What YOU
Need to Do
AFTER
You Are
SAVEDby Dr. Ted Camp
What You Need to Do After You Are Saved First of all, we want to congratulate you on your
decision to accept Christ as your Saviour. This is the most
important decision you will ever make in your life. Your
sins are now forgiven and you will go to Heaven. There is
joy in Heaven because you are now saved. "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." (Luke 15:10)You Are Saved Forever Saved means you are saved from Hell. When you die,
you will go to Heaven because you are saved. Jesus died to
save you from Hell. When you accepted Jesus Christ as
your Saviour you were given everlasting life. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9)You Are Now In the Family of God You are not saved because you stop being bad. You
are not saved because you go to church. You are saved
because you received (accepted) Christ. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" (John 1:12).
Before, you were in Adam's family. Now, you are in God's
family. Before, you were in the human family. Now, you
are in the heavenly family. Before, you were in the earthly
family. Now, you are in the eternal family.
Once you become a son of God you will always be in
His family. After you are saved you may doubt, but you
are still saved. God does not put you out of His family
because you do wrong. God, as your Father, will correct
you, His child. Once you are born you cannot be unborn.
Your earthly father will always be your earthly father.
Your Heavenly Father will always be your Heavenly
Father.If You Sin As a new born baby in God's family you do not know
all things. When you are saved you do not know all the
Bible. You do not understand all the things of your
heavenly Father. As a baby must learn to walk and talk --
you must now start to grow into the ways of your new
family. If you sin, you do not need to be saved again --
you need to be sorry for your sin and confess to (tell) God.
God will forgive you and you can again have fellowship
with God. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9) If you stay in your sin then God will
chasten (punish) you. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." (Hebrews 12:6) You will feel bad in
your heart until you ask Him to forgive you. This bad
feeling is called conviction or feeling guilty in your heart.
When you do wrong and feel conviction, this shows you
are saved and you just need to be forgiven. When you
confess your sins this means you are willing to stop your
sins. Learn to quickly change your ways and do right as the
Lord leads you. Sin always will make you unhappy. It will
destroy your testimony, your fellowship with Christians,
your fellowship with God and it will also ruin and destroy
your Christian life. Learn quickly to say "yes" to the
things of God and "no" to the flesh (self), world, and the
Devil. Stop your worldly habits and start
your new life for God. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (II Corinthians 5:17)You Should Be Baptized After you are saved the first thing you should do is be
baptized (immersed) and join the right church. Baptism does not save
you, but it shows others you are saved and now want to
follow the ways of a Christian. If you were baptized before
you were saved you should be baptized again after you are
saved. Baptism shows others that you believe in the death
(lower into water), burial (laid in the water), resurrection
(you are raised out of the water) of Christ. Then, as you
walk from the water you are showing others you now want
to walk in the way of a new life.
You need to join a Bible teaching and Bible preaching
Baptist church. We encourage the deaf to join a church with a deaf
interpreter so they can understand and grow in the Lord.
Do not join a church that teaches another gospel or idea. It
is easy to be fooled -- so pray, be careful, and ask the Lord
to lead you to the right church.
Your Church Decide to be a good, faithful Christian. Attend your
church at all services, especially Sunday morning, Sunday
evening, and the mid-week service. You will learn much
from the teaching and preaching. Remember, as a new
born baby, you need to grow in the Lord. You need the
church more than the church needs you. Love your pastor,
teacher, and workers. Always have a good attitude and be
a good church member.Bible and Prayer Start reading your Bible and praying every day. As
you read your Bible, God talks to you. As you pray, you
talk to God. The Bible will give you strength and cleanse
you for God's work. "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." (John 15:3) The book of St. John
would be a good book to read first. It would also be good
to study the Bible with other sound literature, lessons, or courses
(the deaf can write to the Ranch for Bible courses).
Prayer is a must for the Christian life. Pray when you
are tempted to do wrong. Pray for your needs. Prayer is
also thanksgiving and praise. Start a prayer list. Write
down your prayer needs on paper or in your Bible. Then as
the Lord answers prayer draw a line through your an-
swered prayer. Remember, "...ye have not, because ye
ask not." (James 4:2)Your Giving The Lord's work needs your support and help. You
need to give your time, work, and money to help in the
Lord's work. As you give you will learn that the Lord gives
to you. "Give, and it shall be given to you;" (Luke
6:38).
A good Christian should volunteer and look for ways
to be used of God. At least the tithe (one tenth) of your
income should be given freely to the Lord's work. It is a
blessing to give as the Lord gives to us. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)
Your Friends After you are saved you need to live a new life. This
means you should live a separate (from the world) and
clean life. It is important you now stay away from worldly
places and worldly friends. You now need to stop
smoking, drinking, dancing, and going to worldly places.
You need to dress, look, and act right.
The Bible is very clear and tells the Christian to come
out and be separate. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (15)And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (16)And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (17)Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (18)And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (II Corinthians 6:14-18) Pray for your
old friends, witness to them, but do not join them in their
worldly ways.
Start your new life with new friends who are good
Christians. This is very important, because many new
Christians may fall [get stunted spiritually] because of worldly friends. The Bible again
is clear, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. If any man love the world, the love of the
Father is not in him." (I John 2:15)Used of God Now that you are saved it is important to grow in the
Lord, be clean, become a good Christian and be used of
God.
Your old friends, your family, and others around you
need to be saved. If you live a changed life before them,
you can be a witness and used of God to win them. Tell
others what the Lord has done for you.
You may also have abilities (talents -- gifts) that can
be used for the Lord. It may be that you could become a
bus worker, teacher, missionary, or preacher. The Lord
wants to use every saved person in His work. "But unto every
one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of
Christ." (Ephesians 4:7)
Do you want to be used of God? Be clean, grow in the
Lord, and God will use you.
Don't Stop Many new Christians live for the Lord a few
months, or years -- then quit. This hurts the work of God.
There will be times of discouragement and disap-
pointment, but do not give up. Other Christians may stop,
but you need to decide to keep going. The Lord has a plan
for your life and His ways are always the best ways. A
person who quits is never happy. Decide now you will be
used of God and do not stop, quit, or give up.
These are the things you need to do AFTER YOU ARE
SAVED.
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