As Christians we need to know God's eternal plan in this universe, God's plan for His unique purpose and desire. We should have a time with the Lord about this matter. Merely to understand the points of fellowship in this book in your mind is not good enough. You need some impression in your spirit before the Lord. You may even be clear about God's plan, yet you should digest what you understand by praying. Then something will be impressed into your spirit, and what you understand will be a real strengthening, a real power, a real force within you. May we all pray about and with the truths and the fellowship contained in this book. In the previous chapter we saw Saul's birth and religion. In this chapter we want to go on to see his life and his conversion. Saul was born and raised up in Judaism and he spontaneously had a life fully according to that religion. His life before his conversion was one hundred percent according to his religion. He lived for and by what he believed.
Galatians 1:13 says, "For you have heard of my manner of life formerly in Judaism, that I persecuted the church of God excessively and ravaged it." Saul persecuted the church of God, not because he was sinful but because he was religious. He was so zealous for his religion that he persecuted the church of God because the church of God was something different from his religion. In Galatians 1:14-16a Paul continues, "And I advanced in Judaism beyond many contemporaries in my race, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me." Saul made progress in his religion beyond his contemporaries and he was zealous for the traditions of his fathers, but it pleased God to reveal His Son in Saul.
In the passage we have just read there are four important items: religion, tradition, Christ, and the revelation of Christ. Saul was involved in the best religion, the Jewish religion, a religion ordained by God with good traditions, many of which were according to the teachings of the Old Testament. Yet this religion with so many traditions was something contradicting with Christ and with the revelation of Christ. If you read this portion of Scripture carefully, you will realize the difference between Christ and religion and between the revelation of Christ and the traditions of religion. Religion is versus Christ and the traditions are versus the revelation of Christ.
Many of us may be like that young man Saul. He was born in a religion and we also were born in a religion. In this religion we have many traditions. I was born into Christianity, and in today's Christianity there are many traditions. Are you a Christian today living, walking, working, and serving the Lord according to the traditions of Christianity or according to the revelation of Christ, the Son of the living God? Are you dealing with a formed, organized religion or are you dealing with a living Person? Are you dealing with the living Christ, the Son of the living God?
Saul was a brilliant man with a superior makeup. From the human point of view he was not so sinful but rather good and religious. Yet he was dealing with a religion, not with the living Christ. He was serving Christ according to the tradition of his fathers, not according to the living revelation of the Holy Spirit. We have to realize even today that there is the possibility that people could serve God by dealing with a religion according to many traditions, not by dealing with the living Christ and not according to the living revelation of the Holy Spirit. I do not have any intention to help others to be religious. On the contrary, I would do my best to tear down all the religious matters in you. I do pray to the Lord that He would open your eyes to give you a turning point, that you could turn from a religion to a living Person—Christ—and turn from the traditions to the revelation of Christ. This young man's life before his conversion was apparently not evil but good and religious, yet he needed Christ to be revealed in him.
In Philippians 3 Paul speaks of all that he was and had in his natural being: "Circumcised the eighth day; of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to the righteousness which is in the law, become blameless. But what things were gains to me, these I have counted loss on account of Christ" (vv. 5-7). In these verses are the life of this man before his conversion and his attitude after his conversion. What was this young man converted from? We think a man is always converted from sin to God. We need some conversion because we are sinful and have fallen away from God. According to the Scriptures, however, Saul was converted from religion to Christ. From the point of view of God, Saul's persecuting of the church was something sinful, yet from the human point of view, from the religious point of view, he was not sinful but may have been appreciated, admired, and praised by many religious persons. Paul was converted from religion to Christ, not merely from sin to God.
In the past I met a number of people who were born Christians, but not converted Christians, not reborn Christians. They were born and raised up in Christianity and even lived for Christianity. They were good people and they were very religious. Many of them were doing a religious work, yet they did not know Christ in a living, experiential way. They had a religion, but they did not have life. They had Christianity, but they did not have Christ Himself They were engaged in many activities, programs, and works, but they did not have the inner life with the inner impact. Look at today's Christianity and ask yourself what the percentage of activities, programs, and outward works is and what the percentage of inward life is. Christ as the living One should be realized, experienced, enjoyed, applied, and appreciated by us all the time.