Roger Dunsdon considers how to help a new believer grow.

ROOTS GO DEEP(ER)

Messiah Jesus calls us to new life. He clothes us with Himself, commissions us with a purpose, and empowers us to fulfil that purpose.

But what is that purpose? It is to follow Him as His disciples and to live for Him as disciple-makers (that is, disciples who make disciples). That means we are not only to share our faith and lead others to trust in Messiah, but we are also to establish them so they will also become properly rooted in their Christian faith.

Therefore, just as you received Messiah Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7)

The goal of establishing a new/young believer is to root them in the basics of our shared faith and connect with the wider community of believers to continue learning. Your willingness to help new believers in their faith flows out of your love for God – and your love for His people.

DISCIPLING

When Jesus places a new Believer in your life, what are your options? You can invite them to church, class, or small group and assume they will “catch on” to what they need to know. But is that the best way? You want him/her to join a community of believers, but she/he needs you right there beside them, personally discipling them in the basics of what it means to be a Christian. That is the best way.

We can no longer assume that people have been taught any truth about Jesus, the Bible, the Church, or the Christian life. Think of your new Christian friend as a newborn baby. They need spiritual milk: “And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness.” (1 Peter 2:2-3)

Just as a newborn baby needs to know the love and trustworthiness of his/her parents, the new Believer needs to know and experience the love and trustworthiness of their God. Start with the basics of the Christian faith, laying a good foundation of truth for him/her to grasp and apply to their life.

WHAT BELIEVERS NEED TO KNOW

Here are suggested nine components to a good foundation for every believer—new or long-term—to be “rooted and built up in Him and firm in your faith.”

1. Who Messiah is, what He’s acieved for us on the cross, and what His resurrection means

All Believers need to know this; Christianity is not a lifestyle, or rules of conduct. Nor is it a society whose members are initiated by the sprinkling or covering of water. It is about Messiah Jesus and our relationship with Him. What the new Believer needs first and foremost is to get to know Jesus, and to be secure in their relationship with Him.

The new Believer also needs to know what Messiah achieved for them on the cross in His death and what His resurrection gives. Forgiveness, reconciliation, and justification are blessings we receive from the cross and are huge relationship changers when it comes to our daily relationship with God. The new life she/he gets because of Jesus’ resurrection begins the moment the new Christian trusts in Messiah Jesus – and continues forever. She/he needs that assurance.

2. How to read and study a Bible

Make sure the new Believer has a Bible (print or online) in a good translation they can understand. Show them how to find Bible books in the table of contents. Explain to how books are divided up into chapters and verses (these being the three parts of any Bible verse reference). Walk through e.g. the gospel of Mark. Show the new Believer how to read a passage and let the Holy Spirit show them something from it. I usually ask the question, “What jumped out at you?” That’s the milk for the day!

3. Who Holy Spirit is, and how He works in our lives

Holy Spirit is God’s empowering presence in our life. Make sure the new Believer understands that Holy Spirit is a person living inside them Who is actively involved in our life. He is the one helping them to understand the Bible passage she/he is reading. Holy Spirit is the one representing Jesus to them and leading them to trust Him. The Spirit is the one who produces fruit in our lives and helps us sense God’s presence; He is there, whether the Believer “feels” it or not.

4. Living by the Spirit’s power rather than living by the flesh

Faith is how the new Believer received Messiah and His Holy Spirit. Faith is how she/he turns their life over to Jesus and trusts Him on a daily basis. Christianity is not a set of rules to follow on our own. The new Believer needs to know and understand God’s grace toward them and what it means to live in the freedom of that grace. The Christian life is a life of becoming more dependent on God and less independent of Him. It is a transformationally different way of approaching life.

5. What prayer is — knowing God the Father’s love

Even if she/he didn’t have a good earthly father, she/he can by faith believe that she/he has a good Heavenly Father who loves them dearly and delights in their relying upon Him through prayer. Jesus taught His followers to think of God as their Heavenly Father.

Prayer is communicating with our Heavenly Father and hearing back from Him. It is conversation with Someone who loves us dearly. What a privilege for the Believer…to go directly into God’s presence and talk with Him about whatever is on our heart. He desires to hear from us, and He promises to listen.

6. Our identity in Messiah

The moment she/he believed, the old self that was born in Adam died. A new self with the same external body, but a new interior started life as a new person with a new nature “in Messiah.” That new identity contains many unconditional blessings received the moment she/he trusted in Messiah. These blessings make possible an unending relationship with God as our Father.

One of the fundamental questions of the human race is that of identity. “Who am I?” The one secure, eternal answer is that through faith in Messiah Jesus the Believer can say, “I am in Messiah, a child of God, one of God’s saints, completely loved and accepted by God” – an identity that no human or demonic agent can change.

7. Obedience flowing from love and gratitude rather than obligation

The entire Christian life is to be lived by faith, not works. The many ‘religions’* force their followers to adhere to a list of rules to stay acceptable. Believers should want to obey God out of love and gratitude for how much He loves us, and for Jesus paying the ultimate price for our sins. Yet we cannot live an obedient Christian life in our own strength. We must live by faith in Messiah every day. By faith, we trust Holy Spirit to enable us to obey what God wants for our lives. By faith, we learn to obey Messiah and experience a life of freedom and joy.

* it’s sometimes said that true Biblical Christianity is not a religion at all. It is a relationship, and an eternal status.

8. Being part of the Body of Messiah and enjoying its community

What a privilege it is to enjoy fellowship with God through prayer and fellowship with other believers in God’s awesome family on earth—the Church* (usually written with a capital “C” to distinguish from local individual churches). While the new Believer is part of the universal Church, God wants him/her to be part of a local church family. It is like having relatives all over the world but living with your immediate family. A local church is a group of believers committed to worshiping Messiah, teaching His Word, supporting each other as we follow Jesus together and proclaim the good news to others. She/he can enjoy relationships and spiritual growth within this church community.

* we recognise, of course, that this word might better be translated as “Assembly”

9. Telling others about Jesus

As a follower of Messiah Jesus, the new Believer now has the wonderful and awesome privilege of sharing the good news of the Kingdom with others. There is tremendous joy in reaching out to those who do not know Jesus and introducing them so they can know Him just as we now know Him. This includes letting others see how Messiah Jesus is living His life through you. And it also includes telling the good news of the gospel. If we have opportunity to tell someone just one thing, we can tell them what we know about Jesus. That’s enough to plant a seed.

WHERE ARE THE NEW CHRISTIANS?

Where are the new Believers besides anyone you bring to Messiah Jesus yourself? Most likely, they are where you are presently connected such as at Bible studies, in mothers’ groups, your workplace, where you live, and in your church.

Like Priscilla and Aquila in Acts 18:24-26, pay attention as people talk in your group. Listen carefully to what that person sitting near you is saying. Don’t assume she/he knows their identity in Messiah. She/he may not be a true Believer yet. They may indeed be a new Believer, or may be a long-time Believer who has never done real Bible Study before, and feels ignorant compared to others.

Come alongside him/her. For someone new to Bible study, or church, or who doesn’t know much, invite them somewhere to talk. Find out what they already know and what they need to know. Ask if she/he’s interested in meeting with you to get more established in faith. If she/he is, agree on a time to get together. Get a book for each of you designed for discipling a new Christian. The Graceful Beginnings: New Believers Guide is easily available on Bible.org for you to use. You can also access this guide as an E-book (called A Fresh Start) online.

Maybe you already have something that someone used to disciple you when you were a new Christian. Or, your church/fellowship might have discipling materials on hand. Just make sure you walk through the 9 necessary elements of a good foundation explored above.

RELY MORE ON JESUS

Feeling a bit scared or hesitant about discipling a new Believer? Jump right in and do it! Whatever leads you to trust in Jesus more is good for you. If you haven’t been rooted with this basic information, your discipling experience will be a huge growing experience for you as well.

So, give your insecurities to Jesus. He is the one who makes you able to do everything in the Christian life, and that includes discipling a new Christian. You are simply to obey Him and trust His Spirit to work through you. Being scared is a good thing; you will rely on Him more. It is okay to say, “Lord, I can’t do this on my own, but you can in me and through me. I will trust you with this.” Step out in faith.

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“Discipleship – Biblical, Contemporary and Personal Reflections on Christian Discipleship by Alex Jacob https://christian-publications-int.com/Discipleship.html