This post begins with a very short checklist of activities to correctly orient the new Christian; followed by 5 brief videos about foundational aspects of the Christian life.
- Read through the Bible and establish a daily habit of reading it, Jesus said that we are to hunger and thirst for His words
- Plan to read through your Bible yearly
- Establish a daily prayer time
- Join a Bible-study group or a prayer group for fellowship and knowledge
- After reading through the Bible, choose some passage to study in depth such as psalm 51; the beatitudes; Romans….
- Explore Sermon Audio for sermons of topics in the Bible that you are trying to understand better
- Download and learn to use free Bible software at E-sword.net: it offers a dozen or so versions of the Bible; and a half-dozen free commentaries and Bible dictionaries in addition to free ebooks historically significant to the church; via e-sword one can explore sermons on Sermon Audio about the verse of scripture he is studying; furthermore, strongs concordance is free with E-sword, with it, one can easily know the Greek and Hebrew definitions of most scripture words, an invaluable tool for in depth Bible study
- Find a Christian friend with whom you can share personal struggles with sin, victories over sin….
- Buy a confession of faith such as the Westminster Confession of Faith for study classes by G.I. Williamson; the Westminster shorter catechism; the Heidelberg Catechism…. These organize and clarify Bible doctrines: you will be shown, e.g., the doctrine of justification as it is described or declared in the various parts of the Bible. All the doctrines of the Bible are identified and explained
- Know important Biblical terms that all Christians should understand so that you might learn how blessed you are and what God the Holy Spirit will be working in you as you go forward. The initial three videos below explain four doctrines of Christianity: faith; repentance; justification; and sanctification.
The following one minute video gives a basic understanding of faith; the speaker is pastor Crawford Loritts:
In the following video clip, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson explains repentance and faith, the initial 30 seconds is a bit difficult to understand, but the remaining 2 minutes should be quite understandable to even new Christians. If it is not, then keep reading your Bible until you grasp meanings of all these foundational doctrines of the Christian faith.
One has to think on doctrine as it is shown in the events of the Bible, along with learning verbal explanations, in order to arrive at an understanding. Bookmark this post and replay these three videos as you read through scripture and grow in knowledge of God’s word, understanding will eventually come.
(This video clip is part of a message delivered at a Bible class from Ligonier ministries. Online classes are available, for $90 a year one may take as many classes as he is able.)
In the following 4 minute YouTube video , pastor John Piper explains justification and sanctification very succinctly; these doctrines are the foundation rock of the Christian life. Please listen to this video carefully (and perhaps listen to the free 5 hour study series at Ligonier . org Justification by Faith Alone) to get a more thorough understanding of this very important doctrine. The Protestant Reformation was fought over the doctrine of Justification:
Regarding the above video, I want to emphasize that Piper said that one who is being sanctified strives daily to overcome his sin. I believe that it was C.H. Spurgeon who said that God works most where we work most. His Spirit requires that we concur with Him, that we own our sin and seek His enablement in fighting against it. The Beatitude Life series of posts says a lot about that struggle.
Consider the following short video which distinguishes between trusting in Christ or in one’s own performance for salvation. One of the biggest problems of your Christian walk will to be to quit trying to serve God in your own strength. This video speaks about that, although he doesn’t say much about surrendering and serving in the strength of God’s Spirit; but it is very important to be able to recognize when you are not.
In the following 6 minute video excerpt, pastor John Piper gives the gospel message, then he speaks on our lifelong need for the gospel in our walk with God: many wrongly believe it is something we need only at the beginning of our walk.
When a Christian’s sin is revealed to him by the Holy Spirit, the believer will experience pain suffered at the loss of pride, selfishness…and also guilt and shame over other sin. He / she will then have a great need to confess sin, to repent, to be comforted…by Christ’s Spirit. The gospel is the means of all that occurring (and much more). Thus, a Christian must necessarily lean on Christ via His gospel message his / her entire life, because sin will not be eliminated until the believer’s death (glorification). That process that the believer is going through via the work of the Holy Spirit is called practical sanctification.
I encourage you to listen to sermons by other biblical preachers on any aspect of the Christian life that you have questions about. Sermon Audio is a great site for hearing biblical preaching. Until you read through the Bible and are able to recognize biblical preaching, be careful about which preachers you listen to. The preachers I have been using in my posts are of the reformed faith, that is, they believe that the reformers (Luther, Calvin, etc.) interpreted scripture and its doctrines as the apostles did. I certainly believe that, as I sought out a reformed church before I knew what reformed doctrine was, because after reading through the Bible, I could hear when the preacher’s sermon was inlign with the Bible.
Regarding radio preachers, Moody radio requires much discernment. Many of their preachers are not of the reformed faith; furthermore, I have heard Moody’s DJs speak well of mystics, social gospel preachers…these preachers teach a different gospel (unbiblical).
Currently, Family Radio is the best Christian radio station out there. They quit airing the teachings of Harold Camping and now air Alistair Begg, John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, James Boice, Dr. Barnhart; and other biblical preachers. They also read through the Bible in a year; have book readings, often on books like the biography of Jonathan Edwards…. Of course, if they begin to air Harold Camping again, I would not recommend them, because he has clearly demonstrated that he is a false prophet (wrongly setting a date for the return of Christ 2 times and spending tens of millions of donation dollars on a billboard campaign, a caravan…). Their music is old fashioned, filled with old hymns and other music rich in scripture. Their DJs read devotionals by Puritan preachers and other biblical preachers…. I have not heard another Christian radio station that can come close to them regarding offering programming that upholds Christians in their daily walk (as of October 2018).