“For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and deep conviction.” (New International Version, 1 Thess. 1:4-5a)
(Some of the concepts in this article were discovered in the book “Radical Faith,” by Randy McKean)
We live in a world full of individuals with “deep convictions!” Many have deep convictions about what political party is the “best,” about what college is the “best,” about what sports team or food is the “best!” But as disciples, what separates us from the world is that our “deep conviction” is no longer rooted in ourselves or anything else in this world. Our conviction comes from the Word of God! As the title states, I want to give you “three truths to consider about deep conviction!”
Your present convictions determine your current lifestyle!
As disciples, we must understand that, the more conviction we have, the easier it will be for us to live the Christian lifestyle. If we struggle to walk along the “straight and narrow road,” the problem is not talent, IQ, EQ, or challenges. It simply comes down to a lack of conviction in the Word of God. The only way we will indeed be able to overcome these challenges and glorify God with our lives is by opening the Bible and fighting to build deeper convection from within it. The stability of a building is greatly dependent upon the solidity of the foundation it is built on. The weaker the foundation, the weaker the building. The same goes for our lives! The deeper our convictions are in the scriptures, the more biblically sound our lifestyle will be!
The depth of your convictions determines the longevity of a changed life!
Hebrews 3:14 says “We have come to share in Christ if we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.” As disciples, if we want to remain faithful till the end, (our death or the return of Christ), we must hold to our “original convictions firmly!” What does that mean? God does not want you to just “go through the motions” of discipleship in your life in the kingdom. He wants you to know why “you do everything you do!” All of us must have biblical convictions for everything we do. For some of us, we need to learn these “original convictions” that Paul is talking about, and for others, we need to remember and restore them in our lives. The only way to develop the deep convictions Christ wants us to have is by digging deeper in the scriptures every single day! Challenge your depth of knowledge of the scriptures by fighting ‘ to learn more about areas you are “weaker” in! The deeper you get in the scriptures and your convictions, the more effective you will become.
The correctness of your convictions determines your eternal destiny!
The Bible is abundantly clear on who is saved and who is not. Salvation is one of the most important topics in the Bible! Therefore, our eternal destiny is not something that we want to be unsure about in anyway, shape or form. It would not be wise to take serious medical advice from someone who is not a doctor. In the same way, it would be unwise to learn convictions of eternity from anywhere but the Bible. If you are visiting for the first time, consider studying the Bible with one of our small group leaders. After all, if “the correctness of our convictions defines our eternal destiny,” we all better make sure our convictions line up with the Bible! (Mt. 28:20)
And to God be the glory,
Jason T. Woody
Evangelist
