Building Conviction
On Sunday night at ONE28, we talked about the need to live by conviction.
What are convictions?
A conviction is
a strongly held belief or opinion.
or
a truth that the heart, not just the head, believes.
Convictions are truths that drive us. They grab our hearts and they constrain us as we make decisions. These are truths that we submit ourselves to. A conviction is not just a fact that we know in our head, but it’s a truth that we believe deep in the depth of our being. Convictions grab a person and do not let him go.
It’s been said that
“Men hold opinions, but convictions hold the man.”
Examples of people who had conviction
The Bible and world history is replete with examples of men and women who had conviction.
Testing of conviction
The question we need to ask ourselves is: What will happen when my beliefs/convictions get tested?
Our true colors show when we get tested. Cassie Bernall, a high schooler in Colombine, CO, was asked, with a gun point at her head, if she believed in Jesus. She said, “Yes,” and she was shot. Cassie’s convictions were tested that day. By God’s grace, the truth about Jesus was not just something that she knew about, but something that gripped her heart and dictated her decision in that moment.
We will either be like a tree with roots that reach deep underground, or a tree that looks healthy, but has no roots. Which one will stand against the wind? If we want to be disciples of Jesus who will stand strong, then we need to dig down deep and build our foundation on the rock (Luke 6:46–49).
Self-Deceived
Many of us think that we have convictions, when, in fact, we may only have one of the following:
1. Pseudo-convictions: We have pseudo-convictions when we passionately hold to something that someone else is passionate about.
2. Pre-convictions: We have pre-convictions when we have a lot of knowledge, but it hasn’t sunk into our souls. We might get the answers right on the quiz, but we are not willing to put our lives on the line for those answers.
How to build convictions
We can build convictions by
1. Continuing to learn. We will not grow in our convictions about the gospel if we remain satisfied with our current knowledge about the gospel.
2. Learn with heart of humility. Knowledge puffs us up (1 Cor 8:1), but convictions humble us.
3. Pray what you are learning back to God. Our convictions are first and foremost before God. More importantly than anything else, we need to learn the Scriptures and build these convictions before the face of God.
4. Help one another. We need the community of believers to help us drive these truths deep into our hearts.
May God graciously mold us into men and women who are driven by their heart-level convictions about Jesus and the gospel.
Discussion: Religion & Abortion
This week in ONE28, we spent some time discussing some key current issues.
Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus
First, we watched a video that has gone viral in the past few weeks on YouTube. The video shows the 22 year old poet speaking truths about Jesus, religion, and the gospel.
We discussed the points of the video that were helpful, such as the emphasis on grace alone and faith alone in Christ alone for salvation. He emphasized the need for people to deal radically with sin through the cross of Christ and not try to cover it up with good works.
But we also talked about how there were somethings that were not as helpful. He used the term religion repeatedly throughout the poem, but not in the universally understood definition. He had a certain understanding of the word and used it as such. We talked about the need to not only say the right words, but make sure those words are understood by those who hear you. Religion is used several times in Scripture (e.g. James 1:26–27) and thus it is not helpful to use the term to refer to only false religion.
For a more detailed and gospel-centered critique, I’ll direct you to Pastor Kevin DeYoung’s post.
Sanctity of Life Sunday
We then briefly touched on the significance of today being Sanctity of Life Sunday. Thirty-nine years ago today, the decision of Roe v. Wade changed this nation. Abortion was legalized and since then, roughly 55 million lives have been lost as a result.
I believe this is important for teens to think about and discuss because of the frontline nature of this issue in today’s world. If they haven’t already, they will interact with someone who is contemplating or has had an abortion. They need to be ready with a biblical defense and loving counsel.
We looked at how God created life (Gen 1–2) and how the Scriptures describe special care given to those in the womb by God (Psalm 139:13–16). In light of this, God commands us not to take innocent life. Our ability to chose does not change God’s instruction.
We finished by praying for this massive evil that is taking place everyday in our country. The students were encouraged to further discuss these matters with their parents.
For information on abortion from a biblical perspective, visit Abort73.com.
Grace Remembered
Last night, we heard from Ryan Tanksley as he preached from Ephesians 2:1–10 & 4:17–32. With a full heart, he pleaded that we, who have been saved by God, should rejoice in that grace and give grace to others. He hung his words on four points.
1. Our Past (Eph. 2:1–3)
If we want to truly understand and appreciate grace, then we need to remember where we came from. We need to remember that we were once dead in our trespasses. Our sin held us captive as we committed great atrocities against our Creator.
2. Our Hope (Eph. 2:4–7)
In light our past, Paul shows us that we have hope because God, who is rich in mercy, has made us alive. Our biggest problem has been solved. We have been given the greatest thing and we deserved none of it. It’s all grace.
The gospel should be the center of our lives and we need to reflect on it often.
3. Our Gift (Eph. 2:8–10)
In Christ, all that we’ve been given has been a result of grace. We often have a knee-jerk reaction to want to return a gift with a gift. In Christ, we can’t and shouldn’t try to repay the gift that we’ve been given. We need accept the gift and be thankful for it.
4. Our Challenge (Eph. 4:17–32)
Now that we’ve been changed by grace, we need to live differently. Our mouths should speak differently. We should be people who forgive because we’ve been forgiven so much. Grace does not change us and send us home; it sends us out to extend grace to others.
