A person is converted from a totally messed up life. Six months after baptism all the factors that contributed to the mess in his or her life are still there. Circumstances are such that it seems easier to surrender to the mess than to resist it. May I suggest that if we create the impression that Christianity is supposed to create a quick fix for your life, That it rescues you from your messes, And that it delivers you from occasions of temptation, We create false expectations that can spiritually destroy instead of save. What Christ does in the life, the mind, the heart of a person when that person enters Christ is real.
Forgiveness is real.
The destruction of sin and guilt is real. The new relationship with God is real. It is equally true that Satan is just as real after baptism as he is before. Evil has the same power and force in the world and in life after baptism as before. Temptation is just as real after baptism as before.