Now that I'm a Christian, what do I do next?
Before you start this study, please follow this link to the study on the Fall of Man in this web site.
This will give you some insight as to what happened in the beginning to cause us to become sinners
in need of salvation through Christ Jesus. Then come back here and continue, as what is written here
will make more sense after you read the Garden of Eden study.
Being a new Christian can be a pretty confusing experience, one with many questions, and many varied answers. This particular study will hopefully help answer some of the basic questions you might have straight from the Scriptures.
But first, some advice........
Don't ever base your faith or salvation on feelings!!!!
There will be times in which you may not feel the presence of the Lord, or you may not have felt any different when you accepted Jesus than you did before you accepted Him. Don't worry, He's still there. As Job in the Old Testament noted;
JOB 23:8-10
8 “Look, I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
9 When He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; when He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him.
10 But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.
Basing your faith and salvation on emotional experience is dangerous, because feelings change
like the weather. Also, relying on feelings precludes faith for we believe in faith that God lives,
and that He dwells within us when we accept Him. As the author of the book of Hebrews in the
New Testament says;
HEBREWS 13:5
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For
He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
And concerning faith, God says;
HEBREWS 10:38
38 Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in
him.”
He has promised to dwell within us through His Holy Spirit until we meet Him after death, or we see Him at His coming. In fact, there is no longer a need for an Earthly Temple, as He considers our bodies to be His Temple!!! Note verse 16 below when he says;
2 CORINTHIANS 6:14-18
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord
Almighty.”
Note: Belial is another name for Satan.
The set of verses above warn about the complicated issue of marriage of a believer to an
unbeliever. I wanted to show in verse 16 that God has promised to dwell within us.
We must have faith to be a Christian. God is a spirit, and is therefore invisible. Why? Because if we were to see Him in His majesty, the sheer glory of His presence would instantly kill us. Even Moses, the great man of God with whom God spoke directly, wasn't allowed to see His face.
Moses had requested to see God's glory, but was told;
EXODUS 33:18-23
18 And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.”
19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
20 But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
21 And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
Man, being what he is, would try to make images of God if His face was seen as Man wants to worship something visible. But God had already said;
EXODUS 20:4
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the Earth beneath, or that is in the water under the Earth;
But He has left us reminders of His presence in all that we see around us, in the very order of what we see, from the smallest atomic particle, to the deepest depths of space. As the apostle Paul noted in his letter to the Romans;
Romans 1:18-21
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Even the very intricacies of the human body speak of an intelligence which planned its workings, despite those who believe in evolution. For example, there is a chemical in the body called linoleic acid, which is needed within red blood cells.
The molecule of the acid is too large to be absorbed through the cell walls, so the body chemically breaks it up, inserts it within the cell, and reassembles it so it cannot get back out. Evolution? Or design? I'll choose design!
Evolutionists choose to believe that order came from chaos, whereas the second Law of Thermodynamics proves that everything goes from a more perfect state to a less perfect state over time. In other words the universe is running down - stars eventually die; food rots; we grow old and die, etc.
So by this fact, order came first, and is slowly devolving into chaos just as the Law of Thermodynamics states. Which means someone had to have established the order of all things in the first place!
Note that the apostle Paul states in the verses above that those who choose to not believe in God
are without excuse before Him, for they willfully choose to ignore the evidence He has given us
of His existence!
Is Satan real???
Very much so! The Bible speaks often of him, and he is the reason why things are the way they are today with wars, crime, disease, hatred, death, and all of the misery, pain and suffering we see and experience in the world today. The study on the Fall of Man explains much of this concept.
Satan too is a spirit, which is why we can't see him. His demons are also spirits performing his wicked plans under his direction, and we must be aware of them also. Actually, Satan's biggest and most successful plan to date has been to make the world believe he doesn't exist. That way he can wreak the havoc he does, and people blame other reasons than him for it.
As you grow in the Lord, you'll learn more about him, and how to fight him. Which brings up my
next point...
Don't always believe that when bad things happen to you, it's because you've done something wrong and God is punishing you!
As soon as you gave your heart to Jesus, you instantly became Satan's enemy, and therefore will be a target for him. God usually grants a "restraint period" after you accept Jesus before Satan is allowed to test you. And he WILL petition God to test you. As Scripture says;
JOB 1:1-22
1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
2 And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
3 Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.
4 And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
7 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the Earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the Earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house;
14 and a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
15 when the Sabeans raided them and took them away—indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
19 and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.
NOTE: the Sabeans were a nomadic Arab tribe of Saudi Arabia which frequently robbed caravans travelling through the area.
The Chaldeans were raiders from the Mesopotamian city-State of Babylon.
Also;
JOB 2:1-10
1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
2 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the Earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the Earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
4 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
As you can see by the above verses, Satan complained to God that He had protected Job so that he, Satan couldn't afflict him. He also bet that if God would remove His protection from Job, he, Job, would curse God for any calamities that befell him.
God then let Satan afflict Job, but note carefully that He put strict limits on what Satan could do.
Note also, that Job had done nothing wrong, but God allowed his faith to be tested so that those in Heaven and Earth could see the righteousness of Job during his time of trial.
Granted, we probably will not be tested to the point in which Job was, for Job was an example for the rest of us, but God allows us to be tested for several reasons.
One, is to show us where weak points in our faith are, so that we can work with Him to strengthen them.
Two, if we pass the test, we can show God, Satan, angels and demons that we are strong
enough to resist Satan, and he loses face in the presence of God and Satan's own demons.
Guaranteed, Satan hates when that happens!
An example of the reasons for these tests was given when Jesus spoke with His disciples before His arrest, trial, and crucifixion. He spoke these words to His disciple Peter;
LUKE 22:31-34
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.
32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”
34 Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny
three times that you know Me.”
Scripture records that Peter did indeed fail the test put to him by Satan. After Jesus' arrest, Scripture states;
LUKE 22:54-62
54 Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. But Peter followed at a distance.
55 Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them.
56 And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.”
57 But he denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”
58 And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
59 Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
God allows us to be tested to show weaknesses in our faith that need to be dealt with. He is also a just God, and will many times grant Satan's petitions to test us. But, He also provides for us even during times of trial;
1 CORINTHIANS 10:12-13
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Note: Satan must always ask permission of God to test us. He cannot do anything on his own as far as we are concerned. And God doesn't always allow his requests. And if He does, He always puts limits on how far Satan can go, as we saw above with Job.
Case in point. I was working on a study for this site one day and was alone in my house. Suddenly I clearly heard a voice say, “Neither you or your servants will afflict him, nor will you hinder him in his work. Depart from Me.”
Startled, I looked around but I was still alone. Then I realized that Satan had asked God for permission to afflict me but God had allowed me to hear His response.
Jesus knows what we go through, in being tested. God allowed Satan to test His own Son for 40 days in the wilderness, as Jesus fasted (ate nothing) the entire time. Many people think that Jesus suffered only the three temptations recorded in the books of Matthew and Luke.
Yet the book of Mark records;
MARK 1:9-13
9 It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
10 And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.
11 Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
12 Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.
13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild
beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
Note that Mark carefully states that Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted the entire time by Satan! Therefore Jesus was tested in every way that we are, and understands what we go through here on Earth. Note also, God puts limits on Satan as to how far he can test us, but Scripture doesn't record that there were limits placed on Satan when he tested Jesus. Therefore we will never be tempted or tested beyond what Jesus was.
Why did God allow Jesus to be tempted like we are? So that He could understand first-hand what we suffer in temptation, and in weakness. God in His love and mercy wouldn't allow us to suffer something that He Himself has not suffered also.
As the author of Hebrews assures us;
HEBREWS 4:14-16
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
This brings up another point. Note that verse 16 states that we are to boldly come before God's throne to ask for help. We are His children by adoption into His kingdom, therefore we have a greater right to come before Him and petition Him than Satan does.
BUT, we must be careful to come before Him in humility, not arrogance! Just as a child would come before their father to ask for something, even so must we behave in this matter. We have the right to enter His presence, but we must also remember that He is God, and we need to show Him the respect and reverence that He is due!
Concerning the temptation of Jesus, the author of Hebrews is even more bold in proclaiming;
HEBREWS 2:14-18
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are
tempted.
Note several things here. Jesus isn't ashamed to call us His brethren! Through adoption by His
Father, we are God's children, with Jesus as our "elder Brother". The kingdom was given to Jesus
by God, and He has chosen to share it with us, both Jew and Gentile!
Note especially though, that in verse 17 and 18, He took on flesh so that He might understand
firsthand what it was like to be human, with all of the frailties that come with being human. As
such He can help us in our temptations, having suffered the same temptations Himself in greater
magnitude.
In the book of Revelation, it is written;
REVELATION 12:7-12
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the Earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the
earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he
knows that he has a short time.”
This refers to a future event soon to come, in which Satan will be thrown out of Heaven to make his final stand on Earth before Jesus comes back to rule.
Note carefully that in verse 10, it states, "...the accuser of our brethren...." Again, Jesus considers us to be his brethren if we accept Him as our Savior!
Note also, some of us will suffer death as the final test of our faith. Therefore we need to count the cost of discipleship, as it is easy to believe in Jesus and follow Him when things are going well. The true test comes when affliction comes upon us!
Jesus spoke of these things when He said;
Matthew 13:1-23
1 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.
4 And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.
5 Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.
6 But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.
8 But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.
12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;
17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Verse 19 is also the reason why we need to read God's Word continually, as Satan will try to take away what we have learned. If we keep reading, he can't take it away as easily, and it remains with us. Also we become stronger in faith and understanding, and know the difference between truth and error.
Jesus also said concerning discipleship;
LUKE 14:26-33
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—
29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’?
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
Now, Jesus didn't mean for verse 26 to be taken literally. He was making a point of
relationships, in which He must come first in all things. And He also didn't mean that we should
bear a literal cross. He meant that we should be prepared to suffer in life, as we will be targets of
Satan and the sinful world. He never said that things would be easy here on Earth. But He HAS
promised He would stay with us, and help us through whatever happens. As a poster I once saw
stated: "God promises a safe destination, but not a calm passage."
Sounds unnerving, doesn't it? It's not as bad as it appears. Please understand, that as you grow in Jesus, you will come to a greater understanding of these things. And as you mature in faith, you will be able to withstand the trials that Satan will throw at you.
Be sure to keep reading God's Word, especially the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Don't worry if you don't understand everything written there. Learning the Scriptures is a life-long journey! :)
Besides, God will help you in your understanding of His word. As the book of James in the New Testament states;
James 1:5-8
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Note that James says faith is required when we ask things of the Lord.
Jesus Himself confirmed this when He said;
MATTHEW 21:22
22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
Finally,
If you sin after accepting Jesus, and you will, you don't need to re-accept Jesus again!!!
Accepting Jesus as your Savior brings Him into your heart forever. As we have seen above, He will never leave us, or abandon us. He knows that we are human, and still in the flesh. Only after death are we free from our sin nature. As the apostle Paul observed in his letter to the Roman believers;
ROMANS 6:7
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
Jesus has cleansed our spirits from sin, but our bodies are still subject to sin, therefore we are still
subject to temptation as sin can only attack the flesh, but our spirits pay the consequences. For
example, without a body, how can you lust or covet? But the consequences of sin are spiritual.
He will never leave us, but we CAN drive Him out of our lives if we continue in sin!
What I mean, is if we continue to indulge in favorite sins, we will eventually drive Jesus out, and
will quench the Holy Spirit within our lives. If we do this and die in our sins, we will be
sentenced along with the sinners. As He told His disciples;
Matthew 24:44-51
44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.
47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’
49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards,
50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of,
51 and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Note that Jesus says we are to remain faithful, or we will be assigned a place with the
hypocrites in Hell.
There is a poisonous doctrine being taught saying essentially "Once we are saved, we are always saved". The Scriptures above show that this isn't true! We cannot live in active sin after accepting Jesus, and still expect to go to Heaven!
Granted we WILL sin, as we will not be made perfect until after death. God understands this. But as long as we confess our sin before the Lord, and turn away from sin, He will forgive us and we will be restored in fellowship with Him. Only He knows at what point He can no longer remain in our lives because of active indulgence in sin. He will always be there when we turn to Him in repentance though, and will forgive us.
But be warned, there will be consequences to be expected. For example, if you catch AIDS because of immorality, and you ask for God's forgiveness for the act which caused you to contract the disease, He will forgive you, but you will more than likely still die from the disease.
As Scripture states;
GALATIANS 6:7-9
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not
lose heart.
And don't believe that you can sin so greatly that He will reject you. There is only one sin that will not be forgiven, and that is calling the Holy Spirit a demon, or saying that the works of the Holy Spirit are the works of Satan.
As Scripture records;
MATTHEW 12:22-32
22 Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
23 And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.
26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
30 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
31 “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Note: “Son of David” refers to the prophecies that state that the Messiah would be a descendant
of king David.
In closing..........
I hope that this study has helped with some questions you might have. I know it all sounds
frightening, and even impossible, but it is not. God is faithful, and He will help you grow into a
deeper understanding of these things.
If you have questions, please feel free to ask, as I consider the only dumb questions are the ones
that are not asked! :)
But above all, don't take what I say for fact! PLEASE, research it for yourselves! Be satisfied in your own mind that these things are true!
Far, far too many people don't verify what they are taught against the Scriptures, which is why we have so many weird and in many cases, un-Scriptural doctrines being taught as if they were God's commandments. That is why Jesus gave us this careful warning;
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice
lawlessness!’
Sadly enough, many people will hear these terrible words at the day of Judgment. They will think they have followed Jesus' commandments, when in reality they were following man-made doctrines, or twisted versions of His commandments. That's why He gave us His Word, so we can distinguish between truth and error.
That is also why I back up everything I write in my studies with Scripture in context, so that
people can see for themselves what the Scriptures have to say about the issue.
May Jesus guide you in your walk with Him, and may He provide you with the wisdom to
discern between truth and error! And may He keep you safe until He comes for us, or we are
called home to be with Him forever!
Questions? Comments? E-mail: watchmen_777@yahoo.com