Yesterday we looked at the importance of the personal testimony. We saw that it is more than an evangelistic tool. I suggested that you look at Acts 26 (here @ Bible Gateway) and Philippians 3 (here @ Bible Gateway) to see how Paul shared his testimony.
In both instances Paul shares what his life was like before he met Christ. He then shares how he met Christ. Lastly, he shares what is life was like after he chose to follow Christ.
| Steps | Acts 26 | Philippians 3 |
| Before | He was a Pharisee who was committed to punish Christians to the full extent of the Jewish law including death. He was on his way to Damascus with authority to continue this practice | Paul describes himself as a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, a persecutor of the church, blameless as to the la |
| How | Christ stopped him with a bright light on that road blinding him in the process and telling him what He wanted Paul to do. | Upon meeting Christ all that he thought was gain for him, he now counted as manure. |
| After | Paul accepted what he was told by Christ. He turned from persecuting the church to spreading the message of the gospel primarily to the Gentiles. | He now focused all of his zeal to know Christ Jesus his Lord. He lived to be found in Christ having Christ’s righteousness. His repeats that his focus is to know Christ. He wants to know the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, and be conformed to His death. Rather than viewing himself as having made is as he did as a Hebrew. He views himself as one who needs to continually strive to know Christ. |
Spend some time considering that content. It is a really excellent model for your or others personal testimony. What were you like before you met Christ? How did you meet Him? What difference, what are you like after you met Him?
There is more to say about this. There are some significant things missing from Paul’s testimony. We will look at that more closely tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment