Christianity (alone) is essentially different

The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them." Acts 22:30

The leader of the Roman soldiers who were detaining Paul was curious, “Why are these Jewish religious leaders so angry with this man, Paul, who like them, is so religious?” This passage got me to thinking about how non-religious people view “religious” people. Most often they see religions as all being essentially the same. In reality all religions are not the same. As has been said, “All religions (including Christianity) could be wrong, but they cannot all be right.” Why? Because they contradict each other in fundamental ways.

In the last two posts we sought to first show how the beliefs of the three great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are fundamentally not the same. Secondly, we sought to demonstrate that all of the world’s religions are not the same. We’ll conclude this consideration of world religions by clarifying how virtually all world religions have one thing in common about which Christianity is antithetically the opposite.

Virtually every religion under the sun has this in common: their adherents must do something to reach whatever each religion sets forth as the goal. That goal may be Heaven, nirvana. enlightenment, oneness with the universe, or whatever.

Contrariwise, Christianity (alone) says that humans are so sinful that we are incapable of doing anything to “save” ourselves. According to Christianity, our only hope is that God (and God alone) must do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. And because God is infinitely loving and gracious, He has done that very thing for us. The only begotten Son of God, Jesus, became a man to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves: He lived sinlessly for us and then died and rose for us. By doing these things, He purchased our forgiveness and provided us with both His righteousness and a desire to follow Him. In so doing, He opened Heaven that was otherwise closed to us.

Who gets the benefit of what God has done for us? Not those who do, but those who believe or trust in Him. Christians gratefully follow Jesus not to gain Heaven, but because He has already secured our place in Heaven.

This fundamental difference between Christianity and all other religions has frequently been summarized with these words: There are two kinds of religion: Do and Done. All other religions are based on what we must do. Only Christianity is based on what God has done for us.

COEXIST? Or CONTRADICT?

The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them." Acts 22:30

We began yesterday noting that the leader of the Roman soldiers who were detaining Paul was curious, “Why are these Jewish religious leaders so angry with this man, Paul, who like them is so religious?” Last time we argued that even among the three great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the beliefs of each are fundamentally not the same.

This time we’ll look more broadly at the myth that there is little or no difference between religions and religious people. Who hasn’t seen the bumper sticker made of religious symbols that spells out the word: “COEXIST”?

Let me share three observations about the myth espoused by the “COEXIST” bumper stickers that all religions are the same. If the bumper sticker was correct, it would say: “CONTRADICT” instead of “COEXIST.”

First, it is ironic that many of those those who display that bumper sticker are altogether intolerant of any who do not agree with them that all religions are the same—even though the evidence proves that they are not. In fact, the notion that all religions are the same only reveals how little some people know about world religions—that are not the same.

Second, I agree that it would be nice if people from all world religions would tolerate one another and “COEXIST.” By that I mean, refrain from hate and violence against each other. Let’s face the sad fact that many people have been killed by those from one religion for believing in another religion. That is of course, horrible. The world would be a better place if people from all religions simply allowed each other to practice their religions in peace. The sad reality, however, is that by nature some religions are violently coercive.

Third, we understand that some religions, including Christianity, are by nature, “evangelistically expansionary.” That means people from some religions are committed to converting people from other religions to join theirs. But how this desire to convert others is carried out matters. Many religions are violently coercive—meaning “convert or be killed.”

Christianity is by nature fundamentally different, however. We are evangelistic, but we are never to employ coercive (much less violent) force. Instead, we are to employ persuasive reason.

As Christians we try to persuade people to believe, knowing that (a) since we cannot force anyone to believe, we must never try to, and (b) that only the Holy Spirit change a person’s heart so that they willingly believe.

And as we try to persuade people to believe, because not all will believe, we must sympathetically continue to love and pray for those who do not believe.

Next time: how all religions except Christianity have one thing in common, and how Christianity is in that one thing fundamentally different from every other religion.

All religions are the same. Not.

The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them." Acts 22:30

The leader of the Roman soldiers who were detaining Paul was curious. “Why are these Jewish religious leaders so angry with this man, Paul, who like them is so religious?” From this, be reminded that in the eyes of the world there is little difference between religions and religious people. After 9/11 how many times did we hear, “Jews, Christians and Muslims all worship the same God”? Untrue. Any understanding of these three monotheistic religions makes it clear that we do not.

Obviously the Muslim deity is not the same as that of Christians and Jews. While there are many peaceful Muslims, there are foundational teachings in Islam that are not peaceful. The religion and its teachings are completely different from both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible that define Judaism and Christianity.

Sadly, many believers in Jesus also fail to see the difference between Christianity and Judaism. Christians and Jews both embrace the entire Old Testament of the Bible. However, Judaism embraces only the Old Testament. Christians, on the other hand, embrace both the Old and New Testaments. The difference is that the Christian God of the Old and New Testaments has a Son, Jesus, who died and rose to deliver His people from their sins. Judaism completely rejects this.

Think of it this way: Someone claims to know me. That person knows I live in California, love to eat nachos, and listen to jazz music, but denies that the Errol he claims to know has a wife and three daughters. I have a wife and three daughters (which is a far more important fact than location, dietary, and music preferences!). I submit to you that the person does not know me!

In like manner, 1 John 2:23 makes it crystal clear that anyone who claims to know the God of Christianity but denies the Son of God, Jesus, does not know God either:

Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Yes, it is true that Christians believe in the God of “biblical Judaism,” but we embrace all of His revelation of Himself in both Old and New Testaments. But to reject the New Testament is to fail to understand the real meaning of the Old Testament that points to Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. Let us pray that Jewish people will come to faith in Jesus, their Messiah!

Let us pray for Muslims to come to faith in Jesus, who is the one and only true and living God—and not the god of Islam.

As for Satan’s lie that all religions teach essentially the same thing, more next time.

Avoiding persecution. Is it ever right?

And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, "Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman." Then the commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" He said, "Yes." The commander answered, "With a large sum I obtained this citizenship." And Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. Acts 22:25-29

As we saw last time, though God can rescue us from danger miraculously, He more often does so through “ordinary means.” Paul was rescued from an angry mob—yes, by God, who used ungodly civil authorities.

This time let’s note that Paul used his Roman citizenship to escape being beaten by the Roman authorities. Under Roman law it was unlawful to beat a Roman citizen. Paul knew that and so he used that privilege of citizenship to his advantage.

In most cases it is wise to avoid persecution. The only exception is if such an avoidance would require compromising—or worse, denying Christ, our faith, or truth. Those who deny the Lord to avoid persecution sin against the Lord, who warned us, “If you deny me before men, I will deny you before My Father” (Matthew 10:43).

There are ways to avoid persecution that are not wrong, however. When Jesus sent the disciples out to preach, He told them that if they were not accepted, they were to leave that place (Matthew 10:14). From this we may safely deduce that avoiding persecution is not only permissible, but prudent in some cases.

Let us be wise in discerning this matter however. Avoiding persecution by never letting on that you are a disciple of Jesus is much more a silent denial of Christ than it is wise means of avoiding persecution.

Jesus could not avoid the cross because His death and resurrection is what He was sent by the Father to do. Avoiding the cross would have been disobedience. You and I are not so clearly sent to be persecuted. So at the risk of redundancy, use wisdom in avoiding persecution (including taking full advantage of civil laws as Paul did), but let us never compromise, much less deny Christ, our faith, or truth.

Last Thought: There are many believers around the world who are persecuted for simply believing in Jesus as Savior. Though they worship in secret, they cannot completely avoid persecution. Please remember these in prayer! And as our society is increasingly hostile to Christ, and His followers, let us fortify ourselves in our faith and resolve to never deny Christ, our faith, or truth to save our necks!

Saved by, WHO?

And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!" Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air… the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" Acts 22:22-25

It is likely that the title of the blog post, “Saved by Who?” causes most believers intuitively to say, “Well, God, of course!” And of course, if we are speaking about salvation from sin, the correct answer is always, “God!” But in this meditation, think about the various kinds of “ordinary means” that God often uses to spare us from temporal troubles.

In this case, God used the civil authorities to “save” Paul from the angry mob that was crying out for Paul’s life. Don’t miss that in this case the civil authorities were not, and seldom ever are, godly. Paul’s “salvation” from the mob wasn’t pain free, as the Roman centurion’s plan was to interrogate Paul under scourging (torture).

But God wasn’t done using ordinary means to rescue Paul. As we’ll see in the following verses, God used Paul’s Roman citizenship to rescue him from the beating!

The take away I would encourage you to consider is that though God can, and sometimes may, deliver miraculously, more often than not, it is through ordinary means that God hears and answers our prayers. This is why I often pray for the sick, pleading for God’s mercy “whether by medicine or miracle.”

Let us neither reject nor expect (much less demand) miracles. And when God answers our prayer in ways that are not miraculous, let us not fail to give God the thanks and glory, even when He is pleased to use ordinary means.

People's reactions to the gospel

And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!" Then, as they cried out and tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air… " Acts 22:22-23

The preceding verses are what Paul was saying to the angry mob in Jerusalem about his previous conversion experience. How did the mob in Jerusalem react to Paul’s testimony? Were they converted? Was their anger even soothed? Hardly! They again called for Paul’s death! The fact that people do not respond favorably to hearing our testimonies and the gospel must not deter us from proclaiming the truth. We may be somewhat discouraged by people’s negative reactions—but let us not be surprised. How many times did some of us hear before believing (by God’s grace)?!

And do not miss how vehemently they hated Paul—crying out, tearing off their clothes, and throwing dust into the air! No matter how people respond, we have been commissioned to proclaim Christ and the gospel. We do not proclaim Christ and the gospel because of people’s positive reactions. Nor do we not proclaim Christ and the gospel because of people’s negative reactions.

We proclaim Christ and the gospel because (a) our Lord has commissioned us to do so, and (b) because the gospel is the power of God to salvation. Though not all will receive Christ upon hearing the gospel, those God has determined to save will be saved, in God’s timing.

Let us soldier on proclaiming Christ and the gospel, in obedience to Christ and with the confidence that He will save His people.

A footnote: Why do people hate hearing the gospel? Because (a) they hate God, and (b) because they insist that they have no need of God because they do not believe they are sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. And lest we forget before we were born gain, many of us were likewise deceived.

Next time: Saved by the government?

To GO, or to STAY?

"Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.' " Acts 22:17-21

The Lord sent Paul to faraway places to preach Christ to the Gentiles (v.21)

The Church is commissioned to GO make disciples. The Church is commissioned to go make disciples, not merely to get people to come to church. Coming to church is great, but are we who are the Church going?

A minority of Christians are called to go to faraway places as missionaries and church planters. Most stay and serve in local churches.

A key aspect of staying is that we are to preach Christ were we live, work, and play. We come to church for worship, fellowship, and service in the Church, but the rest of the week we are to go to our mission field that is near, not far away. How are we doing at this?

A second key aspect of Staying is supporting those who do go to faraway places. We support with prayer, words of encouragement, and financial support. How are we doing at this?

We’ll consider how we can be better at supporting our missionaries to go, next time…

Is It Possible to Love Jesus but Not the Church?

I read this on Saturday and thought it is too good not to pass along! The piece was written by Dustin Benge (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary).
May the Lord encourage you regarding His church with Dr. Benge’s words.

Is the Church Ugly or Beautiful?

People find the church ugly because their focus and their vision is on the wrong thing. It's on the wrong person, if you will. They're focused on those who make up the church: sinners. Albeit forgiven, still we're sinners. In her own eyes, the church is full of spots and blemishes. When we inwardly reflect, when we look at ourselves, we as the church would be the very first people to recognize the problems, the difficulties, the spots. Yet Christ draws our attention to his bride here and now, not for veneration or worship, but that we may be astonished and lost in the wonder of his love and sacrifice on her behalf. So we have to change our focus, don’t we?

The church is beautiful because the lens through which Christ regards her is his cross—the focal point of blood, righteousness, forgiveness, union, justification, regeneration, and grace. His cross makes her beautiful. It's not about the people. It's not about our failures. No, his perfection makes her beautiful.

It's his sacrificial, substitutionary, sinless blood that washes her garments white as snow. It's nothing that we do, but it's all that he has done. The cross of Christ makes her beautiful, not only inwardly by justification, but also outwardly by sanctification. And so from giving second birth to final glory, the righteousness of Christ creates a beautiful church. And so let me say this: it's just simply not possible to say that we love Jesus without loving the one for whom Jesus died—the church.

Dustin Benge is the author of “The Loveliest Place: The Beauty and Glory of the Church.”
Click Here to go to where I read the article at crossway.org

Past sins

"Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.' " Acts 22:17-21

We are reminded here in Acts 22 that Paul (then Saul) was not only present, but complicit in the martyr’s death by stoning of Steven (cf. Acts 8:58). Paul was violently passionate to destroy Christianity. His guilt was massive. But God…

No wonder that Paul was so laden with remorse. But God…

Because God graciously saved Paul, and removed his guilt, he could write:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1

It is not bad to remember past sins—not for the sake of condemnation, but for the sake of rejoicing in the boundless grace of God. Remembering past sins is a healthy safe-guard from pride, and positive memento of how completely the blood of Christ removes sin, guilt, and shame.

Let our remembrances of sin urge us forward in sanctification and in gratitude for God’s forgiveness. Let us not beat ourselves down for past sins (once they are forgiven). Do not allow the voices of accusers rob us of freedom in Christ. And whatever you do, never join the devil in throwing the past sins of other believers at them.

When those we love won't listen

"Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.' " Acts 22:17-21

First, let’s remember that in Acts 22, Paul was recounting his conversion experience that happened back in Acts 9. This passage in Acts 22 is, as we may say, a flashback.

Last time we pointed out that the Lord told Paul (Saul when it happened) that people would not receive his testimony regarding his conversion. From that, we were encouraged to speak of Christ and leave the saving to the Holy Spirit. This time let us learn another related message.

Paul was as Jewish as it gets! When he was converted, he wanted to tell his Jewish brethren about Jesus. The Lord was not only saying that “people” wouldn’t listen to him, but more specifically that the “Jewish people” would not listen to him! Paul tried to reason with the Lord that because of his history of persecuting Christians, the Jews would listen to him. But the Lord had other plans for Paul. Paul was to become the chief evangelist to the Gentiles! Two lessons:

Sometimes the Lord sends us to speak with people we would not naturally want to speak with. In Paul’s case, he didn’t even like Gentiles! We must be prepared to go where the Lord sends us, to speak with those to whom He sends us. After all He is the Lord!

Additionally, some of us may be used by the Lord to lead family to Christ. But frequently we are the last people family will listen to. When that is the case, once we have said what we can say, if the door is closed to us, let us pray that the Lord will cause our loved ones’ paths to cross with other believers they will listen to. God will save His people, but it may be that He will use others.

Every, "No" is a step closer to a, "Yes"

"Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.' " Acts 22:17-21

Though we should not expect visions and extra-biblical messages from the Lord, the message Paul received from the Lord contains pertinent information for all believers at all times. The Lord warned Paul to expect people to reject his testimony about Christ. Beginning with Cain and Abel, non-believers have routinely rejected believers. God told Samuel that those who reject God’s people are in essence rejecting God (1 Samuel 8:7). Jesus specifically told the disciples, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18).

We must not allow this reality to make us either prideful or dejected when rejected for Christ’s sake or for the sake of our faith in Him. Rather, Jesus said:

Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The greater news is that not ALL will reject believers for Christ’s sake! Some will be convicted by the Holy Spirit, repent, and believe!

Believe it or not, I was once a Fuller Brush door to door salesman. A small minority of the doors on which I knocked bought something. Most did not, and some were downright rude. Some who try their hand at this kind of sales can’t take the rejection so they swiftly quit. I survived because I realized every “No,” meant I was closer to one of the few who said, “Yes.”

This kind of mentality is helpful when we are not embraced enthusiastically while sharing Christ with the lost. But even more importantly, we must be encouraged that it is not up to us to convert (much less be liked) by anyone. We are charged to simply speak about Christ. Saving some of those we speak to is entirely up to the Lord—and He will save His people!

Caution regarding visions and conversations with the Lord

"Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.' So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' Then He said to me, 'Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.' " Acts 22:17-21

As we have mentioned several times before, while Acts is generally a solid blueprint for the Church until Christ returns, not everything that happened is “normative.” Some things, though they happened in Acts, are specific to that special time when God was establishing the Church by the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the Apostles. This is clearly the case when speaking of visions and conversations with the Lord.

Though we would not say God cannot do those things in our day, we can safely say that He does not. The dialogue between Paul and the Lord is not normative. In fact, when believers say that have had visions and/or conversations with the Lord, we must be highly suspicious. Not that the people are trying to be deceptive but they are most likely imagining, and mistakenly thinking that their thoughts were the words of God.

• The Lord does not appear to us. We believe in and love Him though “we have not seen Him!” (1 Peter 1:8)

• God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible when it is read, and faithfully preached, and taught.

One practical and important reason to doubt reports of people’s “conversations” with the Lord is that more often than not, what people report the Lord supposedly said to them is unbiblical.

As John Owen (1616-1683) once famously said of these extra-biblical revelations: We must test such things with scripture. If it is not scriptural it is to be rejected. If it is scriptural, a special revelation was not needed—we needed only to know the Scriptures (my paraphrase of Owen’s thoughts on the matter).

Remember how often Jesus chastised the religious leaders of His day with the words, “You do not know the scriptures,” “Have you not read the scriptures?” etc.

Why have so many believers not been baptized?

For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.' Acts 22:15-16

We made a passing comment on Friday’s blog post about baptism. The subject deserves more attention!

Very shortly after Paul (then Saul) was born again—hours, at most a day or two(?), when he was healed of his blindness and commissioned, he was also told, “Arise and be baptized.”

There have been times in the Church’s history when there were more people who were baptized than were saved. Face it, throughout the medieval ages (a thousand years or so), virtually every infant born in Europe was baptized shortly after birth. There was no connection in the vast majority of people’s minds between baptism and rebirth or conversion.

Now the disconnect between baptism and conversion swings the other way. There are untold numbers of people who profess faith in Christ (whether they are born again or not), of which a small percentage have been baptized in water baptism. Why? The answer is somewhat complex and beyond the scope of this blog post, so a cursory answer will have to do in this space. Many Christians do not know the Bible and if they do, they do not think they need to obey the Bible. We’ll call this “autonomous* Christianity.”

The plain biblical fact is that believers are commanded to be baptized as an outward physical symbol of the inward spiritual reality of having been born again and spiritually baptized into Christ.

Baptism is different from the Lord’s Supper in that baptism is the initiatory sacrament that is ideally administered only once to new believers soon after being born again. The Lord’s Supper, on the other hand, is a continuing sacrament that is to be administered (and received) regularly and frequently for the rest of the believer’s physical life.

We know there will always be people who are baptized and not saved. But why in the world would believers not be baptized?! If you are a believer and have not been baptized, please contact me so we can plan for your obedient baptism soon!

Footnote:
* autonomous (adjective)

1. Not controlled by others or by outside forces; independent.

2. Independent in mind or judgment; self-directed.

3. Independent of the laws of another state or government; self-governing.

Paul's commission, and ours

For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.' Acts 22:15-16

God restored Paul’s eyesight, and then through Ananias, God commissioned Paul. Here is what struck me, and I pray it strikes you as well. Nothing was said about becoming an apostle to the Gentiles, traveling the Roman Empire, or writing what would become the New Testament scriptures. Paul was simply told that he was to be Christ’s witness to all people, telling what he had experienced regarding Jesus Christ.

Sound familiar? It should, as it is what all believers are commissioned to do. Note the following:

We are Christ’s witnesses. We are to testify of Him, not of ourselves, our churches, our favorite teachers, or least of all ourselves. We are His witnesses. We are His representative ambassadors. That means we are to represent Him, as He expects to be represented. We are most certainly not to MIS-represent Him.

We are to tell all people about Christ. None of us can tell all the people in the world, but we can tell as many people as are in our little corners of the world. Let us take seriously the fact that without Christ people are doomed—but that we have the antidote for damnation: Christ and the gospel. Oh saints, let us tell as many as we can about Jesus—not being concerned about what they might think of us we are about their need to hear the gospel so that God might be pleased to save them. And by giving to and praying for missions, we can play a small but vital role in taking the gospel to the rest of the world!

We are to tell what we know about Christ. We do not know everything. We cannot answer every question, but we can tell what we know—like the man whose blind eyes Jesus graciously opened in John 9. He was asked questions he could not answer, but he told what he knew, “I was blind but now I see!” It is good to learn to be able to say more, but in the meantime, let us boldly and lovingly tell what we know!

Go and be baptized. Dear unbaptized believer, how long will you live in disobedience to this?

The heart of Paul’s commission was really no different than ours!

Paul's encounter with Jesus, and ours...

"Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me; and he stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him. Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.' Acts 22:12-16

Ananias called Paul (then Saul), brother. Ananias was a Jew, so the two had this in common. As rich as that common bond was, it was minute compared to the brotherhood these two now shared “in Christ.”

Ananias told Paul that God had chosen him for three initial and revelatory purposes:

To know God’s will. Paul thought he knew and was doing God’s will by opposing Christ, the gospel, and the Church. How wrong he was, but God had now made His will clear.

To see God’s Son. We do not know if Paul ever saw Jesus before the crucifixion and resurrection, but we do know that Paul saw Jesus while on the road to Damascus. Though none of us has seen Jesus with our eyes, all believers have seen Jesus though the eyes of faith. Remember Peter’s words:

1 Peter 1:8-9 …whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

To Hear God’s voice. Paul heard Jesus speak audibly to him. We have not, but we hear Christ’s voice every time we read the Bible. Remember Paul’s words to the Ephesians (2:17) who never saw or heard Jesus preach, yet they heard Jesus preach through the apostles:

Ephesians 2:17 And He [Jesus] came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

Let us praise God for Paul’s encounter with Jesus, and for ours, though ours was maybe less dramatic!

Next time: Paul’s commission…

Doing as God says, even when it is scary!

"Then a certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there, came to me; and he stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And at that same hour I looked up at him. Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know His will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
Acts 22:12-15

Paul (Saul at the time) went to Damascus as he was directed by Jesus Himself. There, a Christian man named Ananias came to him. Ananias laid his hands on Paul, prophesied over him, “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once;” (Acts 9:18).

Before getting into what Ananias said when laying hands on Paul, it is valuable to be reminded about Ananias’s conversation with the Lord. Read what is recorded in the initial account in Acts 9:11-16.

11 So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12 And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight."

The Lord told Ananias to find Saul of Tarsus. Ananias responded:

13 Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name."

Ananias knew about Saul the Persecutor and, for obvious reasons, was wary about going to Saul. The Lord assured Ananias with these words:

15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."

As we know, Ananias went and spoke to Paul as the Lord directed. How scary must that have been! May Ananias be an example to us that whatever we read in God’s Word, no matter how scary it may be, we must do, Obediently. By faith.

What were the contents of God’s message to Paul through Ananias? Next time.

Who knew?

"Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' "And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.' And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. Acts 22:6-11

Paul was headed to Damascus to find and arrest Christians and to bring them back to Jerusalem for the crime of following Jesus. “There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless, the Lord’s counsel, that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21).

God’s plan was to interrupt Paul’s misguided and sinful intentions. God’s plan was for Jesus to appear to Paul in a blinding light (a literal blinding light!). God’s plan was for Paul, now humbled, blinded, and converted, to proceed to Damascus—but with an entirely different agenda—God’s agenda, not Paul’s.

Instead of going to Damascus as a terror to Christians, Paul was going to Damascus as a brand new Christian. Instead of going to arrest a Christians, Paul was going to find Christians who would tell him what what to do. Paul was going to have his sight restored (though he did not know it yet). Paul was going to be commissioned to begin an entirely new life, no longer as a persecutor of Christ and His people, but as a preacher of Christ and the gospel.

Who knew? Who could have possibly known? God.

Application: When the Lord interrupts, it is not always easy or obvious what He is up to. Let us learn to trust Him. He is in charge, and His will is always good—even when it includes difficulty along the way.

Doing "the next thing"

"Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' "And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.' And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. Acts 22:6-11

When Paul encountered Jesus while on the road to Damascus, he was converted. When he encountered Jesus, Paul asked two question. “Who are You, Lord?” and “What shall I do?” Jesus identified Himself and then proceeded to tell Paul what He wanted him to do.

Interestingly, Jesus told Paul what He wanted him to do next. Jesus told him where to go for further instructions. Obeying the Lord regarding the next thing is often required to find out what to do next after that. I don’t know about you, but as impetuous and impatient as I can be, I usually want to be given an entire itinerary at the outset. But God does not generally work that way. He wants us to walk by faith, one step at a time, trusting Him enough to do the next thing before He is pleased to reveal the subsequent next things.

Lord, teach me to have faith to do what I do know, and to trust You with the future that I do not know—and do not need to know until You are pleased to reveal it.

Paul recounts his conversion experience (pt 4)

"Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' "And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.' And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. Acts 22:6-11

Paul (Saul when the encounter with Jesus took place) asked two questions. The first was “Who are You, Lord?” The Lord’s answer was clear and concise, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” Jesus identified Himself in no uncertain terms, and He indicted Paul on the spot for the sin of persecuting the Lord’s people, which is tantamount to persecuting the Lord Himself. Remember what we said about the relationship between the Lord and His people being so intimate that to attack even the least of Jesus’ followers is to attack the Lord Himself!

Paul adds that those with him saw the blinding light but did not hear the voice. Some are bothered that in Acts 9, where Luke first tells of Paul’s conversion, he wrote that Paul’s companions “heard a voice” but saw no one, whereas in Acts 22 Paul said they saw the light but “did not hear the voice.” How do we reconcile these two different accounts? If an explanation is needed, I prefer the explanation that in Acts 9:7, they heard a voice that was indistinct, while in Acts 22 they did not hear the voice of Jesus. It kind of reminds me that when the gospel is preached, all present hear the voice of a preacher, but only the elect hear the voice of Jesus.

But I hasten to add that this difference in the two accounts does nothing to change the fact that Saul had an encounter with Jesus, regardless of what the others present heard or did not her.

Next time, what did Jesus tell Saul to do?

Paul recounts his conversion experience (pt 3)

"Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' So I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' "And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.' And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. Acts 22:6-11

The Lord Jesus asked Paul (his name was changed to Paul sometime later), “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Paul’s answer (v.8) was, “Who are You, Lord?” After a few more words were exchanged, in (v.10) Paul asked the Lord, “What shall I do, Lord?” Here are a few thoughts about Paul’s two questions.

First, it is always okay to ask God questions, as long as our questions are legitimate rather than challenges to God. For example, it is fine to ask God the purpose behind what He is doing. It is not okay to demand that God defend Himself. He may and often does tell us what He is doing, but since He owes us no explanation, we dare not demand answers from Him.

Second, in both of Saul’s questions during his encounter with Christ (which took place in Acts 9) that he is speaking about (here in Acts 22), Saul uses the word “Lord” when addressing Jesus. The word in both is “Lord” (kurios in Greek). This word is a title given to one who has supreme authority. It is different from the word, “LORD” which is God’s name YHWY, or Jehovah. It is significant that although Saul may not at that moment have known Jesus is God, he did recognize Jesus has being “Lord,” having supreme authority. Using this word to address Jesus reveals humility on Saul’s part and utmost reverence for the Lord Jesus! Let us always address and refer to the Lord Jesus with utmost humility and reverence.

Third, By way of application, may I suggest that every time we hear from the Lord, whether in our personal reading of His Word, or when His Word is being preached, Saul’s two questions are a great example of how we should respond to God’s Word.

• “Who are you, Lord?” Every times we encounter the Lord in His Word, let us ask for revelation of who He is—insights and deeper understanding of His being and character. Let us always earnestly desire to know Him more!

• “What shall I do, Lord?” As servants of God, let us always be keen to know what the Lord wants us to think, say, and/or do!

More next time…