Life after Baptism:
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a baptism service. After the baptism was over, we all gathered in the church and I prepared myself to hear some good exhortation from the pastors present to the newly baptized persons. I was disappointed. The messages which followed spoke nothing about the life of a Christian after baptism. As I thought about it, I realized that this is true of many evangelists who give an alter call after the message. The new convert comes forward with great hopes of hearing encouraging words but after the evangelist prays, he is forgotten. Left to himself, he slowly loses that zeal which marked his conversion and becomes a back slider.

“If any man be in Messiah, he is a new creation” (2Cor.5:17). The old man is dead and gone, we live a new life in Messiah. Hallelujah!
The renewed man acts upon new principles, by new rules, with new ends, and in new company. The believer is created anew; his heart is not merely set right, but a new heart is given to him. He has a new life, new senses, new affections and new ideas. His actions and conversation are new, and he lives in a new world.
Walk in the newness of life: The evidence that our baptism is true and sincere is that we are living a new life as a result of being dead to the old. Christianity is a new life. At conversion, we step out of Satan's kingdom into Yahweh's kingdom, out of darkness into light. Baptism is represents this great change, if we have not changed, then we are just wet sinners. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Yahshua His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1John 1:7). When we accept Messiah as Savior, we immediately receive a new nature, the Divine nature. The new man (committed to a life of self-denial) is alive. The new man is the body ruled by righteousness. As Messiah has dealt with sin once and for all, so through repentance and faith in the work of Messiah we should make sure that our sins are in the past. We need to consider ourselves dead, in practice, unto sin, not merely in theory. Anyone who is professing Messiah but is still sinning is deceived and dead to Yahweh.

A critical period: When we are baptized, we put on the new man. We do our best to lead new lives. But people start to observe us very carefully, under a microscope. We come in for a lot of criticism. We should not be discouraged but ‘resist the devil and he will flee from you’ (Jas.4”7). We also start meditating upon the word of Yahweh. And come into contact with many well meaning people who try to influence us with various doctrines. Let us hold fast to the faith which has saved us. Let us ’ be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph.4:14). Such people try to convince us that their doctrine is a better one, and so being eager to learn more about Yahshua and salvation, we move away from the truth. That is why Paul says in Gal.3:3, “having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” 

Possibility of falling: The Israelites were happy when Yahweh brought them out of Egypt but through unbelief and disobedience they lost the Promised Land and also the blessings. Through baptism we have been delivered from the bondage of sin, and have a wonderful promise of eternal life but let us be careful that we may not fall into the same fate. A heart of unbelief will lead away from the living God. What was possible in their case is possible in yours. There will be many temptations but we should be able to resist them all. There are no new temptations in this world, but for every temptation Yahweh will show us a way to escape (1Cor.10:13)

Be a good example: We should live exemplary lives, never giving chance for others to criticize or ridicule us.  We must be examples of love to Yahweh and all good men, examples of spiritual-mindedness, having no pleasure in worldly things, pointless and unfruitful visits, or idle conversation. (2Tim.4:12; Tit.2:7).

Put God first. Love Him with all your being (Mt 22:37). Seek first His kingdom and righteousness (Mt 6:33.) This will ensure that you do all that is necessary to remain faithful! Set your affections on things above (Col.3:2-10) Keep your body pure because you are the temple of the living Elohim. Put off anger, malice, bad language, lying. Be patient with one another, forgive one another. Let not
sin reign in your body.

Study the word of Yahweh. Be eager for the Word, like an infant longs for milk (1Pe 2:2). Remember the Bereans in their attitude-(Acts.17:11). The scriptures contain all that we need to help us live a prosperous life, always enjoying the presence and blessings of God (Yahweh).

Spend time in prayer. Prayer is communication with Yahweh. We pray to the Almighty through Messiah who is the only mediator between man and Yahweh.  Messiah has made it possible to approach Yahweh's throne (Heb.4:15). Wonderful blessings come through prayer (Phil. 4:6-7). Be devoted to prayer, with an attitude of thanksgiving (Col. 4:2)

Be diligent in assembling.  We are not to forsake our assembling together (Heb.10:24-25). Take time for fellowship and prayer. Neglecting the assemblies is a symptom of spiritual stagnation!

The Lord wants His disciples to make more disciples - Mt 28:19-20. It is no good if you receive the word of Yahweh and keep it to yourself. Share it with others; preach the word---in season and out of it.

As I have already hinted in the beginning the pastor has an important role to play in the new convert’s life. The pastor should provide the necessary guidance and direction. He should provide encouragement when he falls. That is one of the reasons Paul made so many journeys to the different churches. He kept in touch with them through his epistles. The new convert is the pastor’s spiritual child. Just as a parent looks after the welfare of his children, the pastor should also take care of the spiritual needs of his spiritual children!