In relation to leading new believers, we have the following publications: Messages for Building Up New Believers by Watchman Nee and The Crucial Truths in the Bible in Chinese. After serious consideration before the Lord, I feel to give some practical material for teaching new believers.
Lesson 1 is “Knowing That We Are Saved.” In leading new believers, we need to lay a firm and solid foundation in the matter of salvation. Otherwise, we cannot expect them to grow, to walk the way of the Lord, to consecrate, or to serve the Lord. A person must be clear concerning his salvation, having a firm and solid foundation, in order to grow, walk, consecrate, and serve the Lord properly. Hence, the foundation is very important.
There is no need for me to speak much. I will merely point out the main items. However, when this lesson is presented to new believers, it should involve three or four sessions.
Ephesians 1:4 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. First Peter 1:2 says that the believers were all chosen by God. In helping people to know that they are saved, we must begin with God’s choosing before the foundation of the world. We should say to the brothers and sisters, “Your salvation is based on God’s choosing you from the beginning. You must not think that your salvation is a coincidence or that you took the initiative to believe in the Lord. No! The beginning, the initiation, rests with God, and it started even before time began. In eternity past, God chose you. Before God’s hand did anything for you, He already had a plan in His heart. In His heart He chose you long before His hand saved you. Because God chose you, you were born in an age in which the gospel is easily heard, and you live in a region where it is easy to contact the gospel. His sovereign authority coordinated the time, space, and environment in such a way that you were brought to a situation where you could only respond by believing in the Lord; you had to turn to Him. Believing in the Lord is the same as being a man. It is altogether of Him, not of you. You did not initiate it; He directed it. It did not begin with you; it began with Him before time began. It was He who chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world.”
God predestinated everyone He chose. Ephesians 1:5 says that God predestinated us. Romans 8:29 says that those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated. This predestination is what we call “marking out beforehand.” When we select an object, after we have picked it out, we may put a mark on it; this is to “mark out” the object. In Greek, predestination has the meaning of “marking out.” In his translation of Ephesians 1:5, Darby uses the phrase “having marked...out.” God not only chose the believers in eternity past; He also marked them out. This is very clear. Once someone is chosen, he is destined; being chosen comes first, then being destined. In eternity, God chose us and then marked us out, that is, predestinated us. Therefore, salvation was our destiny.
We should speak in this way concerning selection and predestination only after a person is saved. If, while preaching the gospel, we say that all those who are saved are predestinated by God, having no way to escape, and that anyone not predestinated by God cannot be saved, people may then say, “Fine, I am not predestinated, so forget it.”
D. L. Moody encouraged his seminary students to preach the gospel. A student, who heard Moody’s teaching on predestination in class, was impressed and did not dare to preach the gospel, because he had a problem. He said to Moody, “I dare not preach the gospel now.” Moody asked him why, and he said, “When I am preaching, I look at a person and consider whether he is predestinated; I look at another and consider whether he is chosen. If God has not chosen and predestinated these ones, and they are eventually persuaded by me to believe in the Lord, will I not be making a big mistake?” Moody then replied, “Brother, just do your best to persuade him. As long as you can persuade someone to believe in the Lord, he has been chosen and predestinated by God.” Then Moody went on to say, “At the entrance of heaven, the words ‘whoever will may come’ are written on the outside; this means that whoever believes can be saved. But once a person passes through the entrance and looks back, he will see written on the inside, ‘You have been predestinated.’ Outside of the entrance is whoever, but inside of the gate is predestinated.” Thus, when leading those who have passed through the entrance and have been baptized, we should say, “You have been predestinated by God. You believed in the Lord and were saved because God picked you out and marked you out a long time ago.”
Hebrews 3:1 speaks of the “holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling.” Every believer is called by God from the heavens.
Romans 8:30 says, “Those whom He [i.e., God] predestinated, these He also called.” Once He selected, He predestinated; once He predestinated, He called. If God had not called us, how could we have turned to the Lord? If God had not called us, how could we have heard the gospel? The gospel is the voice of God calling us. Thus, there is a hymn that says, “The Lord is calling you today.” Today God is calling with the voice of the gospel.
Romans 1:7 speaks of the “called saints.” Some Bible versions render this phrase as called to be saints; this is an incorrect translation. The proper translation is “called saints.” All believers are called saints. We can be saved and sanctified, thus becoming saints because God has called us.
Ephesians 1:18 says, “That you may know what is the hope of His calling.” God’s calling is a calling of grace, in which is the greatest hope. The first step in God’s saving, after His choosing and predestination, is His calling us.
Ephesians 4:1 says, “Walk worthily of the calling with which you were called.” Therefore, God’s calling is a great thing, not a small matter. We need to let all the new believers know that they were saved unto the Lord because they received God’s calling.