The Baby Christian

If a newborn child is called a baby, newborn Christian is called a baby Christian or a babe in Christ.Di ba when you accepted Jesus, you were born again...pinanganak muli, kaya baby.

Nakaka-asar lang na sa society natin, the word “born again” is misused and degraded. Nung nagpost ako ng water baptism ko sa FB, maraming nagtanong sakin kung bakit ako nagpalit o lumipat ng religion. The reason nga I let go of my catholic faith is I wanted to escape religion. Then why in the world will I transfer to another one?

Being born again is a state of the spirit. It is not a religion. It is way way higher than religion. Ang ibig sabihin ng “born again” ay being born again in God’s Kingdom. Diba nga we died spiritually and because we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we became one with Him, we were reborn in the spirit.

Sa This Might Help series part 3, the sinner’s prayer was included. And if you really decided to be one with Jesus at dinasal mo ang prayer with a sincere heart, you automatically got born again. Ibig sabihin, your spirit man is now connected again with God. You are under the new covenant which is between Jesus and the Father. Now, the Father does not look at you but looks at Jesus who now represents you. Glory to God!

In God’s eyes, now that you are one with His Son, you are perfect, holy, and blameless. This is now your new identity. You do not have the sinful nature anymore. Now you have the God nature.

God has forgiven all your sins in the past. It’s a new phase of your life now. Unti-unti, you will witness changes in your character.

What are the signs that you genuinely got born again?

1. 1. Tears came out of your eyes while you were praying or before. These are tears of repentance. God keeps your tears of repentance. Tears are the best indication of a genuine repentance. I don’t know yet if this is absolute though. Basta kailangan you have repented and you felt a godly sorrow. Meaning, you grieved over your sinful helpless state. Now, there is no more desire to sin. We will still sin because we still live in a body/flesh but we will just know that it is not us anymore. Sinning is not our thing anymore.

2. 2. A light feeling has entered your being. A peace and sound mind is being restored. An unexplainable feeling of joy. There is a feeling of rest.

3. 3. There is a hunger for the word. When you read the bible, things start to make sense na hindi mo naintindihan dati.

Many Christians think that just by praying the sinner’s prayer, they got born again or saved instantly. These Christians are deceived.

First of all, the sinner’s prayer is not biblical. But it is a tool used by modern day church to lead people into what they are to say. It alone cannot bring you eternal life. It is always Jesus.

Repentance, a 180 degree turn around from doing sinful and worldly things, is biblical. Believing with all you heart is biblical.

Confessing with your mouth that you believe in Jesus is biblical.

We can always say words without meaning what we say. These are empty words. Empty words won’t save us but words of true faith in Jesus Christ.

A babe in Christ can, like human babies, grow and mature. But unlike humans, growing as a Christian is a choice. At yung basihan kung baby ka o matured Christian differs sa basihan natin sa humans.

Matured na ang tao kapag malaki na physically and mentally. While, ang maturity ng Christian ay naka-base kung maliit ka na. Quite opposite, right?

The maturity of a Christian depends on how Jesus Christ is dominant in one’s life and how small self has become. Simpleng-simple lang. A mature Christian should be a carbon copy of the real Jesus.

Hindi yan depende sa kung ilang taon ka nang believer. Hindi nga rin depende sa kung gano karaming verse ang memoryado mo sa bible. Hindi depende sa kung gaano ka katagal magbasa ng bible o kung nagbabasa ka ng bible araw-araw. It depends on how much of yourself have you surrendered to Christ, of how much are you sensitive to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, of how much are you led by Him, of how much are you obedient to His every word.

You see, Christianity is all about Jesus. Simple lang!

You lost your very name when you became born again. The name you are bearing now is the name above every name, Jesus. How much of Jesus is there in you? This is the measure of a mature Christian.

As baby Christian, this is where you need to focus on – feeding yourself more of Jesus by the leading of the Holy Ghost. You cannot do it alone yet. You will need the church to guide you. You will need Christian brothers and sisters to feed you with God’s Word. It is a gradual process. Step by step.

But you shall not depend on your pastors or even to Christian sites fully every time. As early as now, try to learn how to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Hear the word from others, ask the Spirit for confirmation. He is the only teacher of pure truth.

Men will present to you doctrines that are mixed with false words. Even I can do that. You will know that you receive false doctrines right away if you as a Christian do not grow at all. In other words, doctrine of man will always make you a passive Christian. Yung tipong you rely fully on what they say and do not have the heart to search for God yourself.

This is why Christians confuse the world. We give them a wrong message about us. May mga “Christian” daw na makikita ng iba na ang lakas paring uminom, o nambabae parin. Kaya people have their eye against Christians because they see us as hypocrites.

Some call themselves Christian pero they are still like the world. If you fully depend on men and not on the Spirit of Jesus then you will be misled. A spirit-led Christian will always lead you closer to Jesus and closer to becoming like Him.

If only I knew this before, I would have focused on learning how to listen to the Holy Spirit. This is what I’m doing now. How can the Holy Spirit lead me closer to Jesus if I am still full of myself? How can I hear the Holy Spirit if I still follow my own plans, my own thoughts? Everything that is about me should die so that Jesus will occupy more of me. This is a gradual, step-by-step process. Kasi God knows that if you lose all of yourself in an instant, the unwanted spirits might enter instead. Dying to ourselves is basically the “surrender all” that God asks of us.

I will not b e surprised if a young child can even be more mature than I am in Christ. We should be like little children to be a mature Christian. We are open to learning, no pride, just a little child waiting for instructions from his parents.

Just learn how to love Jesus and His ways. Babalik tayo lagi dun. To love, there should be knowing first. Seek Him first so that you will find Him. Ask Him questions so that you will be answered.

Ako, I honestly think that when I was a baby Christian, I was nearly misled. Bakit? I made my mind interpret the Word of God. I made Christianity a tool for my own self plans. I made use of God’s grace for my own selfish ambitions. Kaya I run after sugar-coated preachings too much.

The worst I did was to use what Jesus did as a license to sin.

“Tutal, I know that God loves me so, I’ll sin a little. Just a little. He will overlook it and I’ll ask for forgiveness later.”

Iniisip ko lang ngayon makes me ashamed of it. But I was a babe. God is a merciful, understanding God. He forgave me when I realized I was badly misled.

These things I did not learn in church. I like my church and my pastors. Hindi nila tinuro ito. Kaso my mind interpreted their teachings wrongly. Every person has a different thought pattern. If I say a certain phrase, people will translate it differently.

Kaya it is so important to be led by the Holy Spirit. He alone can interpret the word of God purely. As a babe, you will fall, you will commit mistake. We all do naman. Even matured Christians do. But we are so blessed that we have a God who is faithful, who is loving, who is wise. He will snatch us back to the right path if we do our part – to seek Him diligently.

Rely not on your own understanding. Rely on His Spirit alone for knowledge and wisdom.

Father,

May you open my spiritual senses so that I will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Make known to me your ways, Lord God. Lead me to the narrow path. Lead me to the full understanding of your pure word. Guide me as I grow up in Jesus Christ your son. Enable me to love Him with all of me.

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.