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Conversion in the Book of Acts

The Book of Acts contains several conversion stories that can teach us principles we can apply in personal evangelism.

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Conversion Stories from the NT – Paul

This entry is part 1 of 7 in the series Conversions in the Book of Acts

Damascus Road PaulSometimes conversions are just unbelievable.

They “fall from heaven” so to speak. There is no evangelist, no gospel presentation, no explanation of the law, it just happens – God does all the work.

While not the norm, it can happen. God is sovereign enough to make it happen.

For example, the apostle Paul’s conversion – fell from heaven. He’s busy “breathing murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.”

On the road to Damascus, God interrupts his life. Read it yourself in Acts 9.

Salvation through direct self revelation

It was a dramatic encounter – voice from heaven, bright lights, temporary blindness. Paul’s travel companions heard the sound, they were dumbfounded – they were speechless.

Paul had a direct encounter with God.

God revealed himself in an undeniable way to Paul and Paul started following Jesus.

While praying after the event, Paul sees a vision of a man named Ananias (small detail revealed by God) coming to lay hands on him.

God, working both sides of the equation, sends Ananias to go and do that thing. Ananias lays hands on Paul and Paul is healed. He was baptized.

From what we know of the rest of Paul’s life from the New Testament, he grew in understanding what had happened to him.

Over time, the Lord revealed more about the richness of salvation, the wonder of grace, the relationship between the law and salvation, and how the gospel would go forth to the Gentiles.

It is a plausible argument that Paul believed first, and then understood the richness of what happened to him.

It is my prayer that God in His sovereignty would bring more people into the Kingdom, even where there are no evangelists.

While not the normal approach to evangelism, we can’t exclude that it may happen. God can reveal Christ to people without us, should He choose.

Over the next few days, we’ll look at a couple more conversion stories in the New Testament and see what we might learn about the conversion experience.

Let me ask you this?
Would you pray for more conversions that fall from heaven?

For the series:

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Conversion Stories from the NT – Simon

This entry is part 2 of 7 in the series Conversions in the Book of Acts

We have already looked The Apostle Paul conversion, as a conversion that fell from heaven.

Now we look at a puzzling conversion story – was it complete, partial, or entirely false? Since we can’t read Simon’s heart, it may be an unanswerable question.

The passage: Acts 7:9ff
Through signs and wonders, Simon the sorcerer had gathered a following and people proclaimed him “the great power.” People followed him because he amazed them with magic tricks and spells.

However when Phillip came along, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus, people believed Phillip and were baptized (v.12).

Verse 13 says that “Simon himself believed and was baptized.”

Yet, when Peter visits, Simon wants to buy the power to lay hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit. (v.18). Peter rebukes him by saying “your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness . . . for I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

Simon seems repentant ( v.24) when he petitions Peter to pray for him.

The conversion:
The text says that “Simon believed and was baptized.” It is quite plausible to state that he had demonstrated some kind of conversion experience. Luke doesn’t give us a timeline of days or months, or years here, but on the face value and plain reading, it appears that Simon believed.

Clearly, Simon was attracted to the “power” element of Phillip’s evangelism. “He followed Phillip and was astonished by the great signs and miracles that he saw” (8.13). Simon’s entry point to belief, so to speak, was the power of God.

Since Simon was also a Samaritan and a sorcerer, his worldview was likely beginning to undergo a shift. It’s plausible to state that Simon did not have any accurate knowledge of the Old Testament, nor the Law or its promises, nor of God’s covenant community — it wasn’t his background.

It is quite possible that Simon believed and took baptism before he understood everything.

The rebuke
Peter doesn’t rebuke him for not being a Christian, but for not understanding how the Holy Spirit was given. He’s rebuked for desiring the power of God in an incorrect manner. He seems to have wanted to further his own ministry of power – as if the Spirit of God would be just another magic trick that he could amaze people with.

Peter says Simon’s heart was full of “bitterness” and was “captive to sin.” That’s something entirely different than saying he wasn’t a believer.

Even as believers, we can still have hearts that are full of bitterness. Likewise, we may continue to have struggles connected with particular sinful patterns – but it doesn’t mean that our conversion was invalid.

So What?
Luke’s point is not to give us a theological treatise on conversion. In the theme of Acts, he’s demonstrating how the gospel is spreading beyond Jerusalem.

We know nothing else about Simon after this point in the biblical records. Church history identifies him as Simon Magus, and early Christian authors regarded him later as a heretic. The sin of simony, or paying for position in the church, is named after Simon.

If the later observations about the Simon from church history are true, then we might be able to say that Simon gave initial hints that he “believed” but over time, it became clear that his response, though perhaps initially genuine, didn’t bear fruit.

In our experiences, many of us have seen people who have claimed to believe before they have fully understood all the consequences and ramifications of belief in Jesus.

We’ve also seen people that “believe” but over the years, just drop out, disappear, disconnect, and leave the church in general. It seems to be the seed that fell on the rocky soil – has a good spurt of growth, but the cares of the world take over and choke the seed (Mark 4).

We can’t read the human heart. Simon appeared to have had a belief, but over time, it just didn’t pan out.

It’s not my point here to label Simon’s conversion: false conversion, conversion misfire, or backslider. I think depending on our understanding of evangelism, we may settle on one.

However, it does make me think of those I know who have left the faith after giving evidence of belief. Though they “made a decision,” they hung around for a while and eventually left. My heart breaks because they have walked away from the grace of God. Where else can they go? Jesus alone has the words of eternal life.

Let me ask you this?
Do you pray for your friends who walk away from the faith? Ask God today to bring them back – the prodigals that Christ died for.

The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Ethiopian Eunuch
Psidian Antioch
Sergius Paulus
Cornelius

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Conversion Stories in NT – Sergius Paulus

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Conversions in the Book of Acts

In Acts 13:6ff, we encounter the story of Sergius Paulus, a proconsul for Rome, in Paphos on the island of Cyprus.

The passage: Acts 13:6ff
Barnabas and Saul were on what has been called their first missionary journey, and the gospel is now going beyond the limits of Palestine and into the Greek and Roman world.

The proconsul was a man spiritually thirsty. He likely had heard about the goings on, and “because he wanted to hear the word of God,” he invited Barnabas and Saul to come.

Over the course of conversations, a sorcerer named Bar-Jesus tried to interfere with the conversations and tried to keep the proconsul “from the faith.”

Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, gives a powerful word to Bar-Jesus, that speaks directly to the power of sin. “Will you never stop perverting the ways of the Lord?” Paul pronounces that the judgment of God will come upon Bar-Jesus: blindness, and it happened.

When the proconsul saw what had happened, “he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.”

Reflections

The evangelists
Barnabas and Saul were busy “proclaiming the word of God in the synagogues” as they traveled around. Imagine that one after noon, a messenger comes and says, “The proconsul would like to see you.”

I believe that God allows people to come into our life for a purpose. The proconsul was stepping into the life of Barnabas and Saul, with a summons to come and explain the word of God. It was an opportunity that they didn’t have to seek or create, but rather one that fell into their lap.

Paul and Barnabas may not have known why they were being summoned. Could it be they would be persecuted as had happened to other Christian leaders? Would they be thrown in jail? Would they be beaten and deported?

They may not have known, they were just summoned. However, they went, perhaps wondering what God was up to.

The seeker
The proconsul was a spiritually thirsty man. Something about what he was hearing gave him enough curiosity to seek after the truth. He is the one who made the effort to have Barnabbas and Saul brought to him.

When one is spiritually thirsty, one is self-propelled to find the water. We’ve seen that in some of the prior conversion stories. He is the one who takes the initiative to find the truth from Paul and Barnabbas.

The sorcerer
However, there was a sorcerer around that sought to hinder the conversation.

I’ve seen plenty of times where a spiritually thirsty person has someone around them ready to drag them down, or away from the truth. Last weekend, I listened to a testimony from a man who had friends telling him that the Bible was full of lies during his search for Christ.

The conversion:
We don’t know what the content of their own coversation was, but with the demonstration of the Spirit’s power to confirm the word, Paulus believed. Paul addresses the sin in the sorcerer’s life, not in Sergius Paulus, the proconsul.

Two thoughts
Some folks come to faith after a conversation, like the Ethiopian Eunuch
did. Others will come to faith after seeing evidence of God’s power after the conversation.

I have seen such conversions happen in my life, where visible manifestation of God’s power helps a person into belief. We could talk all we want, but not until the demonstration of power, did it click.

Finally, Paul and Barnabbas were doing their own thing when someone (Paulus) stepped into their life. I find that evangelism happens “easiest” when I pay attention to the people who come into my life, like a seat mate that talks to me on an airplane, or the hair cutting person who engages me in conversation. Often they are the ones themselves who open the door to a spiritual conversation.

Let me ask you this?
Do you to notice the spiritually people that God brings into your life? Ask God today to give you the eyes to see them.

The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Ethiopian Eunuch
Psidian Antioch
Sergius Paulus
Cornelius

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Conversion Stories from the NT – Cornelius

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Conversions in the Book of Acts

00B_4140Cornelius was a centurion (soldier) for Rome.  Luke tells us the story of Cornelius and how the gospel was shared with him.

The town was Caesarea.

“He and his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.”

He was a religious man, doing spiritual practices, and the term “God-fearer” indicates that he was a Gentile who had converted to Judaism.

He found himself in a deep religious tradition, practicing its ways.

In a day of prayer, an angel of the Lord directs him to a particular man, in a particular town, in a particular house. Is that guidance any more clear?

When they meet (23-26), Peter explains the facts about Jesus – “the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all” (v.36).

Peter explains some of the historical events that happened (37-41) and how he was given the message to “testify that Christ is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead . . . [those] who believe in him receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

The Holy Spirit falls on all who heard the message and people take baptism (v.48) God had given them repentance unto life (11:17)

Reflections

Cornelius was a spiritual man, one who was very religious.

He was seeking after God and doing spiritual practices.

He has this vision in prayer to find a particular man in a particular town, staying at a particular house. Can you imagine the curiosity, or the dread?

  • What for?
  • What will he tell me?
  • He’s Jewish, what might he want with me, a Roman Gentile?
  • Will he even come into my house?
  • What does God want to tell me?

Cornelius meets this man who comes to his house, who then begins to explain three things.

  1. The historical events about the death and resurrection of Christ.
  2. God has appointed Christ to judge the living and the dead.
  3. Those who believe in him receive forgiveness of sin through his name.

In Roman culture, there was a big concern about the afterlife – what would happen when you died.

What did you have to pay for the things done in this life?

How Peter shared the gospel

Peter adapted the gospel to address an underlying concern or spiritual thirst that Cornelius likely had.

Peter didn’t explain sin nor use Old Testament law, but approached sin in a different way.

  • Sin will be judged, and those who believe will receive forgiveness.
  • Repentance is changing your mind as to who you will follow.
  • Starting with a concern of Cornelius, Peter presents Jesus as the future judge.

The conversion of Cornelius

The text doesn’t say anything about Cornelius’s individual response.

He is lumped in with “all who heard the message.”

He responded and received the Holy Spirit and likely took baptism with those who were baptized. We can presume that he believed and responded to the message.

So what:

Do people in our culture today think about what happens after they die?

I see such questions raised in film (such as Ghost), horror flicks that deal with ghosts, shows on TLC that deal with hauntings and spirits. I hear such questions come up in music and song.

Questions of life after death come to the surface when people begin to reflect how life is so fragile: the accidental death of a loved one, the violent end of a homicide, or mass murder like the Virigina Tech tragedy.

It may not be on the same surface as Cornelius, but a question deep in the heart nonetheless.

Ecclesiastes writes that God has set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot understand it.

“What will you pay for?”

On a plane ride from Chicago to Richmond, my elderly seat mate chatted at me nearly the entire way.

Just after the captain made his pre-landing announcements, she lamented to me over the awful choices she sees her granddaughter making.

Thinking of her granddaughter’s eternity, she sighs,

“I guess we will all have to pay for our actions someday.”

I asked her “What will you have to pay for some day?”

The conversation came to an end at that moment, as the attendants began their pre-landing instructions about seat backs, table trays, collecting debris, and repacking personal belongings.

In the hustle and rustle of the cabin preparations, there was no opportunity to finish.

Let me ask you this?

Do you encounter people who think about having to pay for their actions after they die?

Ask the Lord to open a conversation with someone about these thoughts and feel free to share them here.

For more in the series on Conversion in the NT

The Apostle Paul
Simon the Sorcerer
Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
Cornelius

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Conversion Stories in the NT — Pisidian Antioch

This entry is part 4 of 7 in the series Conversions in the Book of Acts

If proclamation and invitation is central to evangelism, what form does the proclamation take?

In our series of conversion stories, we’ve seen

  • Individual conversations that contextualize the gospel to the person being evangelized.
  • Public addresses about Jesus.
  • The actual content or sermon is not really given, but the focus is on the conversion.

For today’s story, we have a clear example of the gospel message rooted in the story of Israel’s history via open air preaching.

StreetPreaching

Various models of personal evangelism have been developed over many years.

Paul and Barnabas have been invited to come and bring a message of encouragement to the synagogue in the town of Pisidian Antioch. (Acts 13:13ff).

The story:

From verse 13:16-37, Paul recounts salvation history, “The Story” of God’s activity in the life of Israel.

Since he was speaking to a Jewish audience, Paul connects the story of Jesus to the story of Israel.

Jesus is spoken of as having fulfilled the promises of God. Paul ties the story of redemption into the known story of Israel’s history.

“Through Christ, everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.”

The results

The fruit of the sermon was that some people wanted to hear more – spiritual thirst. (v. 42).

For some, it was enough, “many . . . followed Paul and Barnabbas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God” (v43).

Paul and Barnabbas were invited back to share some more on the following Sabbath. During the week in between word spread and the crowds were huge the following weekend, as “almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.”

Many Gentiles believed (v.48), and Paul and Barnabbas were run out of town by persecution.

Evangelism to the masses

Evangelism can happen at a large crowd event through the proclamation of the works of God.

There were clearly follow up conversations, where people can reason, interact, and respond to the invitation.

Proclamation can happen on an individual level (like Simon, or Cornelius), or in a larger group setting.

Paul used the facets of the gospel message that fit within the worldview of the covenant people of God, as that was his primary audience.

Gospel fits their worldview

As Peter contextualized the gospel to Cornelius, Paul contextualizes the gospel to his Jewish audience.

They were familiar with the works of God, the language of the covenant, and respected biblical authority.  The history of Israel was the bridge to proclaiming Jesus, and that righteousness that couldn’t be found in the Law is now found in Jesus Christ.

He connects “their story” to “the story” and shows how Jesus fulfills God’s promises and what Jesus has accomplished.  He uses Old Testament references because his audience respected biblical authority, and were familiar with its words, language, and significance.

Paul spoke clearly about justification – terms that were very familiar to his Jewish audience.  They respected biblical authority and knew the words well.

Seeds already planted

One of the challenges we face today is Biblical illiteracy. I see it in many of my conversations.

Another challenge we face in our culture is the lack of agreement with Biblical authority – just because the Bible says so, so what?

But there are people who are both Biblically literate and believe in Biblical authority. There is a respect for the Word, and a respect for Christian tradition. We cannot forget that gospel is for them as well.

They may have grown up in a community of faith, but left it as a teen, never forgetting the longing to know God. They may begin to recall some of what they learned in youth group, or Sunday school classes, or a well timed sermon from their earlier days, and now, there is something drawing them back to the faith of their youth.

Others may have been in church all their life, but never “got it.” There is a sense that something is missing, searching for a dynamic vital relationship with Jesus.

The gospel is so multi-faceted that we can frame our explanation of it based on where our audience is. It might be an audience of one (like Cornelius), or a group (like here). They might have a churched background, or maybe none at all.

Philip started from the point were the Ethiopian eunuch was reading, and Paul started with the story of Israel.

Let me ask you this?

When was the last time you had a chance to present the gospel, or sow a seed?

Did you start from where your audience was, or did you make them come to your starting point?

For more in our series:

Image Source: Preaching to the Queue

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Conversations between Believers and Non-Believers

This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series Conversions in the Book of Acts

I found a list of conversations between believers and non-believers in Acts (thanks to “A Forgotten Gospel” by Mark McGrath”, see my review).

The complete list comes from the book of Acts.

[Read more…] about Conversations between Believers and Non-Believers
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