.  You can ask your local church how often they observe the Lord’s table. More often is better. The Church in the first century after the ascension of Christ, observed Lord’s table on every 1^st day of the week, Sunday, per Acts 20:7

Fifthly, Join a Bible study group to study Bible on an going basis.

Your local church will have serious Bible study sessions. This is a wonderful opportunity to grow in the Lord and in the Bible. Now you are new child of God and He want you to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Bible gives you the spiritual food for your spiritual growth and strength like natural food makes you grow and strong physically. Bible says in 1 Peter 2:2, “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” The Word of God- Bible- is the pure milk that will make you grow spiritually. A new born believer in Christ, should desire to study the Word of God-Bible- like a newborn baby.

Sixthly, Share the same message of the good news you accepted to others.

You can share the Gospel which is the good news to family members, friends, neighbors and others. God want to use you to reach out to others so that they can also become the children of God and go and spend eternity in heaven with God. Romans 1:17 says Gospel is a dynamite which has super power in it. It can change the hearts of any man. It says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

Seventhly, Help others and obey the commandments the Lord gave us.

There are so many people who need to love and help of us around us. God loved us and gave His only Son for our sins. We can freely give and help others. This way we can model Christ in our lives. You can help other ministries, evangelists and missionaries as well, if you are financially able to help. God uses you and your resources along with all other children of God’s resources for the furtherance of His kingdom work in this world. “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:16). Bible promises you will be rewarded when you help others who are in need and when you help Christian ministries. God will never forget the good works we have done for Him and He will faithfully reward you. When He rewards you, it will be much more than you ever expected or imagined. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24). Bible also reminds us,“ He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” (Ephesians 3:20).

Eighthly, Ask God forgiveness when you know did something wrong.

A child of God lives in this sin bound world and mingle with other sinful people. Chances are you will make mistakes and possibly sin. But when that happens remember to ask God forgiveness. Never go to bed without seeking Lord’s forgiveness when you become aware that you did something wrong. Remember Bible says 1 John 1:8-10, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”  But when we agree with Him and confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive all our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

Ninthly, Understand Christian life is not rosy all the time.

Jesus Himself said in this world we will face various trails, persecutions and sufferings. A believer in Christ is not exempt from all these problems. A truly converted Christian’s life is not exempt from problems. In fact, as followers of Christ, we may have to encounter more trials and testing in this world. Jesus said to His disciples, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Jesus also promised His peace and presence in the midst of our trials and problems.  Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27). Bible reminds us, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.” (Philippians 1:29). Keep this truth in your heart as you grow in Christ Jesus.

Tenthly, A final note: Remember you are saved by grace through faith in Christ and works are not reason for your salvation.

Now, please understand the above ten points are not intended to show any requirements from your part. You are saved by grace, by faith in the Savior, Lord Jesus Christ. Bible clearly says you are not saved by any works. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:8. However, the above seven steps can help you to grow spiritually, to know the Lord more intimately and to fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

But when you became a child of God, you are God’s handiwork, created new in Christ Jesus to do good works. Bible says God already prepared in advance the good works you would do in His name. So fulfill God’s works and plan for your life. (Ephesians 2:10).

 

Did Jesus celebrate his birthday? How about Christmas?

Thank you for your question. Yes, every person who born into this world has a B-day. Is this the same for Christ? Please read my answer below. Thanks again for asking.

Bible says in Isaiah 9:6, “”For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

This was a prophecy fulfilled in the incarnation of Christ Jesus along with more than other 300 hundred prophecies from the Old Testament, regarding the coming of the Messiah/savior of mankind into the world. Did you notice the verse above said, “a child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us.” Father God gave His eternal Son to us for our salvation. Keep in mind, Christ’s beginning did not start at his incarnation. He became a man in His incarnation.
This is what theologians call, “Hypostatic union.” It explains how God, the Son of God, took human nature but He remained God at the same time. Jesus is called God-man. Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man in his incarnation. He came to earth and became a man but kept fully the divine nature in Himself. This full divine and human nature of Jesus is clearly evident in the Gospels in the Bible. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus like a man but in next few moments, you ordered Jesus to come out the grace and Lazarus, the dead one for three days, came out of the tomb. (John 11:38 and 43). He was sleeping in a boat showing his full humanity and yet woke up and rebuked the wind and waves and all stopped and the sea became perfectly calm. (Mark 4:39). Jesus healed the sick with His word, controlled the nature with His word, resurrected people with His word, released the people from demon possession with His word. It was due to the fact of the hypostatic union, He was able to pay for humanity’s sin by His sinless and perfect blood on the cross. Jesus Christ can save anyone from their sins and grant eternity in heaven with God based on His death, burial, and resurrection on our behalf if one comes to Jesus in prayer and ask for forgiveness and salvation.
In short, Christ does not need to celebrate His birthday during his lifetime on this earth, simply because He does not have a beginning or the end. After all, what is the birthday of the eternal God? He is eternal Son of God. Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22:13. In another occasion Jesus said to the disciples, “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:48. Bible says also this about Jesus Christ as the eternal word of God in John 1 “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He (Jesus) was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…..The Word (Jesus) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1-3 and verse 14). The Word, Christ, the Son of God, was given to us. He pre-existed before all things, and hence for Him, there was no need to celebrate birthday being the eternal and everlasting God. In addition, there is no reference in the Bible that says Jesus celebrated His birthday. His humanity had a beginning point at the time of His birth but He was divine and God always and will always be.

Now people all over the world celebrate Christmas every year not to remember Christ’s birthday (I hope) but to remember and acknowledge the Son of God became a man for their sake to reconcile them to God the Father. In fact, Christmas is not viewed as a birthday celebration of Christ. On the contrary, on Christmas day, people of all continents, remember Christ, the Son of God, became a man and came to this earth to pay for our sins on the cross of Calvery to get us back to a loving fellowship and friendship with God. In this way, people celebrate His incarnation (that Jesus took the human nature along with His divine nature) and not His B-day per say.
Alternatively, we should remember Christ, His incarnation, His death, burial and resurrection as a ransom (price) for our sin each and every day of our lives. We should give thanks and praises to Him and to God the Father who sent Jesus to this earth on an ongoing basis. Bible, in fact, asks us to be thankful always. It says, “Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” (Ephesians 5:20).

Question received- “Does water baptism give a sinner true salvation?
If yes or no,
Give biblical support to your answers.”

Again, thank you for another question. I understand many people are confused regarding this matter of water baptism and salvation. Therefore it is a very important question.

Water baptism along with Lords Supper – remembering the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in a local church, are the two ordinances given to the believers in the Bible. These can be read  in Mathew 28:18-20 and Luke 26:26-28. These two are the commandments our Lord Jesus Christ. Keep in mind water baptism or Lords’ supper do not save anyone. When a person repents about his or sins and calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, then he or she get saved. Romans 10:9-13 along with other passages confirm how a person gets saved. It says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
A person who already got saved by confessing the sins and accepting Christ as the savior obey Lord Jesus by water baptism and remembering in Lord’s supper in a local church. I would say the first commandment to obey after salvation is water baptism. Acts 2:41 says after the preaching of Peter, people repented and accepted Christ as their savior. They were baptized. Who got baptized? Those “people who repented and accepted Christ as their savior.” Did you notice the order here? First repentance of their sins and acceptance of Christ as savior and then water baptism.

So baptism doesn’t save and in fact no human works ever save anyone. If any work saves people, Christ didn’t need to come to this earth and die for all of us. Only faith and trust in Christ saves. Salvation happens when one repents of their sins and turn to Christ for salvation. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13. Accept Christ as your savior in a small prayer and you will be saved and granted eternal life.

One of the thieves on the cross right before his death prayed to Jesus like this, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus immediately answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Now if the thief had an opportunity to live he should have obeyed the Lord who loved him and saved him. But he did not get an opportunity to live any more days. But Jesus assured him eternal life on the basis of his request for salvation. There were two thieves on either side of Jesus. One mocked and ridiculed Jesus, but this thief expressed his faith in the Messiah (savior) right in the midst of his severe pain. His past was very bad and that is why he was crucified for his crimes. But one word of faith and trust in Christ made all the difference as far as his eternity in heaven is concerned.

It is very important to obey the Lord in water baptism after your personal trust and faith in Him because Bible asks us to do. But only after the profession of your faith in Christ. Refer Acts 8:26-40 for details and Acts 2:41 and right order. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?”
Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” You see the belief in Christ is the key to true salvation. So Philip commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.” The right order as explained above in the Bible is (1) preaching and hearing the message of the Gospel because Philip preached the Gospel to Eunuch (2) Eunuch’s understanding of the Gospel message and request to get baptized. (3) Philip said You can get baptized “if you believe with all your heart, you may.” Both of them went down into the water and Philip baptized him. This is the right order. Repentance and faith in Christ and then get baptized to obey the Lord’s commandment of water baptism. It is not baptism that saves but what truly saves a person is his or her repentance and believe in Christ Jesus as the savior. Baptism is an ordinance that proclaims one’s faith in Christ as a public testimony and baptism is the first commandment a believer in Christ will need to obey. Christ said, if you love me you will obey my commandment.

For more details visit study bible section of www.teachbible.org.

“Is homosexuality a sin? I am not homosexual but want to get a clear answer on this topic”

Jose, Good question. Thank you for asking. Homosexuality is a sin like other immoral sins mentioned in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”.

Then please read the very next verse #11 and thank and praise God. It says, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

I don’t want to condemn any person because Christ does not condemn but He convicts our sins with His perfect and matchless love. It is conviction and not condemnation that brings new life to people.  God loves you the way you are and He has a wonderful deliverance and rescue plan for you. Do you know the truth? As believers in Christ, we all had a past sinful lifestyle- addicted to different types of sins before we repented about our sins and trusted Christ Jesus as the savior. But then Christ comes along and delivers us from such bondages and addictions with His power when we submit to Him. There is no sin that is unpardonable accept one sin. The one sin that is not pardonable or forgivable happens when an individual continuously rejects the work of the Holy Spirit when He draws him to believe in Christ Jesus and then eventually die without believing Christ Jesus as his or her savior.

The eternal destination is sealed at the time of death. The incident Jesus told about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) and several other passages in the Bible affirms this truth. Nothing we can do for our salvation after our death. And the problem gets more complex because  we don’t know what day or time we die. Therefore, it is very, and very important to repent about the sin – if homosexual – repent about it, confess to the Jesus and turn to Him in prayer and seek His help. Bible says in 1 John 1:9-10, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” It is important to admit homosexuality is a sin against God. We should not say homosexuality is not a sin. If we say that, then we make God a liar, because He said in the Bible it is a sin like other immoral sins. But the Bible also say, “the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7(b). 

The solution to all sin is this – Christ died for our sins on the cross and He rose again from the dead for our victory. He paid it all for us. Admit sin as sin and accept Christ Jesus as the savior of your life, forsake the old way of life and the Lord will grant you the power to over come the temptation once you trusted Christ as your savior. He will transform you to a brand new person. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The old life style will be gone by Christ’s transforming power. Give God a chance to change and transform and you will be glad you did. Then join a Bible teaching and preaching church. God’s power and His Holy Spirit will help you overcome the temptations.  I am sorry for the short answer. But hope it helps.