What Next?
If you have been
a Believer for a while,
please click here.
Therefore if
any man is in the Messiah, he is a new creature; the old
things passed away; behold, new things have come.
(2 Corinthians. 5:17)
Now that you have become a new creature in Yeshua/Jesus,
there are several things that you should do as soon as
possible:
|
|
Decide
whether you want to express your new faith in the
Renewed-Covenant Jewish way that most first-century
believers did (with a Messianic Jewish congregation) or
in the Gentile (non-Jewish) way that evolved after the
third century (with a Gentile Christian church).
|
|
|
Get yourself
a really good study Bible and start reading it every
day. We strongly recommend that you use the
New American Standard Bible translation, as we feel
that it is the most grammatically accurate English
translation available. However, it’s shortcoming is that
since it was translated by Gentile Believers, much of
the Hebrew flavor of the original language has been
lost, many of the Hebrew idioms and other figures of
speech have been mistranslated and misinterpreted, and
all of the original Hebrew and Greek names have been
Anglicized.
|
|
|
If you are
Jewish or have decided to express your faith in the
traditional New Covenant Jewish way, you may also want
to get a
translation of the whole Bible (Tanakh and B'rit
Hadashah), or at least the
B'rit Hadashah (Renewed Covenant), that uses Jewish
terms. (Remember that the so-called “New Testament” was
written by Hebrew-speaking Jews, not Greek- or
Latin-speaking Gentiles.) You can also use the
HNV (Hebrew
Names Version) right here on our website.
|
|
|
To get off
on the right foot you will first want to read the
Gospel According to
Yochanan (John) (the fourth book in the Renewed
Covenant, or “New Testament”) all the way through three
or four times. Yochanan’s Gospel Account (Gospel means
“good news”) explains who Yeshua is and what He has done
for you. Then read
Sha'ul’s Letter to the Romans (the sixth book in the
Renewed Covenant) three or four times. The letter to the
Romans explains every major doctrine (teaching) of the
Yeshua’s Emissaries (Apostles).
|
|
|
Locate an
appropriate group of believers who worship and study
together near you. Before you randomly select a “church”
you should know that most organizations which call
themselves “Christian” really aren’t Christians the way
the Bible defines Christianity, and most “churches” are
really aren't “churches” the way the Bible defines the
Church (or Miqra). You will want to select a body of
believers who practices the style of worship (Jewish or
Gentile, “traditional” or modern) that you are most
comfortable with. You will also want to ask the leaders
(preferably the Rabbi or Pastor) where the assembly
stands on the
most important teachings of the Bible. Click
here to find listings of Messianic Jewish
congregations.
|
|
|
Submit
yourself to the Pastor or Rabbi for
water baptism (or
mikvah)
as a public witness to the change that the Ruach
HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) has performed in you. |
If you have just enlisted
in the Army of G-d,
may we suggest that you go to the following
site for your Christian "Boot Camp"
Basic Training Bible Ministries
For more information on
the eternalness of your salvation,
we recommend the following sites:
… and you are
concerned that I haven't “pushed” enough for water baptism,
before you email me on the subject (I get dozens of nasty
scathing, email message every week from those call
themselves “Christians”), please be kind enough to do the
following:
DO read the
Bible Study on Baptism.
DO read
The Late Great Baptism
Debate.
DON’T
just email me to “set me straight” or try to change my mind.
I promise you that you will not be able to present a single
argument that I have not heard and refuted at least a
hundred times over the past 30 years.
DON’T
just email me for the sake of arguing theology. I have a
full-time ministry, a full-time
health
clinic, and a second full-time job, I am also taking
post-doctoral continuing education classes, and I am
enrolled in my third doctoral program. I simply don't have
either the time or the desire to debate theology simply for
the sake of debating theology. I you have a
real
question and want a real answer, I will do my very best
to respond as I can find time to do so.
This page last updated
Friday, October 24, 2008
http://familybible.org/Teaching/Theology/WhatNext.htm |
![[EFC Blue Ribbon - Free Speech Online]](http://www.efc.ca/images/efcfreet.gif)
