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Becoming a New Testament
Christian...
Becoming a New Testament Christian is not simply becoming a
member of some church. The Bible tells us that Christians are
disciples of Jesus Christ. In fact, we read, "the disciples were first
called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:26). Therefore, only those who are
truly "disciples" of Jesus Christ (followers of Jesus Christ) are Christians.
Time after time Jesus told His disciples, "If you love Me, keep My commandments"
(John 14:15), and, "he who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who
loves Me" (John 14:21). The apostle John put it this way: "Now by this we
know that we know Him , if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him,"
and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But
whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we
know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk
just as He walked." (1 John 2:3-6).
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ means being an obedient follower of Jesus -
keeping His commandments, obeying His word, abiding in Him, and walking just as
He walked. Simply because someone goes to church doesn't make them a
disciple or follower of Jesus Christ. Simply because someone says they
have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior doesn't mean they are a
Christian.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews wrote this about Jesus and what it means
to obey Him: "...though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things
which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal
salvation to all who obey Him..." (Hebrews 5:8-9). Jesus is the "author of
eternal salvation (or the one who authorizes eternal salvation) to all who
obey Him. In other words, we show that our love for the Lord is
real and genuine by our willingness to obey Him in everything.
Listed
below are some of the basic New Testament teachings and commandments that were
required of all who became disciples of Christ (Christians) in New Testament
times.
There are certain
facts we must believe:
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We must believe Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and
was resurrected from the dead.
The
apostle Paul wrote: "Moreover,
brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you,
which also you received and in which you stand, by which also
you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to
you — unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first
of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He
rose again the third day according to the Scriptures..." (1
Corinthians 15:1-4).
The truth of Jesus' resurrection was boldly proclaimed by Peter
and the apostles on Pentecost: "This Jesus God has raised up,
of which we are all witnesses." (Acts 2:32).
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We must also believe Christ has been exalted as Lord and Savior
and is now sitting at the right hand of God, and is head over
all things to the church which is His body.
On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter proclaimed this about
Jesus:
"Therefore being
exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which
you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens,
but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right
hand, till make Your enemies Your footstool."' Therefore let
all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:33-36)
This is why the apostle Paul later wrote these things to the
church at Ephesus about what God did when He raised Jesus from
the dead: "...He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His
right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality
and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He
put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all
things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who
fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:20-23)
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We must also
believe that Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the world.
The apostle Paul told the people of Athens, "Truly, these times
of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere
to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge
the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He
has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the
dead." (Acts 17:30-31)
Later, the apostle Paul wrote this to the church at
Thessalonica, and warned that the time is coming: "...when the
Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in
flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and
on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power..." ( 2
Thessalonians 1:7-9)
Everlasting destruction
comes to those who do not obey the gospel. Therefore, the
gospel contains more than simple facts that must be believed.
It also contains commands to obey.
Not only are there
certain facts to believe, there are also certain commands we must
obey:
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We must
believe the gospel that proclaims Jesus Christ is
the Son of God.
Jesus said, "He who believes
and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will
be condemned." (Mark 16:16)
This is why the apostle Paul wrote, "For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the
Greek." (Romans 1:16)
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We must
repent of our sins.
Jesus said, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for
the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in
His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke
24:46-48)
In the second chapter of Acts, when the apostles first preached
the message of the resurrected Christ to the very people who had
rejected Jesus, we're told: Now when they heard this, they were
cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the
apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said
to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:37-38)
Later, Peter said, "Repent therefore and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come
from the presence of the Lord..." (Acts 3:19)
This is why the apostle Paul told the people of Athens (in a
passage we read earlier), "Truly, these times of ignorance God
overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world
in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given
assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." (Acts
17:30-31)
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We must also
confess our faith in Jesus Christ.
The apostle Paul wrote, "...if you confess with your mouth the
Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him
from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10)
In the story of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, he was
reading one of the prophecies from the book of Isaiah about
Jesus when the evangelist Philip approached him. We're
then told that Philip, ...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." (Acts
8:35-37)
We must also be willing to openly confess that we believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
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We must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins (to be saved)
Jesus told His apostles, "Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will
be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." (Mark
16:15-16)
On the day of Pentecost, when Peter proved to the murderers and
betrayers of Jesus that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the
Living God, we're told: ...when
they heard this, they were cut to the heart , and said to Peter
and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we
do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one
of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
(Acts 2:37-38)
When Ananias went to preach the gospel of Christ to Saul (to
whom the Lord Jesus Christ had personally appeared while he was
on the road to Damascus), Ananias, said,
"And
now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash
away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." (Acts 22:16)
Jesus said those who are baptized "will be saved." Peter
said "repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins." And Ananias told Saul (who clearly
believed that Jesus was the Son of God) "arise and be baptized,
and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord."
To omit baptism in the name of Jesus Christ from the plan of
salvation is to deny what Jesus said, what Peter said, and what
Ananias said.
In the New Testament book of Acts you will find several examples
of conversion (of people becoming Christians). Not every
example mentions repentance, nor do all the examples mention
confessing faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. But
every example of conversion in the book of Acts mentions they
believed and that they were baptized.
There is not a single example of conversion, from the day of
Pentecost (Acts 2) on, that doesn't mention both
belief and baptism. The Bible says,
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone
should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9). Belief and baptism are
both things the Lord expects us to do - they are both commands
we must obey. But even after we believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God and are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of our sins, we are still saved by the grace
and mercy of God. We haven't earned salvation. We've
simply obeyed.
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But there is
one more thing the Lord requires of all who would be His
disciples. We must remain faithful, even
through death.
Speaking the the apostle John, the Lord warned the Christians in
the church at Smyrna, "Do not fear any of those things which you
are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of
you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have
tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give
you the crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)
This is why the writer of the letter to the Hebrews warned
Christians, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but
exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any
of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have
become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast to the end..." (Hebrews 3:12-14)
Our only
desire is to be just like the Christians you read about in the
Bible, nothing more and nothing less! We believe and
preach the same simple message of the gospel that the apostles and
first century Christians believed and taught. We're simply New
Testament Christians. We are not a denomination. Our Lord
Jesus Christ came to this earth to establish His church (Matthew
16:18), not a denomination devised and organized by man. Therefore,
our goal is to be “the church of the living God, the pillar and
ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), and to preach the gospel that
is "the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes"
(Romans 1:16).
The Bible teaches that God
calls sinners through the gospel - the truth of His word (2
Thessalonians 2:14). The man or woman who is not "in Christ" is
excluded from His spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3). The Lord
wants all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9), but also
recognizes that few will respond to His message of salvation
(Matthew 7:13,14).
We are here to help you be right with the Lord, and would like to
help you with any questions you might have regarding the
relationship between God and His children.
We encourage you to seek out the truth: read your Bible, pray for
sincere guidance toward the things which you need to know, and do
not be afraid to ask questions of those who are perhaps more
spiritually-minded than yourself (but always demand a Biblical
response from them - it is your right, and their responsibility).
God, the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9), has given you control
over the destiny of your own soul; some future "day" He will hold
you accountable to what you have (or have not) done with that
responsibility (2 Corinthians 5:10). We encourage you to follow God
now, in this life, so that you will have a life with Him forever.
Isn't that what you really want anyway? |
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