Nurturing New Christians

Last night I had something happen that I've not had happen before.  Someone other than a personal friend commented on one of my posts.  This person indicated he/she was a new Christian and had been reading my posts.  My reader had several questions for me, which I did my best to answer, but in reality probably didn't shed a whole lot of light on the situation.  The questions were good ones, and this experience has been humbling.

I read the Bible and attend church regularly, but Bible verses don't seem to pop to mind when I need them.  One of the questions I was asked was about salvation: Once you've accepted Jesus were you saved forever or could you lose your salvation and have to be re-saved?  My answer was there are those who believe in eternal security and those who believe it's possible to lose your salvation.  It depends on the denomination you happen to follow.

I feel secure in my salvation, but I have been a part of a church that didn't believe in eternal security and did believe people could reject Christ after having accepted Him as their Savior.  I must admit I still think God has given us free will and we could say I want no more to do with You or Jesus and if we did this we would reject Christ and be lost.  My conculsion for my reader was I couldn't imagine I would ever reject Jesus knowing what He has done for me, which would suggest I believe in eternal security.

Whatever you personally believe about salvation, there are scriptures to support both arguments and it really is up to the individual to decide what is the right interpretation.  I will say I don't believe you have to be re-saved every time you stumble, but you do have to repent.  The life of David really teaches us that forgiveness is there for us if we truly repent - no matter what we've done. 

I've made a promise to this reader to research the scriptures to find things that can help nuture their walk.  And I would also like to suggest to this person (if you're reading this post) to visit the website of Dr. Charles Stanley. 
His website is http://www.intouch.org/.  He is THE MAN when it comes to understanding the Bible and covering the subjects that strengthen us as Christians.

Dr. Stanley offers many articles, sermons, and Bible studies that are available for anyone to read or listen to  Here's a sampling of some of the articles he's written:

• Covered by Grace...Free to Sin?
• The Price of Walking Away
• The God of Second Chances
• Developing Spiritual Discernment
• To Believe or Not to Believe
• Our Forgiving Father
• When the Bible is Silent
• What is Genuine Repentance
• When Temptation Knocks

All of these look like they could answer questions for a new Christian. 

Over the next few weeks, I will try to post more frequently and look for scripture and other resources that might be helpful for a new Christian.  I believe God is faithful and He has promised if we seek Him, we will find Him.  He's right there waiting.