What is a Christian Conversion?

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As we've been saying, the book of Acts is about earliest Christianity.

It's unfolding the story of how the early church grew through conversions to Christ and how God changed the lives of people through the power of the gospel.

Now we're going to begin a new chapter today and we're going to probably look at the most well-known conversion in the Bible, called Saul of Tarsus, who became known as the Apostle Paul, the Greek name for Saul and to eliminate any confusion, I may slip into sometimes calling him Saul, sometimes calling him Paul.

It's the same person, so just bear with me on that.

It's easy to flip in and out of that.

We see his conversion story in this famous chapter in Acts 9.

I'd like to read it.

We're going to not stop this week looking at it.

There's some other things we'll look at, but we'll begin here at how Saul was converted.

Acts, chapter 9, beginning in verse 1.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, and he went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

And as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him Saul, saul, why are you persecuting me?

And he said who are you, lord?

And he said I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city and it will be told you what you must do.

Well, the men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

Saul got up from the ground and, though his eyes were open, he couldn't see a thing.

And, leading him by the hand.

They brought him into Damascus.

He was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias and the Lord said to him in a vision Ananias.

And he said here I am, lord.

The Lord said to him Get up, go to the street called Straight and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.

For he is praying and he has seen a vision and a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.

But Ananias answered Lord, I've heard many, much about this man, how much he harmed, how much harm he did to your saints of Jerusalem, and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name.

But the Lord said to him go, for he's a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for my name's sake.

So Ananias departed and entered the house and, after laying his hands on him, said Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit, and immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales and he regained his sight and got up and was baptized.

And he took food and was strengthened.

Well, there's a conversion.

The book of Acts includes a number of conversion stories, but Saul's story stands out as one of the most detailed and includes a few things all conversions have in common, which will help us understand what does it mean to be converted to Jesus?

And so today I'm going to focus on three things.

Let's talk about who Saul of Tarsus was.

What does conversion mean and how was Saul converted?

Who was Saul of Tarsus?

Well, if you remember, luke tells us that Saul was in a position of authority and back in Acts, chapter 7, he consented to the disciple Stephen's death, trying to stamp out Christianity.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

Who is he?

Well, saul was born in Asia Minor, in the city of Tarsus.

Here's a map Now, jerusalem's way down here, here's Damascus and here's let me see if I can see this Antioch.

And Tarsus is right there, cilicia right there, so it's quite a bit north.

He was born there, and Tarsus was on a major trade route in the Middle East that moved all kinds of merchandise from Europe and Asia south to the Middle East and into Africa and back from Europe and Asia south to the Middle East and into Africa and back.

During Saul's life, tarsus was one of the wealthiest cities in the region.

Tarsus had the largest university in the world at the time, larger than Athens or Alexandria.

It was a cosmopolitan city.

Merchants, scholars, travelers from all over the world mingled there.

That was the environment Saul grew up in.

Saul's father, we learn, was a Roman citizen and a well-respected merchant.

And because Saul's father was a Roman citizen, saul was born a free man.

He inherited his Roman citizenship from his father and, following tradition, saul learned a trade through an apprenticeship.

And Saul chose tent making as his trade, which was one of the most lucrative trades at the time.

We read about that later in Acts, chapter 18, where it says Paul found a Jew named Achilla and a native of Pontus and, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all Jews to leave Rome, he came to them Because he was of the same trade.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

He stayed with them and they were working for by trade they were tent makers.

Like many Jewish boys, saul, at the age of 13, was sent away to go to Torah school or seminary we would call it in Jerusalem.

Saul would study under Gamaliel that we've seen before, the leading theologian at the time, and we were introduced to him in Acts, chapter 5, verse 34.

Acts 5:34

And we were introduced to him in Acts 5, verse 34.

Acts 5:34

It says when they were trying to stop Peter and John from preaching, they were ready to kill him.

And Gamaliel steps up.

A Pharisee named Gamaliel, teacher of the law respected by all the people, stood up in the council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time.

And later, in the book of Acts, paul includes his study with Gamaliel in his testimony, acts 22.3,.

I am a Jew born of Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, just as you all are today.

Saul studied under Gamaliel for seven years and received the equivalent, from our standpoint, of two PhDs in theology.

Some have said by the age of 21.

Saul of Tarsus was the most educated Jew in Israel.

He had mastered the Hebrew scriptures, old Testament and all the rabbinic interpretations of the Old Testament, and became a highly respected Pharisee.

At the time, pharisees also were required to memorize the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

Saul was a very devout Jew.

He consented to Stephen's death because he thought Christians were a dangerous cult.

He agreed to put Stephen to death as part of his efforts.

This is what his testimony is in the book of Galatians.

He writes he says to the Galatians how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, tried to destroy it, and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.

That was Paul's life before he was converted Militantly, aggressively trying to stamp out Christianity.

Knowing this can help us see some very significant things that changed in his life after he was converted, which can give us insights into what happens with us when we're converted to Christ.

When Jesus got a hold of Saul and he was converted, saul was a brand new man.

He looked back at everything he had done with remorse and some with disgust.

He thought of his accomplishments and all the things he looked at as proving his worth as a person as garbage.

Listen to what he says about himself in Philippians 3.

This is after he was converted.

If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, meaning his human efforts and so on, I have far more.

I was circumcised on the eighth day of the nation of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.

As to the law, a Pharisee as to zeal, a persecutor of the church.

As to righteousness, which was, in the law, found blameless.

But whatever things were gained to me, those things I've counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing worth or value of knowing Christ.

Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things.

I count them as garbage so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God, on the basis of faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death in order that I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Would you all agree that this person called Saul of Tarsus was converted to Christ?

This is amazing, and I think God chose him and used him as one of the premier witnesses of the resurrection.

But let's now talk about what does conversion mean.

If we look at Saul, talk of conversion.

It's interesting talk of conversion.

It's interesting talk of conversion sometimes makes people inside the church a little uncomfortable Because I just read this story and it makes them look at their lives, our lives, and ask and wonder am I converted?

Good question, and ask and wonder am I converted?

Good question.

And the conversion story we'll look at in Acts do help us understand conversion and how it happens, and this is one of them.

Jesus actually said point blank that we need to be converted.

Changed Not the same person Before Jesus and after we know Jesus, change happens.

Jesus said in Matthew 18, 1-4,.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Now listen very carefully.

There's some very important points here.

They said who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

He called a child to himself, a little child, Said him before him and he said Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Okay, listen very carefully to that.

From this we begin to understand.

Where does conversion begin?

Humbling ourselves.

We can't save ourselves.

Humbling ourselves.

That's where it begins, that's where it starts.

If you're a proud person, you think you're okay with God, don't need to do anything, don't need Jesus in your life.

You're okay with God, don't need to do anything, don't need Jesus in your life.

You are not.

Converted Begins by humbling ourselves.

By definition, being converted refers to a radical change in our beliefs, our purpose in life and our behavior.

You once believed this, now you believe this.

Paul once believed Jesus was the fraud, now he believes him as Lord God.

I once was a Democrat, now I'm a Republican, or vice versa.

My life was once oriented to become as rich and famous as possible.

Now my life goal is something totally different Conversion.

Can you see it?

A conversion, though, in the spiritual realm, goes much deeper than simply changing this or that.

Jesus used a word picture.

We've talked about it before, but it's helpful to look at it.

He used a word picture when he talked with Nicodemus in John 3 about conversion, and he described it.

It's a word picture of being born again.

You were born physically, but to enter the kingdom of heaven you have, you literally have to be born again spiritually Whole new life, john 3.3.

Jesus said Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Same thing he said to the disciples in Matthew 18.

Don't forget being converted or being born again those are synonymous Begins with humbling ourselves Before Jesus Christ.

Paul actually says in 2 Corinthians 5.17.

Begins with humbling ourselves before Jesus Christ.

Paul actually says in 2 Corinthians 5.17 that believers are actually a new creation of God, spiritually speaking, not the same, just like Pentecost when God's Spirit from outside them came into them and now comes into us when we believe in Jesus.

The Scripture said the Holy Spirit regenerates us.

That word regenerate means give birth to.

He gives birth to Jesus in us.

Titus 3, verses 5 and 6.

Titus 3:5

God saved us not on the basis of deeds, which we've done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Apostle Peter also refers to conversion in a similar way 1 Peter 1.23.

For you have been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.

And when you are converted this is the amazing thing the Holy Spirit gives birth to this brand new spiritual life in us, god begins a work inside us.

We're developing us and progressively becoming a brand new person.

When that happens, when the Holy Spirit comes into you, he lets you know and our life takes on a whole new spiritual reality we didn't have before.

Like Paul says in Romans 8, 15 and 16, he says you have received a spirit of adoption.

He's talking about the Holy Spirit.

You have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out to God, abba, father.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.

Do you have that assurance and confidence that the Spirit of God is in you as he sits, as he reaffirming you are one of God's children?

That's conversion.

Saul, as I said, was militarily aggressively pursuing Christians to eradicate them and destroy Christianity.

He was converted.

How, how was he converted?

Luke describes three main parts of his conversion.

We're just going to look at the first part.

Today.

We've already introduced it, but we'll look at the first part.

This is so rich, I'm going to continue next time, and maybe next time I can't help it.

I'm a preacher.

As you see, saul's conversion began when Jesus knocked him off his horse.

There you go, humble yourself, my friend.

That's where we begin.

Get off that horse.

I got something to say to you.

I wonder if this incident is where we get the expression of pride.

Hey, come down off your high horse.

I imagine it's from here it's pride.

Well, he blinded him and he knocked him off his high horse.

That's where conversion begins.

If you don't let God knock you off your horse, you ain't going anywhere.

I believe every single person's conversion begins with a collision with Jesus, confronting who he really is.

That's a collision.

Who what, actually?

You could say Saul had a deeper conversion.

He had a conversion with the truth about God.

Here's a guy who was more theologically astute and religious than anybody.

He knew the first five books of the Bible by heart.

Up to this point, saul thought he knew what God was like and what he wasn't like as a Pharisee.

He knew the Bible, thought he knew everything he needed to know about God.

The Torah taught him there's only one God In Paul's mind.

Jesus claimed to be God and Stephen's sermon pointing to that claim had to be false, had to be.

Human.

Beings can't be God.

That's blasphemy.

Saul had the truth even of the suffering servant in Isaiah's prophecy the Messiah would suffer and die for sins.

He had it.

He filtered it all out.

Saul believed in a God.

He wanted to believe in A God that fit his reality of who God should be A king, not a suffering servant, not a human.

A God he wanted to exist.

Oh, so many people do this today.

It's not even funny.

We may even do it.

We have to be knocked off our horse.

I've heard people say things like I believe in a God who accepts everyone, no matter what they believe, okay.

Or I've heard people say I don't believe in a God like we see in the Old Testament that allows innocent women and children to be killed.

I've heard that many times.

Or I've heard I don't believe in a God who would send finite people to an everlasting punishment in hell.

I don't believe it.

Well then, you're believing in a God that doesn't exist.

You see your own created God in your head.

Why do people believe in a God like that instead of something else?

The only answer is they believe God is like that because they want to believe God's like that instead of something else.

The only answer is they believe God is like that because they want to believe God's like that.

They create the God they want, not the God that is.

It's very dangerous to get into that.

We're in danger of it when we come to the scripture and we read something we say, ooh, I don't believe that Really.

We don't have anything else but the God we have, who revealed himself in the scripture.

The God we create will never convert us, will never change us, will never save us, will never transform us.

Why he's not real?

He's a figment of our imagination.

He is.

Think about someone who deeply struggles with their own worth as a person.

What will change a person like that at their core, to have confidence and poise like the Apostle Paul?

What will change them?

The God you create in your mind, you want to exist, cannot help you cannot.

Why he's not real.

No, only the real God can help you.

The one who has revealed himself in the pages of Scripture is the sovereign, holy, forgiving God of justice and love and righteous wrath.

He revealed himself in so many terms.

I love this passage to Moses when Moses said Show me who you are, god, we've seen you do mighty works.

Show me who you are, show me your glory, your essence.

Who are you?

And here's what the Lord said to him.

The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed here's the true God, the Lord.

The Lord, god, compassionate and gracious, he's slow to anger, bounding in loving kindness and truth.

Who keeps loving kindness for thousands.

Who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.

Yet by no means will he leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on children and on the grandchildren, to the third and fourth generations.

Sin will be judged, loving and righteous.

Justice and mercy.

You can't discount any of it.

That's who he is.

Everyone who is converted to Christ must first encounter the truth about who God really is, not who we think we want him to be.

And to do that, to get to that point, we must come down off our horse, humble ourselves to receive the truth.

And to do that, to get to that point, we must come down off our horse, humble ourselves to receive the truth.

Saul collided with the truth of who Jesus really is.

Saul's knocked off his horse.

He hears the voice.

You know what he said.

Who are you?

Who are you?

And then the shocking reply I'm Jesus.

Why are you persecuting me?

Oh, my goodness, wow, imagine the gyrations going on in his heart and head.

Ooh, connecting dots.

Well, that means Stephen was right.

Jesus rose from the dead.

He's alive.

I'm standing right here listening to him.

Hmm, wow, seeing the evidence.

Listen to me, see the evidence.

He saw the evidence, he heard the evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and he believed.

He believed, he believed in Jesus as the resurrected Son of God who died for sins.

He believed that Jesus is God in the flesh, died for our sins and was raised again and Saul was baptized.

That's, we're talking major conversion here.

It's like Paul's conversion, though, helps us understand a critical thing.

That's part of every single conversion to Christ, and it is believing that Jesus is alive.

He died but he rose from the dead to give life, eternal life, to everyone who believes in him.

That's the gospel, very critical point.

That's what Paul had to come to.

Wow, I believe Jesus died but he rose from the dead and, as the Apostle, paul would go on to write evidence we'll see it in Acts evidence.

We'll see it in Acts but he will go on to write, to preach.

Evidence for Jesus resurrection is the basis for the church, for the Christian faith, and the basis of why we believe in Jesus Christ to save us.

He's alive, he's vindicated, he is able to come into anyone through his Holy Spirit who believes in him and make himself known to know him.

Understanding the gospel is part of every conversion story begins with humbling ourselves.

Really look at the evidence, let the truth in.

Don't think that's not a God I want.

It's not a real God.

Then my conversion I know some of you heard that, but my conversion began with a pretty strong collision with the God who is Like Paul in a sense.

I grew up learning about the God of the Bible.

I think I believed in him, that he existed.

About the God of the Bible.

I think I believed in him, that he existed.

I guess I grew up going to church.

I grew up knowing about Jesus, his birth, his life, his death, his resurrection, his ascension.

I knew all the basic facts of Christianity.

I thought I knew a lot about God and Jesus and considered myself a baptized, confirmed Christian.

That is until I collided with God and then I collided with Jesus.

My collision with God actually happened late in high school, when I got into a lot of trouble with the law and faced a possible extended jail time.

I was in a desperate.

I lost every friend I had in the world.

My family somewhat disowned me.

Every friend I had in the world.

My family somewhat disowned me.

I didn't have anybody to talk to, except one counselor in high school who took me under his wing just to support me.

Through this, very, very, I was giving up on life.

I thought that's it.

I got no future.

What's pointed going on?

I was so desperate.

One night I snuck out of my house late at night, went in and snuck into a church.

Church was about two miles away.

It's about two or three in the morning.

I got into the church.

Probably should have been arrested again.

And let me tell you, I got on my knees.

I'm off my horse.

I got nothing.

I got nothing.

I got on my knees, humbled myself, opened my mouth and I said Okay, if you, god, really exist, would you please somehow miraculously get me out of this situation so I can live a normal life?

I realized it was going to be a miracle Because it didn't look good.

But I prayed and I said if you do this, I'll do whatever you want.

It's kind of bargaining with God.

I'm so desperate.

Well, a few weeks later, a miracle came in the mail.

I opened the letter.

The court had sent me a letter stating that all charges against me were dropped.

My attorney even waived all his fees.

I sat on my bed for a couple of hours and I said all I kept saying was there is a God.

There is a God.

How do I explain that?

Yeah, god knocked me off my horse and I realized the truth.

Oh, he exists, all right, and he hears prayers.

I sat on my bed a long time and then, a few months later, god was ready to collect.

Oh, I remember what you prayed there.

A few months later, as a freshman in college, I had a collision with Jesus.

Oh, I believe he existed.

I didn't know him.

And that's when you've heard my testimony before.

A Christian friend in my dorm had me read 1 John 5, 11, and 12.

This is the testimony that God gave us eternal life.

This life is in his Son.

He who has the Son has the life.

He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

In this verse I could tell I'm in a collision with the Son.

I don't have the Son.

I realized it.

I collided with that truth, but it was saying I could have him.

And then, with my friend, I humbled myself and prayed, and I've told you before, since the Holy Spirit came into me, I had immediate assurance Wow, I know him, he's in me.

Jesus was real, alive in me.

That's when I was converted and it was life-changing and continues to be Now.

Let me add this quickly Not everyone has a dramatic conversion like that or like Saul.

Okay, we're going to see others in the book.

I'm going to look at others in the book of Acts.

They're not dramatic.

No angels coming from heaven, things like that.

They aren't dramatic, but all of them are life-changing, every single one of them.

It happens the same way humbling yourself, acknowledging the truth, who Jesus is, believing in him to save you.

And every person in the book of Acts who is converted realizes and experiences the presence of the Holy Spirit in them and their lives are changed.

Now there may be someone here who thinks of themselves like a Christian, like I did, or religious like Saul, doing all the right things.

You hold the Christian doctrines of religion, but you've never been converted.

It happens.

I was one.

You're converted with a personal encounter with the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

That's how, when you really understand that he's real, he rose from the dead and can be in you, then that new life starts to go out.

Oh man, things change, I would say if you're not sure, humble yourself, get off the horse.

You got nothing.

Pray for Jesus to save you, come into your heart.

I believe that's one reason Jesus said Revelation 3.20, behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice, open that door.

I'll come into him and live with him.

He with me.

What an invitation.

All it is is believing in Jesus, the reality of Jesus as Lord and Savior, humbling ourself to receive him.

He will come into you and save you, just as he promised.

Like many of us can testify, let's pray together, father, thank you.

Thank you that you gave us Saul's testimony.

You collided with Saul of Tarsus so that we might know him as the Apostle Paul, who became a marvelous, striking example of conversion and the power of the gospel to transform lives.

Because Jesus is alive, he rose from the dead.

Would you help us to see and know the converting power and renewing of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we may in turn show ourselves to be examples of, literally your amazing grace?

I pray in Jesus' name, amen.