Yesterday we looked at two times Paul shared his testimony. In both cases there were three elements, what he was like before he met Christ, how he met Christ, what he was like after, as a result of meeting Christ.
The content of the testimony is simple. The means of conversion is the same. The focus is on Christ as a person, Lord, one whom Paul followed.
There are several things though that are conspicuous by their absence. Paul does not share either with Agrippa or with the Philippians how or when he was baptized. Nor does he mention what church, denomination, or system of theology under which he was converted. Further, there is no mention of the role of the Holy Spirit, the need for him to be baptized in the Spirit, or for him to speak in tongues. Paul doesn’t refer to any form of confirmation in his testimony, nor does he mention being allowed to join in a communion.
Those things are important to many, they were not important to Paul when he was given an opportunity to share his faith with Agrippa and wrote about the effects of his conversion to the church at Philippi.
The single focus of Paul’s testimony was that he had met and accepted Jesus as his Lord and savior.
That makes it simple for us. We share what we were like before we met Christ. Share how we met Christ and that we accepted Him as He is, Lord and savior. We share how that has affected our life.
Simple.
The content of the testimony is simple. The means of conversion is the same. The focus is on Christ as a person, Lord, one whom Paul followed.
There are several things though that are conspicuous by their absence. Paul does not share either with Agrippa or with the Philippians how or when he was baptized. Nor does he mention what church, denomination, or system of theology under which he was converted. Further, there is no mention of the role of the Holy Spirit, the need for him to be baptized in the Spirit, or for him to speak in tongues. Paul doesn’t refer to any form of confirmation in his testimony, nor does he mention being allowed to join in a communion.
Those things are important to many, they were not important to Paul when he was given an opportunity to share his faith with Agrippa and wrote about the effects of his conversion to the church at Philippi.
The single focus of Paul’s testimony was that he had met and accepted Jesus as his Lord and savior.
That makes it simple for us. We share what we were like before we met Christ. Share how we met Christ and that we accepted Him as He is, Lord and savior. We share how that has affected our life.
Simple.
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