I am a New Believer; what do I Need to Know?

Opening Greetings

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus the Savior. 2 Thessalonians 1:2

Opening Reading

On hearing this, they were stung in their hearts; and they said to Peter and the other emissaries, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter answered them, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be baptized on the authority of Jesus the Savior into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost! 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for those far away — as many as The Lord our God may call!” Acts 2:37

But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God. John 1:12 

Message

Today, I will seek to lay out scriptures and teachings that would help orient the new convert to Christianity and establish him or her in the Faith. Welcome New Convert!!! In addition to the teachings you may hear from many sources, please commit to a lifetime of studying and learning scriptures, their applications.  As well, when you are well versed in them, you may be able to use them to discern, and also explain, the reason why certain things happen or will occur. 

Begin your reading and study of the Bible from any book of the New Testament (NT). This part of the Bible references all the events it describes with the Old Testament (OT) scriptures. By the time you have read the NT, you will have a good understanding of the fact that it is a fulfillment of the events prophesied or foretold long ago in the OT.

Our Faith

1 Corinthians15:1 Now, brothers, I must remind you of the Good News which I proclaimed to you, and which you received, and on which you have taken your stand, 2 and by which you are being saved — provided you keep holding fast to the message I proclaimed to you. For if you don’t, your trust will have been in vain. 3 For among the first things I passed on to you was what I also received, namely this: Jesus Christ died for our sins, in accordance with what the scripture says; 4 and he was buried; and he was raised on the third day, in accordance with what the scripture says.

Note, our faith rests on the unshakeable foundation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Foundational Christian Doctrines 

Therefore, leaving behind the initial lessons about the Savior, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of turning from works that lead to death, trusting God, 2 and baptism, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and eternal punishment. 3 And, God willing, this is what we will do. Hebrews 6:6

Explaining the stated terms one by one....

a) Turning from works that lead to death- this is also termed "repentance from sin". There are conduct the Christian must adhere to- love God absolutely, unreservedly, and love other people as much as you love yourself; there are also things the christian must not do, usually referred to as sin. These you will come to know as you learn the things of Christ.

b) Trusting God- this is commonly described as, and called, "faith." It is exercising belief in the word of God or in the revelations he gives.

c) Baptism- immersion or being dipped in water to signify dying to sin and rising again from the dead to a new life in Jesus Christ.

d) Laying on of hands- This is a uniquely New Testament practice of imparting healing, conferring the Holy Ghost, consecrating into ministry, or gifting some other spiritual gift or blessing, as the case maybe. It was a frequent way Jesus delivered healing or blessed people. Genesis 48:14 does show the patriarch Jacob laying hands in cross formation on the heads of his grandchildren, the two sons of Joseph as he was blessing them. *I encourage ministers to not ignore the act of laying on of hands but to embrace and teach it. It is how Jesus and his apostles ministered.

e) The Resurrection of the dead- This is the doctrine that all the dead will be brought back to life at a time chosen by God. It will happen in orders (I will not go into details now). Know that those who died in Christ will rise first, followed by the rest of the saints who are then followed by the rest of the people.

f) Eternal judgment and punishment- This is the doctrine that every human person will render account to God of the things they did while they were in the body, still alive. People whose conduct and acts God did not approve of will be condemned to suffer forever in Hell, a special lake of fire that will never go out. The other side of it is, those who pleased God while alive will be called home to live and enjoy life with him in a special place, Heaven.

The above are just some of the foundational teachings of the Church. Let me go ahead and include a few other doctrines, practices, and terminologies. Note, please, that no order of importance is assigned these. They all must be learnt, and understood, together.

g) Sacraments- There are a few rites in the Church but I will, at this instance, only mention Baptism and The Lord's Supper or Holy Communion, since these are the ones Jesus personally and directly instituted.

The Lord's Supper

While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, blessed it, broke it, gave it to them and said, “Take it! This is my body.” 23 Also he took a cup of wine, made the blessing, and gave it to them; and they all drank. 24 He said to them, “This is my blood, which ratifies the New Covenant, my blood shed on behalf of many people. Mark 14:22

Baptism

1. 18 Jesus came and talked with them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore, go and make people from all nations into disciples, baptizing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age.” Mathew 28:18

2. 4 At one of these gatherings, he instructed them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for “what the Father promised, which you heard about from me. 5 For John used to baptize people in water; but in a few days, you will be baptized in the Holy Ghost!” Acts 1:4-5

Note: There are two Baptisms: a) Baptism with water; b) Baptism of the Holy Ghost.

h) The Holy Spirit or The Holy Ghost- the Spirit of God who has been sent by Jesus to live in the believer. He has a special job in the life of the christian and gives the christian the power to wonderfully serve God and extra-ordinary witness to Jesus. John14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands; 16 and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another comforting Counselor like me, the Spirit of Truth, to be with you forever. Also, Acts 1:4 "At one of these gatherings, he instructed them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for “what the Father promised, which you heard about from me. 5 For John used to baptize people in water; but in a few days, you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit!”

i) Church- this is used in two major senses: 1) the people of God as a group is referred to as church; 2. the place of meeting is as well referred to as church.

j) God- When Christians say "God," it could interchangeably mean "God," who is the Father of all creation, "Jesus Christ," who is the son of God, and the "Holy Ghost" or "Holy Spirit," who is the Spirit of God. These three beings (see Mathew 28:19 above), the Bible says, are One. You may understand "One" in the sense that they all agree, have the same mind. It is as well the case they all three have the same divine nature as the Holy Ghost is from God and Jesus is also from God. 

Please understand that the things scripture teaches us are things to be believed. We are not able to explain everything. They are mysteries. If you believe, you do get to understand some of these things. The time will come when everything will be made clear and understandable...."For our knowledge is partial, and our prophecy partial; but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass." 1 Corinthians 13:9,10

k) Angels- "Aren’t they all merely spirits who serve, sent out to help those whom God will deliver?" (Hebrews 1:14) These are spirit beings who attend to God as servants. Even though angels are God's servants, they are princes (Daniel 10:13). They are very powerful and do wonderful things. At times, they bring messages from God to men.

l) Devil or Satan- God's adversary and the originator of sin.

m) Demons- spirit beings who serve Satan also called the Devil.

n) Ministries- specific jobs that God uses to further the work of teaching and spreading his gospel. They are many but the main ones are listed in Ephesians 4:11, "He gave some people as apostles, some as prophets, some as proclaimers of the Good News (evangelists), and some as shepherds and teachers (pastors)." Some christians count teachers as being different from pastors but I keep both as one and the same office.

o) Prayer- the act of talking to God. There are different reasons we approach God. A close parallel is to think of you talking to other people. Prayer is similar except that we must always show reverence, deep honor and respect, when we are talking to God. There is not any formula. Simply say what you have to say. When we pray, we must pray in the name of Jesus Christ. That is why, generally, you will hear prayers end with "in Jesus name." John 14:13 "In fact, whatever you ask for in my name, I will do; so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me for something in my name, I will do it."

p) Fasting- a time or period devoted to praying with the person praying forgoing or minimizing food. *Please, when you fast, it is okay to drink water.

q) Heresies- teachings that are contrary to what the Bible teaches. Note: If a teaching or practice is not in the Bible, do not obey it. Absolutely reject, and ignore, it.

r) Persecution- hostility and ill-treatment done to someone because he or she is Christian.

Closing Greetings

Grace be with you! Colossians 4:18