1 John 1:5-10
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Once we have come to Jesus, once we are baptized into Christ, what then?
Are we saved for all time?
Yes, you are saved for all time, if you continue to follow Jesus.
Your confession and baptism are just the beginning of the journey, not the end.
Do I need to do anything further?
Yes, you must obey the Lord.
How can we call Jesus Lord and not do what He has told us?
You say, "I don't know the Lord or what He has told us."
That is exactly right for a new Christian.
When we first come to the Lord, we have little to no idea.
A lot of ideas new Christians have are wrong, or are misconceptions.
So how we do know the Lord? How do we know His will?
From studying the Bible.
This is how we learn about Jesus and how He has told us to live.
We need to obey what He has told us to do.
Notice in verse 7, "if we walk in the light."
How do we walk in the light?
Same way, we study the Bible and change to be like the Lord.
When we see something in ourselves, an attitude or a habit or something of that nature.
A flaw, or a sin, then we change to stop those sinful things and instead replace those attitudes and habits with ones from Jesus.
For instance, if we have had a habit of lying all our life.
We replace that habit, with the honesty and integrity of Jesus.
We don't focus on stopping lying, we focus on being honest.
If you notice the verses in 1 John chapter 1.
These verses are talking about our ongoing Christian life.
If we stay in our sin or go back to it, then we are choosing the darkness.
We can't claim follow the Lord and live like a devil.
Following Jesus, walking in the light and being cleansed as we go, that is the way.
Admitting that we do have sin.
We have flaws.
We are working on those things and asking for forgiveness from the Lord.
God forgives us, then we press forward to be more like Christ.
So now that you are a Christian.
Study your Bible.
Assemble and listen to Bible teaching.
Take the lessons to heart.
Put the things you learn from the Bible, into practice in your life.
And when it gets hard, don't give up.
When you feel you have completely failed, get back up.
Ask for forgiveness and the Lord will forgive.
Then continue to follow Jesus.
That is being faithful.
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