A Day After Salvation is one of several books I wrote while driving big rigs across the country. The book focuses on God's grace in salvation, the reality of spiritual growth, and the assurance that the God who begins the work of regeneration is faithful to complete it.

A Day After Salvation is one of several books I wrote while driving big rigs across the country. The book focuses on God's grace in salvation, the reality of spiritual growth, and the assurance that the God who begins the work of regeneration is faithful to complete it.

The first edition of our publication, which remains unpublished as of June 2019, is still available on our website at www.witheredhand.org. This edition features a striking blue background adorned with a white staircase that elegantly ascends toward Heaven.

This 1st edition reached audiences across the globe, and in 2017, we took significant steps to broaden its reach by having it translated into Urdu. We then financed the distribution of 1,000 copies throughout Pakistan, ensuring that the message reached a diverse audience. We also have several touching photographs of students engaging with the 1st edition, along with images of readings and discussions at various universities in Ghana and Nigeria, showcasing its impact in different educational contexts.

On August 2, 2023, the revised edition of "A Day After Salvation" was published, celebrating the impactful legacy of Don Stewart. This edition includes a heartfelt foreword by Dr. W.V. Grant and reflects on Don's contributions and the influence he had on countless lives worldwide. However, tragically, just a few months later, on January 24, 2024, Apostle Don Stewart transitioned to glory, leaving behind a profound legacy that continues to inspire others. Don’s work and teachings will be remembered and cherished by those he touched. To honor his passing, a beautiful Commemorative Edition of this book was published by Ingram Books on January 7, 2026, celebrating Don's life and legacy, and is available on Amazon.

What Motivated Me to Write, "A Day After Salvation."

Growing up, I heard many church pastors mix law with grace, telling people they could have salvation today and lose it tomorrow. They would attempt to preach bondage to the people instead of grace, telling some of the women that wearing makeup makes them look like their gall bladder had burst. They would preach against women, including elderly women wearing pants, as an abomination before God, and God help someone if they left an abusive wife or one had left them. Yes, some pastors expect immediate maturity after salvation. Still, Scripture presents salvation as a completed act and the beginning of ongoing grace, encouraging believers to trust God's faithfulness throughout the process, deepen their understanding, and foster patience.

Through years of suffering through a mental nervous breakdown while driving the big rigs coast to coast, I have learned something about grace, and my book, A Day After Salvation, is an open roadmap to deliverance. In it, I teach that a believer is genuinely saved, genuinely forgiven, and genuinely accepted by God when they give their heart and life to the Lord. However, they are not yet fully mature. A newborn child is no less alive because they cannot walk, and a new Christian is no less saved because they have much to learn.

Before the foundation of the world, God chose His people according to His purpose and grace, showing that salvation is initiated by God's faithfulness rather than dependent on human effort, thereby deepening believers' assurance in God's unchanging commitment. My book teaches that, since salvation begins with God's grace, spiritual growth is a partnership in which God's preserving grace empowers believers to pursue holiness and obedience, reassuring readers that God's strength sustains their progress. This truth should inspire humility and patience, reminding believers that growth takes time and that no one is finished yet, which is why a church ministry must have a follow-up ministry for new converts.

I witnessed in church and abroad ministers asking people to pray a prayer after them and, after the prayer, telling them they are saved. I grew up in church, led the singing & got saved at nearly every revival when I was a boy, but it actually took being in my 20s to understand the plan of salvation.
The Christian life is not sustained by perfection but by God's faithfulness. Therefore, not only the day after salvation, but every day thereafter, believers stand trusting in the same grace that first brought them to Christ.

While salvation is instantaneous, many believers wonder if they should mature immediately. My book clarifies that spiritual growth is a gradual journey, helping readers understand God's timing and patience. The evidence of new life is not perfection; it is growth. Even slow growth is still growth. God is patient with His children, and His people should learn to be patient with one another as well. When God saves a sinner, He assumes full responsibility for the work He begins.

Target practice provides a simple illustration. Missing the bullseye does not mean the shooter has abandoned the target. It means they are still learning, adjusting, and improving. Likewise, believers often miss the mark. In target practice, even skilled marksmen miss the center from time to time.

Missing the bullseye does not mean they have forgotten the target. It means they are still aiming, learning, and adjusting. Failures in word, thought, and deed are part of the growth process, encouraging believers to persevere with hope rather than despair. They stumble, misunderstand, and struggle. Yet their failures do not prove that God has abandoned His work in them. Rather, failures reveal their ongoing need for the grace that saved them in the first place.

God does not save a person and then demand instant perfection. Instead, He begins a process of transformation that continues throughout the believer's life. The new believer often carries old habits, old fears, and incomplete understanding. This should not surprise us. Regeneration changes the heart immediately, but spiritual maturity develops over time.

The same grace that saves is the grace that teaches, corrects, strengthens, and matures. Salvation is not a partnership in which God starts the work and leaves the rest to human ability. He is both the Author and the Finisher of faith. This truth provides comfort for struggling believers.

Many become discouraged when they see remaining sin in their lives. They expected the Christian life to be easier, cleaner, and faster than it has proven to be. Yet their struggles do not surprise God. The believer's confidence rests not in the strength of their grip on Christ but in Christ's grip on them. The God who called them from death to life is committed to completing His purpose. Every lesson learned, every failure redeemed, and every step of growth bears witness to His faithful hand.

The difference between the believer and the unbeliever is not the absence of failure but the presence of God's transforming work. The believer grieves over sin, seeks forgiveness, and continues moving toward Christ. The very struggle against sin is evidence that God is at work within them. Grace does not excuse sin, but His grace does sustain the sinner whom He is changing.

The Slow Miracle of Sanctification, "Held by Grace", and "Learning to Walk After Being Born" is the core heart of my book: Hence, Salvation is God's work from beginning to end, and spiritual growth is the gradual unfolding of what God has already begun. The Holy Scripture says in Hebrews 4:9 that there is a rest available to the people of God. This book will help lead you into that rest. For example, it would be like asking someone to give you a ride to the store. There are two ways to ride, but one requires you to hold on. You can climb on and hold the hood; if you hold tight, you will get there. But why not get inside and enjoy the ride?

In closing, the Holy Word of God declares in Philippians 1:6: KJV Being confident of this very thing, that He which begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Hence, since He is the one who began the work, He will be the one who will finish the work, and all that is required of us is to be obedient and allow Him to do it. Hence, maybe a good closing would be something like this: A Day After Salvation: Chosen, Changed, and Still Growing." "Therefore, I might be marred, but I am in His hands."

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

International Evangelist Jerry W. Hulse, Ph.D. Miracle Life Church International