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| Section: Basic Christian Living:
courses for new Christians |
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Beginning with God |
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1. Getting
Started: |
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Repentance
and Faith |
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Acts 2:38 'Repent and be
baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit.'
On the road to becoming a Christian
The most important thing in the world is for you to know
God in a personal way. In other words, you need to be a Christian.
But how do you become a Christian? Let's see what the Bible—which is our
authority for everything—has to say about it.
The gap problem
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The problem is, there's a gap between God and
people. It's a twofold gap. First, God is infinitely great, while we're so
small. And, second, God is totally pure, while we're sinful. So there's both
a size gap and a sin gap between you and him.
How can that gap be bridged, so that you can become a
Christian?
 | Not just by being born in a so-called 'Christian'
country. You may be born in a garage, but it doesn't make you a car! The
only 'country' we are born into, spiritually speaking, is Satan's kingdom,
the 'dominion of darkness' (Colossians 1:13).
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| Not by having Christian parents, helpful though that
may be. Spiritual life is 'not of natural descent' (John 1:13).
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| Not by doing your best and living a good life,
commendable though that is. God says that salvation is 'not by works'
(Ephesians 2:8-9).
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| Not by being christened or baptised as a baby. The
Bible knows nothing of this traditional practice, and the Bible is our
guide.
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| Not by going through any ritual or partaking of any
sacrament. |
Bridging the gap
How then do you bridge the gap? By being born
into the family of God!
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| This is a spiritual encounter
with Jesus Christ which puts us into a right relationship with God as his
children. People sometimes refer to it as 'being saved', 'getting converted'
or being 'born again'. To have had such an experience is the most vital
thing in the world for you as an individual. It
begins with two closely-related steps:
Acts 20:21 'Turn to God in
repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.'
1. How to repent
By nature and practice you are a sinner in God's eyes.
That doesn't mean you have necessarily committed gross crimes—just that you
fall far short of God's standard, which is the perfection expressed in the
life of Jesus. To repent is to admit your sin and determine, with God's
help, to turn your back on it. It involves your mind, your emotions and
your actions.
| Your mind. Repentance is primarily a change
of mind. It means agreeing with God about your shortcomings. No longer
will you makes excuses like, 'It's the way I was brought up' or 'I
inherited my foul temper from my dad.' Instead, you'll say, 'It's my
responsibility alone, and I've been wrong to act that way.' |
2 Samuel 12:13
'David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord."'
| Your emotions. There will be genuine sorrow for
your sins as you realise it was these that sent Jesus to the cross at
Calvary. |
Acts 2:37 'When the people
heard this, they were cut to the heart and said…, 'Brothers, what shall we
do?"'
| Your actions. You'll actually stop doing what
the Holy Spirit has shown you to be wrong. This will mean, for example,
breaking off an immoral relationship, no longer stealing stationery from
your office, or asking a relative to forgive you for your bitter attitude. |
Acts 26:20 'I preached
that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by
their deeds.'
2. How to put your faith in Jesus
Once you've repented, you'll quickly find that you're
incapable of living a life that pleases God. He has set standards that
you must reach if you are to be close to him. Being a sinner, both by birth
and by practice, you can never reach that standard, no matter how hard you
try. Yet you were made for God and feel inside of you the need to be his
friend.
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Here's where Jesus comes into the picture. He
is the Son of God, himself divine. He left the Father's side and became a
human being like you, though without sin. During his earthly life he did
meet God's standards. He offered himself on the cross as a sacrifice, taking
the punishment that your sins deserved. He was raised from the dead and
ascended back to the Father.
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| Now God offers salvation to you
(a relationship with God) as a free gift, purchased by the blood of
Jesus. 'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord' (Romans 6:23). Will you accept it?
A gift doesn't actually become yours until you reach out and
take it from the person who's offering it to you. The wonderful gift of
knowing God isn't, of course, a physical thing to be taken with your two
hands. It is a spiritual thing and must be taken by faith.
Receiving God's gift
You receive this gift when, having repented:
| You acknowledge the futility of your own efforts to win
God's favour.
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| You realise that, if God is going to accept you, it can
only be on the basis of what Jesus did on the cross.
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| You come to God with empty hands and pray to him,
asking him to accept you for Jesus' sake.
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| You tell God that you're now submitting your life
totally to Jesus as your Lord (Boss). |
Have you personally repented and put your faith in Jesus?
Telling others
There's really no such thing as a secret Christian. God
intends you to tell others openly about what you've done in believing in
Jesus. We call this confessing our faith. Saying it out loud brings
it out in the open for all to see, and this will strengthen you enormously
in your Christian life.
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| Here are some Bible verses about this:
Romans 10:9-10 'If you
confess 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
confess and are saved.'
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Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus
said, 'Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will acknowledge him
before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will
disown him before my Father in heaven.'
Have you shared your faith in this way? It's best to start
with those closest to you-husband, wife, parents, workmates, neighbours or
close friends.
Can you be sure God has accepted you?
Yes! The apostle John said, 'I write these things to you
who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know
that you have eternal life' (1 John 5:13).
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You can't relax your full weight
into a chair if you're not confident it is strong enough to bear your
weight. Neither can you relax fully into your relationship with God if
you're not certain that he has accepted you.
God has given three main means of assurance. They are:
| The clear teaching of the Word of God, the
Bible, which you should take at face value by faith. For example, Jesus
said, 'Whoever comes to me I will never drive away' (John 6:37). Believe
it. You came to him, so rest assured he will hold on to you and never
reject you.
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| The inner witness of the Holy Spirit that you
have become God's child. More of this in the lesson on the Holy Spirit,
but for now notice this passage: |
Romans 8:15-16 'You
received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba,1
Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's
children.'
| The discovery that, as you obey his will, you feel
God working with you: |
Philippians 2:12-13
'Continue to work out2 your
salvation with fear and trembling,3
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good
purpose.'
The Bible is vital in showing us how to know God
personally and how to live the Christian life. For that reason it's a good
idea to start memorising some key verses from it. Here's one to begin with.
Commit to memory not just the words but also the Bible
reference—where it can be found in the Bible. In this case Acts is the book
of the Bible; the 3 is the chapter; and the 19 is the verse. So it's Acts
chapter 3 verse 19.
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Learn by
heart |
Acts 3:19
'Repent, then,
and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.' |
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