Becoming a Believer: Dear New Christian

Christ our Lord. You will vow to each other: “As a token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love, with this ring I thee wed in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!”

Husband-to-be, are you prepared to take your fiancé to be your wedded wife; to live together in the holy estate of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, and keep her? As the Bible says, Will you live with her according to knowledge and understanding, so that your prayers not be hindered? Will you always strive to love her as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her? Will you love her at all times and under all conditions? Will you cleave to her emotionally, mentally, and physically as your only lover? Will you always seek to live with her in such a way that she will be nurtured as a godly woman? And will you constantly strive by the power of His Holy Spirit to do all this until Christ requires your presence with Him?

Wife-to-be, are you prepared to take your fiancé to be your wedded husband; to live together in the holy estate of marriage? Will you also love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him? As the Bible says, Will you respect him and acknowledge him as your spiritual head, and therefore be submissive to him as unto the Lord, just as the Church is submissive to Christ? Will you love him at all times and under all conditions? Will you always cleave to him emotionally, mentally, and physically as your only lover? Will you seek to love and support him as God’s man and minister? And will you constantly strive by the power of His Holy Spirit to do all this until Christ requires your presence with Him?

Through your upcoming marriage commitment, give yourselves to each other unreservedly. Everything you have and everything you are belongs to each other. From this coming moment on, the two become one!

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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8–9

Congratulations on your decision to give your life to Jesus Christ! You are now a part of the family of God. This decision is the single most important one of your life. It will radically impact your living for time and eternity. That’s because only Jesus can give you new life, abundant life, and eternal life—and all three levels of life became yours when you put your faith in Him.

Prior to salvation, we all lived in what the Bible calls spiritual death. This is the same spiritual state that every human is born into and lives in until they accept Jesus Christ as Savior (Ephesians 2:1–3). We were physically alive, but spiritually dead. Each of us was under the control of our sinful nature and dominated by evil desires, thoughts, and actions.

When we were helpless and hopeless, God sovereignly saved us through His great love, mercy, and grace! At that moment of spiritual transformation, we moved from death to life (John 5:24).

Paul wrote letters to encourage new Christians who had questions. Some were struggling with guilt over how they had lived and what they had done before they accepted Jesus. They feared that God would never forgive them for the evil things they had done. So, Paul reminded them, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Everything changed because of Jesus. Believers were now “sanctified” and “justified” through their faith in Him. These words are biblical descriptions of what has happened to you spiritually. They mean that you have been spiritually changed and transformed.

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