Salvation Testimony

INTRO

Acts 26:4–29 ESV

4 “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? 9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities. 12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” 24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

WHILE THE DETAILS MAY VARY, EVERY SALVATION TESTIMONY CONTAINS...

1) …WHAT YOUR LIFE WAS LIKE BEFORE JESUS (v.4-11)

Before coming to Christ...

Paul lived as a Pharisee (5)

Was convinced to oppose belief in Jesus (9)

Locked up believers and voted to execute them (10)

Debated and set them up for shame and retribution in the setting of social discussion (11a)

Raged in fury against Jesus and Jesus-followers (11b)

Paul’s story before meeting Jesus was as self-righteous, self-promoter, denier of truth, shouted down believers, sought intense persecution against believers, did everything he could to belittle and mock believers, and was filled with rage against Christians.

In today’s time, Paul, before Jesus, was a prime candidate to be a radical, leftist, liberal when it came to his views on Jesus.

Paul was adamantly against Jesus and what He stood for.

Paul, looking back on his life, put into terms of reality who he was before Jesus, but if you asked him preconversion what his life was like he probably would have used different terms.

He may have said something like:

“Me and God, we’re more than good. I am one of the most passionate keepers of the law. I have a belief in God that I take pretty serious. In fact, I stand up for God against worthless people with worthless claims that try to mess up the good thing we have going in our country. And don’t get me started on that Jesus of Nazareth. That blaspheming rebel caused so much confusion and lawlessness, I wished I had put him down myself. Even after His death, we’re still having to clean up the mess from His lying followers who just can’t get over the fact that He’s gone and they trusted a fraud. They’re so delusional, they claim He’s still alive. The chief priest and high counsel entrusted me to get this mess cleaned up so we can get things back to normal around here and get the people focused back on the law of Moses. Between you and me, they picked the right guy. I’ll chase them down all the way to foreign cities to uphold the law of Moses and crush those worthless blasphemers.”

We all have a reality and truth of what our lives were like before Jesus.

For some, it’s a story of a dark past with lots of pain, lots of poor choices, and lots of seeking fulfillment in all the wrong places.

For some, it’s as story of a “good” person just trying to make it along in life and doing the best you can by what the world gives you work with so you can have some kind of normalcy.

For some, it’s a somewhere between the two.

But the reality and truth is that whether it was obvious by our lifestyle or more subtle and deceptive by our “goodness”, we all were people who missed the perfect purpose and divine direction for existence. We all have sinned and rebelled against God. We all have missed the mark and fallen short of the perfect glory of God.

For a salvation testimony to truly be a salvation testimony, that reality of brokenness and sinfulness needs to collide with...

2) …A REALIZATION OF WHO JESUS IS AND YOUR SURRENDER TO HIM (v.12-18)

In this passage, Paul recalls his “Coming to Jesus” moment.

He was confronted with his sin and called to surrender that life in order follow Jesus.

He was called on purpose and for purpose.

Jesus called Paul out of grace, not merit. He appointed Paul for a task out of sovereignty, not necessity.

Jesus’ path for Paul was a complete change from Paul’s previous demeanor in life.

Before Jesus, he despised the Gentiles, but now he would be sent to take the message of Jesus to the Gentiles.

His purpose would be to help open the eyes of the Gentiles to the truth and reality of God, that they may be forgiven and sanctified by faith in Jesus.

Paul’s old life had to be surrendered in order to receive new life in Jesus.

You and I share this same “coming to Jesus” moment if we are saved.

We have to have this realization of who Jesus truly is and a surrendering of our lives over to Him.

We have to understand and let it sink in from our heads to our hearts that Jesus is more than just a historical, religious figure of the past. He is the living, resurrected Son of God who is alive today and holds all power and authority over us. He reigns over our lives, even from His present throne in heaven all the way to the spiritual throne in our lives.

Without this realization and surrender, you can’t have a salvation story.

I’m not talking about a “pray this prayer so you don’t go to hell” moment.

There will be a lot of “good” American people bearing the full weight and responsibility of their sins as the burn in hell for all eternity who placed their faith in that prayer, but who didn’t place their faith in and surrender their lives over to Jesus.

If I ask you the question, “How do you know you’re going to heaven when you die?” and your answer is “Because I prayed the sinners prayer and got baptized,” you are just as lost as the hyper religious Paul was before he surrendered to Jesus.

The sinner’s prayer is not a “coming to Jesus” moment, unless it was at that time you had some realization of who Jesus is in contrast to the sinful and broken person you are and you began on some level a journey of surrendering your life to Him.

If there is no realization in who Jesus is and a surrendering of your life to Jesus, there is no salvation story to tell.

How do you know if you’ve surrendered your old life and been born again into new life? Because you can share...

3)…WHAT YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN LIKE SINCE SURRENDERING TO JESUS (v.19-23)

Paul, after coming to Jesus, lived in obedience to Jesus. He fulfilled his new purpose and calling in life. Even how he looked at life each day was new to him.

He proclaimed by his words and his actions that people must repent and turn to God and live a life that keeps with their repentance.

We are not saved by works, but true and genuine salvation produces works that are in accordance with repentance from our old life and in pursuit of holiness and righteousness in our new lives.

Jesus says in Matthew 7 that a person’s true nature is measured by the fruit in their lives.

Paul is able to talk about the difference in his outlook on life and how he lives out his life since surrendering to Jesus.

We also, when sharing our salvation story should be able to share the differences within our lives because of Jesus.

Even if you were young when came to faith in Jesus, you should still be able to distinguish a difference in your life because of Jesus.

Even in how we live and make decision each day should be able to display a contrast. We still have a sin nature we struggle with. How does a born again life in Jesus overcome that sin nature?

4)…AN INVITE FOR OTHERS TO KNOW JESUS AND MAKE HIM KNOWN (v.24-29)

Acts 26:24–29 ESV

24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

Part of Christ changing our lives, is placing a desire in us to see others’ lives changed by Christ as well.

Even in this moment, Paul was wanting all who heard his story to come to a life-saving, life-changing faith in Jesus.

Our salvation story is not just a telling of what God can do in a person’s life, but it is an invitation for God to do something miraculous and incredible in a person’s life.

Your story for His glory is more about His glory than your story. We need to be sure and invite others to come to know Jesus so that they might believe, repent, and be born again to new life in Jesus!

CLOSING

IF YOU ARE A BELIEVER TODAY, HOW ARE YOU WALKING IN OBEDIENCE AND SHARING JESUS WITH OTHERS? HOW ARE YOU TELLING YOUR STORY FOR HIS GLORY?

IF YOU ARE HERE AND REALIZE YOU HAVE NEVER COME TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU RECOGNIZE WHO JESUS TRULY IS AND HAVE SURRENDERED YOUR LIFE TO HIM, WHAT’S STOPPING YOU?

IS IT WORTH RISKING ETERNITY FOR?

ARE YOU READY TO SURRENDER TO JESUS AND START A NEW LIFE ON PURPOSE FOR PURPOSE IN HIM?