Fourteen Years

"Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me." Galatians 2:1

I had the pleasant surprise of seeing an old friend at church today. Having moved out of state some time ago he had not been able to attend church for a while. While it may seem insignificant to some, he played a huge role in my Christian life. I became a born again Christian in 1996 (hence the name of my blog). I attended one church regularly for the first few years after my salvation but soon grew disenchanted with the teaching. For a short time, I bounced around from church to church until I gave up trying to find a church to join. It was during this pause that I found a radio ministry called People To People. It was a call-in counseling show based out of Texas that was hosted by pastor Bob George. Discovering his teaching was like God rewriting the Bible for me. The insights into the grace of God, forgiveness, and the new life in Christ changed me beyond measure. Unfortunately, I soon came to realize that this teaching was not held by any of the churches I had visited or knew of where I lived. Hence, I was unable to find a church home. Thankfully, through listening to the teachings of Bob George and finding like-minded believers online, I was able to continue my growth in Christ as well as satisfy my desire to be around other Christians who believed in the same things I believe the Lord was teaching me. However, I was still hoping to find a local church I could belong to. It was then that People To People came to my rescue again. Apparently, there were Christians around the country who had started small groups and churches dedicated to the study and proclamation of what came to be called the "Finality of the Cross" and the "Reality of the Resurrection."In other words, they were teaching what I was coming to accept as the true meaning of Jesus Christ's death on the cross and what role His resurrection plays in salvation and the Christian life. Therefore, I called the ministry and asked them if they had any groups meeting in my area. And, thankfully, they did. As it turned out, my friend was on the Board of Directors for People To People and they put me in contact with him. Eventually, we connected and he told me about this local group of believers. In time, I would begin to attend this church on a regular basis. This coming May I will celebrate 16 years at my church. In that span of time, I have grown immeasurably in my faith as well as my ability and desire to communicate the Gospel message to others. As a good friend told me, "Truly is amazing and encouraging to look at how you've grown in the grace of Jesus Christ." My point is that it takes time to go from new birth in Christ to the time you start to experience significant growth in your walk. For me, it was about eight years. I can only look forward to what God has in store for me moving forward.

For the Apostle Paul, he obviously didn't have the same experience as I did, but we see that it took some time for God to work on him as well. The beginning of Galatians 2 implies that it took fourteen years for God to "beat the law out of Paul," as some like to say. If you recall, Paul was a staunch enemy of the Gospel. In fact, Acts 8:3 says, "As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison." Saul was Paul's name prior to his conversion to Jesus Christ. However, Paul would eventually become a staunch proponent of the Gospel. So much so that God used him to write nearly two-thirds of the New Testament. He would later write, "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ (Philippians 3:4-7)." How did Paul go from making "havoc of the church" to saying "whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ"? It was first and foremost because of his encounter with the resurrected Christ. However, it was also due to the Lord taking time to rid Paul of all his pharisaical teachings and beliefs to the point where he could go out and be a powerful witness for Jesus Christ. How long did it take for God to do a complete 180-degree turnaround with Paul? It seems to have taken about fourteen years. While growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ is a never-ending adventure, there is a time when we should all go from a form of immaturity to maturity. I believe it took me at least eight years before I was comfortable enough just to sit inside a gathering of believers who shared the same beliefs as I did much less be as bold as Paul became in his proclamation of the message of Jesus Christ. But, I am confident of one thing. You have to know and believe that God is no longer counting your sins against you and that salvation is the restoration of the life of God through faith in Jesus Christ before you will begin to see significant growth in your spiritual maturity. Some people would seem to stay spiritual infants for most of their Christian life while others seem to grow like weeds. It all depends on what you believe about your identity in Christ. It may never happen or it may happen in an instant. For me, it took God using a phone call to a previously unknown director of a radio ministry. For Paul, who Christians were afraid of, it took a dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus as he was on his way to persecute Christians. My prayer is that all mankind not only comes to faith in Jesus Christ but to also allow God the time to finish what He begins in you so that you also will come to know the fullness of the Gospel.