Blog

 

As I remember back to when I committed my life to the Lord, I'm thankful for hearing and understanding the simple truth of God's love and forgiveness to sinners who repent, and believe in Jesus.  And The Lord accepted me, and I knew my life was now to live for Him.  God provided a way to Him in Jesus, where it isn't complicated, but even simple, and young people can find their way to Him if they are willing to follow Jesus.  From there, I think it would have also helped me early on in my walk with Him from there to hear someone explain to me in simple terms answers to a few more questions, such as:

 

 

Recently a dear one I know expressed a desire to follow the Lord.

 

I wasn't sure how much this person knew about the Lord and being born again, salvation, the cross and discipleship, etc, so I felt led to write and send him a brief explanation of the main things about forgiveness and salvation from sin to be reconciled to God in Jesus, repentance and being born-again - briefly explaining the foundational truths.

 

I tried to emphasizing the critical things, but also that we don't need to know all the answers in our mind at first.

 

I recommended this person also to Brother Zac Poonen's book 'A Good foundation', and sent this shorter text to introduce them to these principles at a high level first.  In our church, Brother Zac's also advised us that we should not forget those foundational truths, and should revisit them at times (being born again, forgiveness and justification, etc).  That has been important for me since even after being born again I've struggled with things like fear of losing my salvation, issues struggling with sin, discouragement and trials, and what the Lord's main purpose and priority is for me.

 

So below is a letter (modified a bit from what I sent my loved one which was more personal), and hopefully it can be a bit of a brief reminder to many others who already follow the Lord, and if there are any reading this who have not committed their life to the Lord and repented and been baptized, hopefully it can bless you as you consider your life and decision to follow God, and help clear up some important questions I personally only discovered much later.

 

=============================================

 

A LETTER:

 

I wanted to briefly write this since you had wondered about following Jesus and baptism recently.  I genuinely do hope to see you commit your life to Jesus, and also it makes me happy to see that you’ve acknowledged God in your life and pray too.

 

Ultimately the decision is yours, and if you desire to follow Jesus, that means that God is drawing you to Him, praise God!  And I thought it may be helpful just to explain how the Lord has shown me His love and taught me about what it means to be saved from sin to God, commitment to Him, having our sins forgiven, with a hope of being with God forever - both even today, and after this life.

 

I’m hoping to explain it simply and briefly in a bit of a personal way, in case you’ve never heard it before.

 

THE SERIOUSNESS OF SIN

The Bible (God’s perfect Word, even though He wrote it through people, Jesus said it has no errors and can never be broken - John 10:35) says that all of us are sinners - we’ve fallen short of what God’s perfect standards are and because He is perfect, we should never have any hope of ever being worthy to come near Him, and even right now we should be cast away from Him, in Hell because of our sins:

 

“There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬-‭12‬

 

Question: Why is sin serious?

Even one sin is serious, because God is so perfect in every way - and so He cannot be in the presence of sin or fellowship with those who sin.  He is also perfectly righteous too, so He cannot just call us 'forgiven', just like a good judge in court can't just forgive a criminal just because he likes that person or was his friend or something.  Sin has to be paid for with a penalty, but we can never pay because it's such a high cost and so serious:

 

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

 

Justice means that the “wages” (penalty) of our sin has to be paid, to make things right.

 

The only hope we have is if God did something to pay our penalty of wrath and punishment that we deserve, so that all of that is covered and forgiven.

 

GOD'S MERCY AND LOVE IN JESUS

God can do whatever He wants, and no one can question Him. He didn’t have to choose to forgive us, and He would still be perfect. But, praise God that He is so good, and merciful, and loving - that He chose to love us and make a way for us. It came at a huge cost to Him, but is available to us if any of us decides to choose to follow Him.  He gave the free gift of what was most precious to Him - His One and Only Son - Jesus.

 

God’s immense love is proved by paying our penalty, and sending His Son Jesus to earth to live as a perfect, sinless man (as one of us), and to die for us being killed by people, on a cross, in our place.

 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” ‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭NASB

 

Question: What is significant and special about Jesus dying on the cross, since many other people have died painful deaths like that?

 

Jesus was killed physically, but the penalty was not just the physical suffering of dying on a cross. The real penalty and payment was that and they (God the Father Himself and His own Son) were separated in fellowship for that time while He was on the cross, the only time in all eternity they were ever separated:

 

“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭27‬:‭46‬

 

We will never understand the depth of the sacrifice God and Jesus made for this, and what immense sacrifice it was to be totally separated from His Father for the first and only time. We should all be suffering in Hell completely forever with no hope, but Jesus suffering on the cross is enough to pay the penalty of sin and eternal Hell for every person on earth.

 

THE CROSS AND THE CHOICE

Question: If Jesus died on the cross and paid for our sins, what do we have to do, and why?

 

It does come at a cost to follow Jesus too, and the cost is - we can’t do or think whatever we want anymore, we have to decide to give ourselves to God everyday, in simple obedience - by saying ‘yes’ to what God wants for us, and ‘no’ to what we want whenever it contradicts what God wants:

 

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24‬-‭25‬

 

If we choose to love and follow Jesus, it is a high calling but we will “find our life” forever in Him. We will still struggle with sin as we try to fight against sin and doing wrong, but if we fail we don’t have to feel guilty or that we can’t do it well enough, because Jesus' sacrifice covers all our sins (Past, present and future), and not only that but He will help us as we fight.  God will help and give help by sending the Holy Spirit, (which is God with us and in us), to help us:

 

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;” John‬ ‭14‬:‭15‬-‭16‬

 

This is the proof that we really have committed ourself to God - by how we treat His commandments, and how we treat our sin. We know we have a new relationship with God because we have a new relationship with sin (which is - we hate it now, and don't want to do it because we choose to love God instead, that's the main change from before).  Jesus also called this being, 'born again' (John 3:3). That means we have a new life which we didn't have before (born) - a life which hates sin and loves God, rather than the other way around, which was how we lived before (we died with regard to that way of life that chose sin).

 

 

Question: It’s hard to live right like I should, what if I can’t do it?

 

God will help you by sending His Holy Spirit to be inside of you to help in many ways - the Holy Spirit is God with you and in you (giving you the power, and knowing what God wants, and encouraging you - John 14:23-26).  Regarding the Holy Spirit whom God sends to be in us to help us, you may not understand this in your mind fully, but that's ok.  Just as 'being healthy' is more important than 'knowing how my body works', believe that God will do a work in you by His Holy Spirit to help you as you walk with Him, and ask Him for the Holy Spirit to help you (Luke 11:13).

 

So it comes at a cost, which you have to consider and decide:

“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?” Luke‬ ‭14‬:‭28‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

 

GOD IS A LOVING FATHER, FRIEND, AND HELPER

But God will help us, if we decide to go that way. And He will not only save us and help us, but He will then be our Father and first love - forever!

 

“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty.” ‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭6‬:‭17‬-‭18‬

 

Most religions on earth have no concept of an actual personal relationship with God, our Creator - as someone we can have as a friend.  But "see how great God's love us, that we should be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1

 

God will be our Father, and Jesus will be our Brother (Hebrews 2:11) - but also our Lord and God. They (along with the Holy Spirit) are one God.  You may wonder how that's so (how they are One God, and not 3 gods), the Bible says they are one, though they are not the same person - (that's why we believe it - because the Bible says so), but we don’t need to worry about understanding this in our mind (how one God is - Father, Son and Holy Spirit). The main thing is to know Him personally - a personal relationship with God, and Jesus, where we grow in knowing Him:

 

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John‬ ‭17‬:‭3‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

 

Question: What is it to know God personally?

 

To all who choose to go this way, they will hear from Him more and more clearly as He speaks to them and they speak to Him. It will be a life of real interaction and conversation always.  It is a real love-relationship, where He is our best friend and first love, who we bow in reverence but also gratitude to.  We will fear God (that means deep, deep reverence where we always desire to put Him first), and love Him.  We are not perfect in this, but this is our aim now when we commit our life to the Lord.

 

The alternative is to love the world and ourselves, but what a loss it is to live for what the Bible calls just “a vapor” of time here, and to resign all hope after that forever.

 

“…You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” James‬ ‭4‬:‭14

 

While we're here on earth, earthly things seem so important because it's all we see.  It's like a child playing a board game, and in the moment all that child cares about is winning this game, and doesn't even think about the fact that it will be folded up and put back into the box in a short time.  It's called "tunnel vision."  We tend to live like that on this earth, and our mind has to be transformed to see things from God‘s perspective, and to know what’s really important, and value what will last forever and not just in this short life.

 

The Bible says, "where a tree falls, there it lies" (Ecclesiastes 11:3) which means, when we die, how we  ended our life - that's what we will be forever.  Our choice has to be here in this short time on earth, and we can choose God, or we will choose ourselves, and miss knowing God as our beloved Father.  And we have to live to follow God until the end of our life.  Then when we die - that's what we will be forever, either a child of God who is reconciled to Him, or one who doesn't know God at all.

 

WHAT GOD SAYS TO THOSE WHO WANT TO FOLLOW HIM

Question: So what does the Bible say a person should do if they choose to commit their life to God, and desire to be saved?

 

Someone asked this same question in the Bible:

 

“Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

 

It also says:

Romans 10:9 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10:10   for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  10:11   For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." 10:12   For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 10:13 for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." 

 

The Bible says we have to:

- Repent of our sins - turn away from our old way of life of following what we want, where we choose sin, and instead turn to God and say “God, I want to do what you want now. Help me to have strength to do that today.” Everyday we have an intention for this. We are not perfect but we aim for that everyday.  We Intend everyday to live for Him as a "disciple" now.  A disciple is one who is constantly following Jesus by repenting (turning away) everyday from the things which are not pleasing to God, and looking to God to please Him and TO know Him and follow Him.  One example of a very important thing to repent of immediately when coming to Jesus: if we're holding anything against anyone.  We have to come to God, forgiving every person in our life of anything against us they've done in the past (Matthew 6:14-15).  And if we're aware that we are practicing any sin - doing something we know is wrong regularly, we intend to give it up right away and not do it anymore.

 

- To believe in the Lord - which means to trust Him and have faith in Him. It's to trust Him so much that we decide (and confess) that He is our Lord now (That means He is boss and King of our life, and we are not Lord of our own life anymore. What He says is what we must always do now, and we accept without complaining whatever He allows because we trust He’s perfect), to call on Him (Rom 10:13), and to TRUST that God loves us and that Jesus' work on the cross paid for our sins. - John 6:29 "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.'"

 

- To be baptized (that means “immersed”) in water. This is an outward expression we are saying and declaring that we want to 'die' to our old way of life (going under the water), and coming up to live for Him now.  In our church we ask people before baptizing them, not if they are perfect and still sinning, but we say “do you want to sin anymore?” We should have an intention that says - I do not want to sin even once or displease God anymore. And I will live to please God with my life now, and make progress to become more like Jesus.  Of course, we fail in this, and will have ups and downs, but we are pressing on because we love the Lord in return for what He did for us:

 

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬-‭14‬

 

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬

 

And over time your progress will improve, as you walk with God and work on this everyday.  Jesus said as we follow Him, it is a 'daily' walk.  He mentions, "carrying our cross daily" (Luke 9:23) - it means giving up what we want for what God wants, in the little and big circumstances outward (and inward in our thought life) everyday.

 

Question: How do I seek God?  Isn't this the same type of life as other religions? Following rules, Reading a book, and praying and going to a type of church or temple? How will this life be different than all the other religions and practices?

 

You may have heard about the 3 activities you're supposed to do - 1. Reading the Bible, 2. Praying 3. Church

 

While it can sound like 'religion' to say that's all that Christians do, these things are important but the difference is in the motive, and the relationship (knowing God intimately as our Father and Lord, and our greatest love).  Those 3 are important for our growth, to do them not from ritual but because we want to grow spiritually - just like we'd want our children to grow from being babies to mature adults. How much more important it is to grow spiritually than physically!

 

We should seek God in His Word, by reading the Bible consistently. This is one of the ways He will speak to you. Be eager to hear from Him and simply spend quiet time with Him in this way:

 

“like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.” ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬-‭3‬

 

We should talk to God often, seeking what He wants us to do, getting to know Him and hear from Him. We can ask Him things, but also should listen.

 

“Pray without ceasing;” - 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬

 

PRAYING IS LISTENING TO GOD - TALKING TO GOD, AND HEARING FROM HIM

Praying is probably not what you think it is. It's not a religious exercise of repeating things.  It's talking to God - from our heart, with meaning (Matthew 6:7).  One of the greatest joys of my life is to have an intimate conversation with God, often. And as time goes on I see that He speaks more and more clearly and closely to us.  He's more eager to spend time with us than we are with Him.

 

In time you’ll see what it means to hear from God personally and clearly. It will be so real to you. But don’t get discouraged if you can’t experience that so clearly at first (hearing from Him clearly). Just keep going, trying your best. The Bible says God rewards those who diligently seek Him - Heb 11:6 - (those who keep going). "Diligence" is more about pressing on, like a marathon runner - one-step at a time than it is about "sprinting."  The reward is that you will experience Him and the reality of His life so deeply, but you have to press on to see this.  God does not love you any less or accept you any less just because you're just starting.

 

There are many more things to know, but recognize that God is not a hard slave-driver (we should never view Him like this - see the man's huge mistake in Matthew 25:24 and the parable of the sower in the Bible, which you can read). God is easy to live with, merciful, compassionate toward us.

 

Psalm 103:13-14 "Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust."

 

He is easy on us and recognizes if we are babies (spiritually, especially when we start our walk with Him) and is so merciful. His will is that we’re never discouraged, and that we do not find peace by our own performance and what we do or don't do, but by what Jesus did for us.  And because of what He did for us, we press on in gratitude, not in fear of being rejected by God.

 

So there are many other truths and some terms which you may not know now (such as new covenant life, obedience inwardly in our thoughts and motives as well as outwardly, living in humiliity, complete forgiveness toward every person in your life, seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit, seeking fellowship with others who love and fear God, building up others as part of a local church in submission under godly leaders and in fellowship with the church body, serving the Lord and His people by using spiritual gifts, and other things), and you will not know everything at once but God will lead you into all of these step by step as you are trying to do that one main thing everyday: doing His will instead of your own, because you trust Him.  There's a song "trust and obey, there's no other way - to be happy in Jesus."  That’s what the Bible means when it talks about “dying to ourself” or “carrying our cross” as a disciple who is following Jesus.

 

Then - once you go this way, do not doubt that even through all the ups and downs and trials, do not doubt you belong to God, and that He will never reject you:

 

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” John‬ ‭6‬:‭37‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

 

Remember that God is so good, and so happy and eager to see you give your life to Him and be saved:

 

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭32‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

 

If you choose to love and follow Jesus, commit your life to God, repent and be baptized, etc, as I mentioned about, you don’t need to be overwhelmed by all this - take one step at a time - the main thing is deciding , and then from there it’s daily aiming to always be in God’s will.  Always looking to God at what you should do next.

 

One thing is - for example, I believe you should start reading the Bible even today, if you aren't already.  When I first came to the Lord someone told me to start by reading the book of John, I think that’s a good place to start. Or one of the gospels (the 4 books in the Bible about Jesus' life - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).

 

 

https://www.cfcindia.com/books/a-good-foundation - "A good foundation - Zac Poonen"

 

And then also start to spend time talking to at least one or a few others who have been walking with God seriously, in the fear of God, love of God and who you can see their life consistently shows the results that they are walking with Him. Spending time with these people and talking to them about the Lord will help build your faith, and it will encourage them too.  And then to seek a church to be a part of.  It's been absolutely critical for me in my walk with God to be part of a good church (NCCF) which takes following the Lord seriously - to help me to press on, stay encouraged, and keep passionate for the Lord and to live seriously as a disciple.  We cannot live and walk this Christian life alone, and it's the Lord's will that we are in fellowship with a like-minded group of godly people who love and fear God too: 

"...not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." Heb 10:25

The Bible says we will be built up and grow along with them, and the Lord will use us to build them up too (Eph 4:11-16), so we must take that seriously.

 

 

ONE LAST THING - TRIALS AND DOUBT

One last very important encouragement that has helped me to stand and endure, which I believe is so important that all new Christians need to know - to recognize that God’s way for us in this life is not to be easy and comfortable.  With all your faith you have to stay strong to not get discouraged or doubt God if He doesn’t answer a prayer of yours as you are hoping, or you are in a long season of a hard time or struggle.

 

This doesn’t mean God isn’t answering, or listening, or loving. Beware of teachings and preachers who say God will give you all you want. Most of the time what we want and think we need is not what we really need.

 

Most of the time what we think we need won’t be the best for us when we look back from Heaven, and many things which we think are so good would actually derail our entire life with God, if we could really see things as God sees it.  Only God knows what we really need.  And He knows exactly.  And it is usually so very different than what we think.

 

So just as before, life will have hard trials and challenges, but now God will be working them out for your eternal spiritual good, to be like Jesus, and will also give you a lot of help and comfort through them, to be strong:

 

“Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭14‬:‭22‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

 

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

 

You may feel alone, but you won't be alone.  You may feel God's dealing hard with you, but His ways are perfect.  One of the important things to learn is not to follow or believe your emotions and feelings, but keep believing and confessing God's Word.

 

God has a great plan for your life, and is working for you to make you into the image of His Son (which means in simple terms - to live like Jesus here on earth, with God and pleasing Him), that is the greatest good you can have in this life, if you can look back from eternity and not look at things from the very small eyes of this earth.

 

Life with God in Jesus is the most joyful, exciting, hopeful life - the only way to fulfill the whole reason God created us.

 

Even through the struggles - anxieties, temptations, struggles with sin, health problems, pains, relationship problems, family problems, unknowns, fear of future, daily challenges - God loves you and will be with you through each one, and one day - all these will all be gone one day soon… but we will be with the Lord forever.

 

Revelation 21:3   And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 

21:4   and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."  21:5   And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 

 

What a hope we have in Jesus!

 

The Lord is rooting for you!

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

 

Titus 2:11 "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 2:12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 2:13   looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 2:14   who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."