5 FAQ For New Believers

First Steps • Sermon • Submitted 9 months ago • Presented 9 months ago

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What’s Next? — 5 FAQs for New Believers

Big Idea: The Gospel saves you, secures you, and sends you into a life of growth. Texts: Rom 10:9–13; 1 Cor 15:1–4; Jn 10:28–29; Acts 2:41; Lk 11:1–13; 2 Tim 3:16–17

Introduction

Salvation is a new birth, but what comes after?

Every new believer asks, “Now what?”

Tonight we’ll answer 5 FAQs, anchored in Scripture and confessed in the BF&M 2000.

The Gospel saves you, secures you, and sends you into a life of growth

Point 1 — The Gospel Saves You (Assurance of Salvation)

FAQ 1 — Am I really saved?

Rom 10:9–13; 1 Cor 15:1–4; Jn 10:28–29 — Salvation rests on Christ’s finished work and God’s promise, not your feelings.

Romans 10:9–13 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NIV

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

John 10:28–29 NIV

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

Assurance is freedom from doubt; it flows from trusting Christ’s promise. If salvation could be lost, God would have to revoke His Word, which He cannot.

BF&M 2000, Article IV (Salvation): “Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man… offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.”

Regeneration: New birth by God’s grace.

Justification: God’s full acquittal through Christ.

Sanctification: Growing in grace through the Spirit.

Glorification: The final blessed state of the redeemed.

Illustration: A birth certificate doesn’t depend on the baby’s maturity—it declares life has begun. In Christ, new birth is a fact, not a feeling. Application: Mark today as the day you rest in Christ’s promise.

Transition: “If the gospel saves you, what’s the very first step of obedience?”

Point 2 — The Gospel Sends You (Baptism & Belonging)

FAQ 2 — What should I do first?

Acts 2:41 — Believers were baptized and added to the church.

Acts 2:41 NIV

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Baptism doesn’t save but symbolizes salvation and identifies you publicly with Jesus.

BF&M 2000, Article VII (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper): “Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water… an act of obedience symbolizing the believer’s faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior… a testimony to his faith in the final resurrection of the dead. Being a church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the privileges of church membership and to the Lord’s Supper.”

Application: Baptism is your next step. It’s how you go public with your faith and belong to the family of God.

Point 3 — The Gospel Sends You (Prayer & Relationship)

FAQ 3 — How do I pray?

Lk 11:1–13 — Jesus teaches us to pray: Father-centered, kingdom-focused, dependent, and trusting.

Luke 11:1–13 NIV

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: “ ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ” Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Prayer is relational, not ritual… a child speaking to their Father.

BF&M 2000, Article II (God the Father): “God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe… He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise.”

Because God is Father, prayer is not duty but relationship. Application: Start simple, consistent, relational prayer — 10 minutes a day.

Point 4 — The Gospel Sends You (Growth in the Word)

FAQ 4 — How do I grow?

2 Tim 3:16–17 — Scripture is God-breathed, equipping you for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NIV

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Spiritual growth is the Spirit making you more like Christ through Scripture, prayer, fellowship, and trials.

BF&M 2000, Article I (The Scriptures): “The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man… It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.”

Application: Growth begins with the Word. Read John, then Acts. Join a group. Surround yourself with believers. Growth is lifelong but real.

Transition: “But what about the setbacks—the sins, the failures, the trials?”

Point 5 — The Gospel Secures You (Perseverance & Grace)

FAQ 5 — What about struggles and failures?

Jn 10:28–29 — No one can snatch you from Christ’s hand.

John 10:28–29 NIV

Believers may stumble, but God’s power holds them secure. Trials refine faith and build perseverance.

BF&M 2000, Article V (God’s Purpose of Grace): “All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ… will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation… yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.”

Illustration: A toddler learning to walk falls often, but their parent never stops holding them. So it is with your Father. Application: When you stumble, don’t run from God—run to Him. He keeps you secure.