Congratulations! You’ve Accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior!!!
But what comes now? Well, first and foremost I want to reassure you that according to scripture (Hebrews 7:25, Ephesians 2:8-9) you are fully and completely saved. No work on your part has earned your salvation just like no work on your part will maintain your salvation.
That’s great and all, But what happens next?!?
That’s important and I’m glad that you’re focusing on that. Here are some important next steps that should happen in your life.
First, get yourself a good bible that you can read if you do not have one already. It does not have to be KJV or Youngs Literal or anything like that. Any reputable version that you can understand the language of will do.
Another thing you should do is look for a good bible teaching church to attend. “How do I know if it’s a bible teaching church?”, you ask. Check them out online first if you can to watch a few of their sermons. If each message leaves you feeling motivated but you are never challenged internally about sin or never have the conviction to live a more Christ-honoring life, well that’s a red flag.
Another red flag is if all they do is talk about giving. All giving, only giving, all the time. Giving is okay to talk about as it is mentioned in the bible. But, it should NEVER be the main focus of the church.
One more red flag to look out for is the church not talking about sin and the need for salvation. If a church is dodging these central points of doctrines you can be sure this is not of God.
Another recommendation is to make sure what they are saying is actually in the word of God! Read it for yourself, read before the passage, read after the passage, and really get the context of what the bible is saying so you can tell if what the preacher is teaching is true/scriptural or not. (Acts 17:11)
With that, I would say your bases are covered on finding a good bible believing church.
The Bible is important, and so is having someone to teach you the Christian Life!
Next, learn more about the bible and find someone to teach you one on one if you can.
Learning about God’s Word greatly helps in personal study of The Bible. When you know how to research the context of what is being said or the genre the book is in or even the words used and the culture of the time all of these can greatly help you to enjoy and benefit from bible study!
That being said you should if at all possible at least spend a season under someone who is strong in the faith and has been a Christian for much longer than you. Preferably someone with a good reputation in the church (1 Timothy 3:1-7), and depending on where you are attending church if you’ve made the need known, you might not even have to find someone to mentor/disciple you because they might just approach you once the need is realized.
Discipleship is different
Discipleship is different from pure Bible study (although that may come up too) in that it’s life on life mentorship.
What makes discipleship so different is that in this life on life mentoring they will help you grow in your walk by imparting to you what God has delivered them through so that you can be encouraged, seeing things that you might otherwise miss in your own life or faith, or just sharing struggles so that that you can avoid making those same mistakes.
Pray!
Last, never stop praying. God is the greatest teacher of all and He can show you how to follow Him and where you need to grow better than any book or teacher can. Because of this, you should never stop asking God to guide you and teach you because I promise you that He loves you and wants you to grow in your walk with Him even more than you love Him and want to grow in your Faith.
In summary
– Get yourself a good Bible
– Find a Bible-teaching church
– Have a discipler/mentor
– Keep praying
All of these are very good things and after you have grown in the faith who knows maybe God will use you to teach and disciple someone one day as well 🙂 (1 Timothy 4:6-16)
