Are you a new born-again Christian? Here are 4 things you must do.

What does it take to be saved, even after being born-again? Or is that all?

4 things to do after being born-again

Congratulations!

You have made the biggest decision of your life!

To follow Christ

To love Him with all your heart, might and soul

To serve and obey Him diligently

To surrender your life to Him

But, is that really all?



   Some born-again Christians have the misconception that after they are born-again and surrender their lives to God, it automatically makes them saved. Although, this qualifies you for salvation but it doesn't affirm your actual going to heaven

   Once you become born-again, you are given a chance, by the merciful Most High God to live a new and fulfilling life in Him, the Spirit which will later determine whether or not they are worthy  to inherit the kingdom of God.
  You can't possibly expect all to be well and 'goody-goody' after you become a born-again, thinking that's the only requirement to be saved. God makes it clear in the book of James that “.... faith without work is dead..”; if you read through the book of James, you would see that Saint James admonishes Christians to both be active in spiritual works as they are in their spiritual faith.

I don't want to go deeper into that but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Basically;

 FAITH+NO WORKS=LESSER HOPE OF SALVATION
 FAITH+WORKS=GREATER HOPE OF SALVATION


   Without wasting much more of your time, here are 4 things a new born-again must do to be assured of salvation.






ONE: Continue being willing to follow Jesus (Mk 8:34, Jn 7:17, Jn 12:26)

   “.....if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mk 8:34, NIV)

Salvation is not a one day thing!

 You can't expect God to notice you if you go back and forth in your spiritual life. I personally think time plays a part in separating the fame-seeking believers from the God-seeking believers.

   Christianity is not just a religion, it's a relationship. It is a true relationship we build with God. If you're a fame-seeking  or materialistic believer, you won't go far, because as you pass the ‘baby stage’ (most Christians sadly don't) and enter into the ‘maturing/youth stage’, the journey tends to get harder and harder and uncomfortable for your physical body (the flesh).

  You can't decide to become a true Christian just because someone else you know is and is very successful in life or because there's a particular guy/girl you admire who attends church regularly and is a devoted Christian; if that's your reason or any other petty reason, you will not go far at all.

That is why our Lord is calling out to true people who want to seek His face not the faces and praises of people or the face of that beautiful girl/handsome guy. He is looking for those that would be willing to follow Him. To continue to follow Him no matter the rough sides and ups and downs, no matter the mockery and scorns from unbelievers geared towards your emotional feelings. He is out to capture the hearts of true seekers that will continue, day and night to be enthusiastic about building a relationship with Him.



Now, ask yourself. Am I ready to daily seek the face of the Lord and follow Him without questions?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below 🙂⬇️)











TWO: Deny himself daily; renounce all self-dependence , self-interest and self-pursuit which are contrary to God (Rom 6:16-23, Tom 8:1-13, Gala 5:19-24)

  “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” (Gala 5:24)

   As a Christian, your greatest enemy is your flesh(Gala 5:17).

We battle everyday with our flesh because it is in contrast with the Holy Spirit. The flesh wants us to yield to sin but the spirit wants us to dwell in righteousness.

 For us to truly walk in the Spirit and have lesser probability to fall into sin and darkness, we need to completely detach ourselves from anything self-related. By self-related I mean; self-dependence, self-interest, self-deceit, self-despair, self-glory, selfishness, self-praise and self-pursuit....all those related to just yourself and not glorifying God.

For you to truly have constant hope of salvation, it is necessary to deny yourself everyday, say NO to your flesh and don't give in to it's temptations. If self-pride settles in, rebuke it in the name of Jesus and pray for the Spirit of meekness. If self-dependence starts to be the best option for you during a huge dilemma in your life, cast it out in the name of Jesus and pray for the spirit of total surrender and allegiance to God's will for your life.

Christianity is not about you, you and YOU. 

NO.

Many Christians misunderstand this Biblical scripture that “since God loves only ME, you know He loves ME, I do this and that and I'M able to do......”.

NO.

You shouldn't say that; that's self-glory.

It's not about you spreading the word of God but God shining His light in and through you and using you to propagate the gospel of His kingdom. It's not about you being able to write a 3000+ words blogpost/article about His second coming but Him using you to reach out to the world so they can come to the knowledge of the truth of His word and always bear in mind the urgency of His coming.

So, quick tip- If you're a new born-again Christian, don't go around with the ideology that it's all about you and what you can do to “help” God on earth, whereas it's about God and how God can USE you to accomplish all what He has said on His word- to come to fulfilment.



If you truly want to be saved, remove ”self”(me, mine, my, I) from your prayers and from God's entire picture. Rather, say; “Let your will be done in my life in Jesus name.”









THREE: Take up the cross daily (Mk 8:34, Lk 9:23, Colo 1:23)

   “Then he said to them all; if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me,” (Lk 9:23)

The cross here represents self-denial.

    Just as I stated in the previous point, self-denial is key in one's spiritual walk with God. Jesus tels us to deny ourselves and take up His cross daily and follow Him. These are the two requirements if you want to truly follow God all the way; Deny yourself and take up His cross daily. The cross here also symbolises the shame and sufferings of Christ borne by Christians. Jesus tells us to take up cross daily; bear the pains and sufferings like He bore for you and all of mankind.


Also, you should be constantly reminded of what our Lord Jesus Christ passed through for the redemption of our sins. If you don't take note of this, you can easily be misled or go off track. No matter how painful or heartfelt it is to always remind yourself of what our Lord went through and dis for us to gain our hope of salvation, you really need to do it. It will always keep you on track and remember that the Lord has done so much for us because of God's love for you and I.


Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross of Calvary; even before that, He was mercilessly tortured, scorned at, shamed. He suffered such terrible pain yet, He never complained, not even once! If out Lord can do that much for us, what makes it so hard for you to bear the same for Him? 
    Isn't a little pain that wouldn't last for a minute worth a greater joy and happiness?









FOUR: Follow Christ daily; not for a while!(Jn 10:26-28)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (Jn 10:27)

You've given your life to Christ and accepted Him as your Lord and Savior; then, you think that's that....“If I die tomorrow or even now, I'm sure I'll go to heaven, that's been done!”, you think.... Well, I'm sorry if you have that mindset, but the truth of the matter is that you just started, my friend!

Nothing has been “done” yet or settled. Well, yes, it's been settled that you're now for Christ but your hope of salvation has not yet be settled.

Why?

Because you just started, dear brethren and there is so much more ahead of you... this is simply the beginning of your Christian journey.

But how do I really know I'm saved? I can't answer that as straight-forward as possible but I'm sure you'll know if you are. This is why you just have to follow and seek Him daily. Not for a day or two or a week, but EVERYDAY.

  You shouldn't get bored/tired of seeking Him because, trust me, God has a lot of unspeakable and unthinkable things to reveal to you and if you truly want to be saved, you should seek Him daily.

  As Jesus says in John 10:27, He knows His sheep because they follow Him. His sheep hears His voice and follow Him daily. They obey Him without complaints, seek Him without getting bored, pray to Him without ceasing, worship Him without snoozing and walk in the spirit without saying No.



Are You Christ's Sheep?





The bottom line: Stay away from anything self-related and die daily to your flesh. Never get tired of serving and seeking God; one day, He will manifest himself to you in an unforgettable way.

 Even if you're a born-again Christian or a long-term Christian, and you have the misconception that seeking and following God for a while then backsliding then come back to Christ then backsliding- the cycle repeating itself- excludes you from God's wrath because if His mercy and grace, you are wrong! God says seek Him daily, follow Him daily, bury your fleshly desires daily and pick up your cross daily to follow Jesus.
   
   If you can do all these things, you have a sure hope of gaining eternal salvation.

Conclusion

 Thank you for reading this post. I hope this post was helpful, encouraging and shone more light on a topic/Bible verses you didn't understand clearly. I really hope that you've learnt a few things from this to implement in your lifestyle and keep in your heart everyday. I'm certain you can achieve all these things and integrate them in your life, so as to grow your relationship with God to greater heights. Here's a short prayer to take home;

“O Dear Lord, please give me the spirit of self-crucifixion and self-denial, so I can deny my flesh of all its desires and vanity, pick up my cross to follow Jesus even with the pains and tribulations I'll pass through; pour the zeal in my heart to daily seek your face and follow Christ all of my life as steadfastly and obediently as possible in Jesus name.

   If you have any questions bothering you concerning this topic or any other biblical/Christianity related topic, leave a comment or send me an email; I'll be sure to reply within 24 hours. Also, follow me on                 Facebook  and  Twitter

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 Thanks once again for lasting this far and I pray you have a wonderful day!




Stay blessed, beloved brethren!