“And he fell to the earth, and heard a
voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?”-Acts 9:4
Conviction in a world of
tolerance is welcomed like a rainstorm at an outdoor wedding. “Please tell me again why I want to feel
terrible?” Sin, like black mold, is a
silent killer. It breeds in the cold,
damp, darkness of the human heart and slowly infiltrates all areas of a
person’s life; poisoning and slowly killing them, from the inside out. The only way to rid yourself of this
infection is to bring it into the light.
It must be exposed and treated, if sin is tolerated and left unaddressed
the condition only gets worse. Why do we
need conviction? Simple, because without
it, we die.
Before the Apostles Paul
became the Apostle Paul he was Saul the Pharisee. Saul was raised to follow God as his fathers
did; he believed in God, as his Fathers did, and while he consented to the
death of Christians he believe that he was doing God’s work. The culture in which Saul was in was not only
prepared to tolerate his behavior, but applauded it. In their eyes, he was a zealous champion
striving to serve God as his unrighteous forefathers had done, and they would
not let anyone besides themselves tell them what they could and could not
do. “How dare they tell us of a new
law?” “Who are they to say what is
lawful and unlawful? Who are they to
claim that there is another King beside Ceaser?” One must understand, in this day and time,
Christianity was not popular, freedom of religion was not offered; to be a
Christian was to be: rejected, hunted, persecuted and killed. They preached a gospel and lived according to
a law that was higher and greater than Roman law, or Jewish law, or any other
law for that matter. Their conversation
and convictions brought with it the righteousness of Christ our Savior and as
they obeyed God, the Holy Ghost moved bringing sinners into a harsh realization
that they were in fact condemned before God and they could not stay in that
state and expect to live a life free of judgment. Saul was fighting against this, and he was
fighting against anyone who dared to believe anything different than what he
believed. The same thing is happening
today; people are fighting against Jesus because he represents something that
is different than what they believe in.
He brings light into the darkness.
Jesus brought light to Saul’s dark, ignorant world and struck him down
on a road to Damascus saying: “why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks.” Saul had persecuted many
Christians, and destroyed countless live, but they were not named nor did they
have to be; because at the core of it all, Saul was persecution Christ. He was in direct contradiction to that of our
Savior, and before he could change, before he could live, he had to realize who
he was persecuting.
It’s hard to think of yourself as a bad person; most people are
“good” people. They pay their taxes, go
to work, and pretty much do what is expected as an upstanding citizen of
society. We don’t really think about
ourselves as persecuting Christ, but when you allow sin to remain in your life
it brings persecution to the name of Christ and what he represents, and it’s
hard to live this way. Whether it is
open rebellion or secret sin, both break the heart of the Jesus who loves you
and died for you. Sin breaks the heart
of a Jesus who wants to bring you out of a world of sin and into a life of
righteousness. Conviction is the first
step, it reveals the sin within and allows you to begin to see the light and
press towards repentance and sanctification.
We need to see the Saul in ourselves, before we can be changed to Paul;
we need to see the sin within, before we can experience a life with
Christ. It is for our good, and his
glory.
