October 22
Bible Reading: Acts 22:1-5
Acts 22:1-5, “I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.”
Paul was aware of where his antagonists were coming from, for he’d likewise been zealous for the law in the persecution of Christians. But then Jesus changed all that. In his defense, Paul shared his conversion story, this being one of at least five times it’s found in Scripture (Acts 9:1-19; 22:1-21; 25:2-23; Galatians 1:11-17; 1 Timothy 1:12-17).
There are three key elements to any conversion story—life before conversion, the conversion experience, and life after conversion. I’ve heard a lot of testimonies over the years. A good testimony is one that honors Jesus. Jesus changes lives, and the Apostle Paul is a perfect example of how dramatic that change can be.
It’s amazing to consider what Paul (Saul) was doing before his salvation. Every lost person is radically depraved and undeserving of salvation, but it is not always as obvious as it was in Paul’s case (Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 1:21). He was “breathing threats and murders against the disciples” (Acts 9:1-2). When they were being “put to death (he) cast (his) vote against them” (Acts 26:10). In “raging fury against them (he) persecuted them” (Acts 26:11). “(He) persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it” (Galatians 1:13). He was “a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent” (1 Timothy 1:13). Saul was not seeking after Christ but was engaged in his murderous activities when Christ intervened.
That Jesus would work to save such a man means there’s hope for anyone (1 Timothy 1:16). But none deserve salvation. It is, in every case, a miraculous work whereby radical depravity meets up with overflowing grace (1 Timothy 1:14). Every believer has a “way I was” story to tell, but that story ends, and a new one begins with Jesus!
“No one is good enough to save himself; no one is so bad that God cannot save him.”
I WILL SING OF MY REDEEMER
I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.
Refrain:
Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer,
With His blood He purchased me,
On the cross He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.
I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave. [Refrain]
I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant pow’r I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell. [Refrain]
I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be. [Refrain]
LookingtoJesus 