The Acts 29 story begins with Acts 1:8 when Jesus tells His followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The Biblical record of His followers doing all Jesus said they would do wraps up in Acts 28, and our lives are writing Acts 29. In my last post, we noted that being an Acts 29 Christian and an Acts 29 church requires serious conviction. We must even being willing to die for our faith.
In Acts, Paul witnesses with his life, work, and time. He lived in the 1st century; we live in the 21st century. He lived in the Roman Empire; we live in the United States. He spoke Greek; we speak English. There are many differences; but we have the same commission. This is our life, work, and time. This is Acts 29.
How do we practically live out being an Acts 29 Christian? It can be broken down into four cyclical steps.
Gospel
The first step is believing the Gospel. The Gospel is summarized in 1 Corinthians 1:1-4, where Paul writes, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” Simply stated the gospel is this: Jesus died, he was buried, and God raised him from the dead.
Convictions
This leads naturally into the second step, which is embracing convictions. When we believe the Gospel, our hearts begin to be stirred with different convictions. These are new beliefs based on the Gospel for which we should be willing to lay down our lives. The Gospel changes our convictions by transforming our hearts. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Integrity
Believing the Gospel and embracing Gospel-powered convictions leads us to grow in integrity. Our lives begin to align with the purposes for which we were created. We are willing to give up things to which others cling so tightly. We are different from other people. Integrity is honesty, moral uprightness, purity. Someone who has integrity stays true to his or her moral convictions. One of the hardest parts of our Christian walk is upholding the moral standards we are called to. Christ comes alongside us to help us. As the Gospel becomes more integrated in our lives, integrity becomes part of our character.
Engage & Persuade
The last phase of the Acts 29 cycle is a willingness to engage with other people. We have the amazing opportunity to change how society views believers. Often, Christians have a bad reputation. We can show them the true Gospel and how it radically transforms lives. Acts 29 Christians are called to do what’s never been done before – both personally and corporately.