Where Does the Christian Go From Here?

Let them see that all of this is happening because of sin. It’s happening because men have rejected your son. And right now, Lord, that time may wind up soon. So Lord, give us all a spirit of evangelism that we can reach those who do not know you and bring them to a saving knowledge of your son. Amen. I’ve titled my message, Where Does a Christian Go From Here?

Whether in the jails or in the streets, I’ve had opportunities to present the gospel. I believe that the gospel presentation should include the origin of sin and the promise because a person needs to know they’re a sinner. And I prefer to start a Genesis to explain why the issue that I feel is minimized is the importance of the spirit that God has breathed into Adam on his creation and the part that sin played in the need for someone to be born again and how it is the work of the spirit that cleanses us from sin and gives us the ability to please God in our spirit and not by the works of the flesh.

Genesis 1, 1. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. We are created beings, not evolved from some lower life form as evolution teaches, but a part of a special creation from God and therefore different. Genesis 1, 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. Note this verse, Genesis 2, 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. As an image on a coin, note here that the body came first and it was not alive until God breathed spirit into Adam.

It is therefore the spirit that makes man alive and the body from dust is just a covering, but the spirit itself is what came from God and therefore that is what must be the special part of us that would reflect the image of God through us. Adam was warned to obey God and of the consequences of disobedience. Genesis 2, 16. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayst freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Since the body itself was not alive until the spirit was breathed into Adam, it therefore must be the spirit within man is what would die, that part of man that was supposed to reflect the image of God. For the dust man came from is only that, dust. Man was misled by Satan the serpent and disobeyed God by eating the fruit God had told him not to eat.

Genesis 3, 6. And when the woman saw the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. Note here that while Eve was tricked to eat first, Adam freely allowed that serpent to tempt his wife, didn’t stop his wife from taking the fruit, didn’t plead with his wife to not eat the fruit, and as he was with her ate the fruit himself.

What happened immediately to Adam and Eve? Let’s go back to Genesis 2, verse 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Their spirit died. That part of them that God breathed into them changed quality so that it is now considered dead, no longer capable of reflecting the image of God who created them.

If their earthly body somehow was injured that it would no longer function, then their spirit would not return to God as he intended. They would die. They became aware of this severed relationship through realizing they were naked, without the protection of God, and exposed. Genesis 3, 7, and the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

Because God is a merciful God, he reached out to Adam and Eve and promised a way to be redeemed in a way that would provide a way for their dead spirit to be revived. God first called for judgment against the serpent, the devil, for the deed he just did, but also spoke of how he would be defeated. Genesis 3, 15, God’s righteous judgment condemned the serpent, the devil, but also spoke of a seed of the woman whom we call the Redeemer, the Messiah, who would, through his appearance and life, would crush the head of the serpent.

God’s holy judgment upon Satan would be countered with God’s loving mercy towards men through a Redeemer. But note that both the serpent and the Redeemer would suffer in this prophecy from God. God rejected the works of Adam and Eve in their attempt to cover their nakedness, for that self-discovery meant that they knew they sinned, and their exposure to sin separated them from God through their own actions.

In this teaching moment for all mankind, God did something to teach an eternal lesson for all mankind. Genesis 3, 21, Eve represented all women at this point, and also the woman who would bear the Messiah, but because of her now sinful state, she would be incapable of producing something holy, and therefore the animal had to be a perfect representation of the perfect Redeemer to come, and only God himself could do that.

The fact that the animal had to be killed was a part of the lesson to be learned. This death of that animal became the perfect symbolic sacrifice for all mankind, in that the death of the promised Redeemer of Genesis 3, 15 would cover not only the nakedness of Adam and Eve, but their sin. Genesis 3, 20, has his original purpose, because God himself breathes Spirit into Adam, with a portion of that Spirit passing to Eve when she was created from Adam’s rib.

2. Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying the Lord by taking heed to what the serpent Satan said, and it led to their condemnation. Their spirit died. God in His righteous judgment condemned Satan. God in His mercy provided a promise of a Redeemer through the seed of the woman. That seed would crush the head of the serpent, but that Redeemer would suffer a wound himself, yet not truly fatal.

This Redeemer to come had to be provided by God Himself, for the woman was now a sinner and therefore stained with sin, and that Redeemer to come had to be perfect, and that meant that only God could provide that Redeemer. The spirit of Adam and Eve would have to be made alive again in some way for them to be forgiven of their sin. Therefore, the perfect symbolic sacrifice of that animal in Genesis 3, 21 foreshadowed the death of the Messiah, and just as the animal that was killed was used to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, the coming Redeemer’s death would cover the sins of the world.

Ancient religions taught of a Redeemer to come who would die for sin. This proves that ancient men knew of the promise made in the Garden of Eden, but only the God of the Bible could do it because He’s the only God. The God of the Bible clarified His promise in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 7, 14. Therefore, the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.

Because Adam and Eve’s spirit was now dead because of sin, they were sinners. Their union would only produce a child with a dead spirit also. So God would have to step in and create a child who would not have a dead spirit, a sinless child, and only God Himself could be that child. Because if a human man and woman produced a child, it would also be born with a dead spirit.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came down to men, was born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and just as the animal in Genesis 3, 15 and Genesis 3, 21 had to die to provide the skins to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve, Jesus Christ had to die on the cross to cover the sins of the world. Forgiveness would be provided for men through His death, but in what way?

Man’s spirit is dead because of Adam. Man is separated from God because of sin. How then is man to be made right with God? Jesus was speaking with a Pharisee named Nicodemus one night and said to him, John 3, 3, Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Accept a man, be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. What needed to be born again?

When Adam sinned, it was his spirit that died. When Eve had children, that dead spirit was passed to them, to us. When Jesus said we need to be born again, Jesus was therefore referring to the spirit that was within us that needed to be born again. It is our dead spirit that makes us sinners, for we are born apart from the gracious covering of God as Adam had before he sinned.

We are not rightly called sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are rightly called sinners. The first time you knowingly disobeyed your parents is not the day you became a sinner, but it was the day you proved you were born one. John 3, 18, He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Our state of unbelief condemned us, and we had no hope. Isaiah 59, 2, But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Christ promised us that if we would believe, he would save us. John 3, 16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that who soever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

It is not our faith that saves us. It is not the prayer or the words we use, nor is it the depth of knowledge of doctrine that saves us. It is the grace of God that saves us through faith. Ephesians 2, 8, For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. The mercy of God is when we do not get what we deserve. Colossians 2, 13, And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Grace is when you receive something good that you do not deserve.

2 Timothy 4, 18, And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Notice it is God who preserves, not Paul’s efforts or sacrifices that save, but the Lord shall deliver him. My point I’m leading up to is this. When you lead someone to Christ, what are the first steps many of us do in wanting to get the new believer heading in the right direction?

I am the guiltiest here, for what I preach it about right now points fingers right back at me. I don’t have a lot of time to explain doctrine to inmates in the prison and the detox, so I go to several locations just as Colossians 3. 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your affection on things above, not on things of the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ and God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience?

To encourage the new believer, we shouldn’t just tell them the don’ts of the Christian life, but also the do’s. Colossians 3.12 Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body.

And be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. What about these verses? Is it right to instruct the new Christian to aspire to obey God’s word?

Colossians 3.18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husband. That’s a pretty sharp verse sometimes. 3.19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them. 3.20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart fearing God.

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men. Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons. Is this all from God’s word? Is it good to teach the new believer to do such things?

2 Timothy 3.16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. How about teaching him the Sermon on the Mount? Matthew 5.21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.

But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be And whosoever shall say to his brother, Rocka, shall be in danger of the counsel. But whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way.

First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer the gift. Is a preacher wrong to teach people these things? How about this passage, Matthew 5.27 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery already with her in his heart. There are 613 laws that God gave to Moses for the Jews to follow.

If they didn’t follow the law, God punished them. But was it the following of the law that made men righteous before God? I do not believe it was the simple sacrificing of the animals, yet they had to, to be obedient. I do not believe it was their simple obedience, for someone who had an evil heart could obey God and perform those works. So what was it that made man right before God?

I have been guilty of just teaching rules and do’s and don’ts. What about the man who told Jesus that he kept the law from his youth? Luke 18, 18. And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother.

And he said, All these I have kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing? Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. He was a man who was righteous in his own works, yet Jesus told him he didn’t do enough.

Yet he was fulfilling the law by the letter through his actions, except one. Deuteronomy 6, 5. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Jesus told him to do more, to rid himself of his possessions for the purpose of being able to follow him fully. What was Jesus trying to make the man think of?

His outer obedience or his heart in response to God himself? Psalm 51, 15. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God. Thou wilt not despise. The Pharisee thought he was righteous because of his obedience to the deeds of the law.

Luke 18, 10. Two men went unto the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not like the other men are, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. But what did Jesus point out concerning the man next to him?

And the publican afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. What has been missing in what I say, and maybe other people, when counseling a new believer is the emphasis not on how to appear to be living the Christian life, but how do we really put it into effect by coming to the realization that we cannot do it from our own works or efforts despite being told to do and being told to don’t?

Was I guilty of telling people that to be a good Christian they needed to be circumcised? Galatians 2.16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners. Is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid, for if I build again the things I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. The professing believer must first be told that if they have not been born again, then they don’t have the Spirit of God in them, and any attempt to counsel them on what comes next is meaningless. Verse 8-5. For they that are after, after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh.

But they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. If you do not have the Spirit of God inside you, then you are not Christ’s.

Romans 8-9. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. A person who has believed on the Lord to salvation has been placed into the body of Christ, the church. 1 Corinthians 12-13. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit.

They are sealed with God’s Spirit and it cannot leave them. Ephesians 1-13. In whom ye also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. The emphasis should include how the Christian life could only be lived because of that indwelling of the Spirit. John 15-4. Abide in me, and I in you.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. So without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. Christ is saying two things here. Yes, you have to obey God’s word. But the ability to actually live out that obedience in such a way that your obedience pleases God is something that can only happen if you have the Spirit of Christ in you and that He is the one working out your obedience.

I am to abide in Him while He abides in me. So am I in Him? Romans 6-3. Know ye not that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life.

For if we had been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. We must consider ourselves to be dead with Christ. A dead person cannot sin in the flesh because he’s dead.

The believer must also think on this. Am I alive to serve myself or am I alive to serve the Lord? Romans 6-11. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourself unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

To reckon something is to take the truth of something that is not real, not true in real but to make it true in my mind and my thoughts. I am alive in my body, but I must consider in my thoughts and heart that I am dead, dead to sin, that the things of sin are no longer an option for me, that I am risen with Christ, that the old gem is dead, but I am alive only to serve the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5-17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Behold, things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. I am something new. I have received Christ in my heart, my innermost being, by faith in what he did for me on the cross.

I am placed with him and in his body, the church, at that moment, and I am one with all other believers in that body. I must realize that this is what the Bible says about me the moment I was delivered from the penalty of my sin. Philippians 2-12. Wherefore my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do his good pleasure. It is God himself who wants to work out his will through me. While I am to obey, the strength to do so in a spiritual manner is not in me. It has to be the Spirit of God working in me to make these changes. I am told that my behavior can harm this effort, but I am also told my behavior can keep me in fellowship with the Lord to allow him to work through me by believing what he said.

Romans 7-4. Wherefore my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Does the believer have a part in the growth of the believer? Our flesh can fool us into thinking certain things. 1 Corinthians 3-4. For while one saith, I am of Paul, and another says, I am of Apollos.

Are you not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos? But ministers by whom you believe, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increased. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither is he that watereth, but God that gave the increase. Who gave the increase? God did. Therefore, not only is it the Spirit of God which leads men to salvation when we witness to them, it must be the Spirit of God who causes men to be changed, to be given a new heart, a new desire to serve him, a strengthened desire to obey him.

Am I my own then? No. I am a part of the bride of Christ. I am to be married to him. I am to be dead to all else. I am to be part of something eternal and eternally blessed through a spiritual marriage that unites us in ways the physical world cannot explain. I am not waiting for King Jesus to return. I’m waiting for a wedding. Second Corinthians 11, 2, for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ, for as the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body, me, someone who was once a wicked, unrepentant sinner, has been given the opportunity to repent and believe the gospel and be saved.

Ephesians 2, 1, and you, hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

But God, who was rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace he are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

I and all believers have been forgiven much. Colossians 2, 13, and you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Knowing all this, how shall we live? Luke 7, 47, Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

If we want to know how to live a life that pleases God, we must recognize what he has done for us, not how much we can do for him, but how much he loves us, and to respond by faith to let him reign in our hearts. Yes, we have to obey, but it is not us who brings about the change. We must turn our hearts to him and let him do it.

Philippians 2, 12, Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not in my presence but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. Isaiah 55, 6, Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. In all of this, we can find all kinds of verses that tell us what to do and what to don’t. When it comes to the actual change and the actual saving, it was none of us, and it was all of him.

I’ve got to remain in him so that he can flourish in me. It’s God who makes the changes in us. Yes, I’m supposed to obey. Yes, I’m supposed to believe. But God, only because he’s keeping his promise, is why he’s doing this. We don’t deserve it. We’re sinners. We deserve to be destroyed. But because he loved us, he’s keeping his promise that he made to us. The more we obey, the more we read his word, the more we submit to his will, God will see that and he will affect our hearts so that we become successful believers, people that someone can say, I knew you were a Christian.

You didn’t say anything, but I just knew you were. To be somebody like that, because God has worked in our hearts.