Paul - God Hates Religion

Tom Shrader examines the Apostle Paul's dramatic conversion from religious persecutor to Christ follower in Acts 6-9. He emphasizes that Paul was not seeking God but was convinced he already had Him through his religious works, yet God saved him by grace alone. Shrader argues that God hates religion—man's efforts to reach up to a holy God—and saves people not by what they do but by what they believe about Christ's death and resurrection.

“We are Christians, not based on what we do, but based on what we believe.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: CBCC July 2014

Recorded: 2014 at Cannon Beach Conference Center

Duration: 1 hr 8 min

Themes: conversion, grace, works, salvation, religion, transformation, persecution, redemption, religious background, struggling with legalism, new believer, former persecutor, works-based mindset, pharisaical attitude, spiritual pride, seeking acceptance

Scripture: Acts 6:8-15, Acts 7:51-60, Acts 8:1-3, Acts 9:1-31, Philippians 3:4-8, Ephesians 2:1-10, Titus 3:3-7, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15, Philippians 1:6

Theological Themes: justification, salvation by grace, works righteousness, conversion experience, total depravity, irresistible grace, perseverance, regeneration

Full Transcript

Father, thank you for that truth. That's the perfect introduction to this morning to remind us that Jesus paid our debt, that He washed us white as snow, that there's nothing we could do. In fact, anything we do is filthy rags to You in terms of redemption, but You provided the perfect lamb for us. Thank you for Jesus. And this morning we pray to You in His name. Amen.

Well, good morning. It's good to see you this morning. Glad that you are here. It's great to have you with us.

I don't think I've talked about this yet, but in a weekend like this, Bill and I communicated a little bit in terms of what he was going to do and I told him a little bit about what I wanted to do and asked him if it would be okay. If I took the mornings, I tend to run out of gas about the time to judge sandcastles and take a little nap. So he agreed to take the evening. We talked about what we were going to talk about, and Bill said, "I'm going to do David," and I said, "Okay, I'm going to do something, develop something, what for me is new."

God Orchestrates Through His Spirit

Then I got a note that Jesse was doing the music. And my prayer in a week like this is that, God, we're all prepared. Bill's prepared, I'm prepared, Jesse's prepared, the sound guys are prepared, video's prepared, Kevin, Patrick, Jeff, the teams are prepared, but we can prepare all we want. If Your Spirit isn't here and in the people, then this is a waste of time.

One of the things that does not happen, at least for me, every week when I'm in an environment like this, but has happened this week in each session, is God has orchestrated through His Spirit the music that's the perfect lead-in to the lesson. I heard the guys rehearsing this morning, and when I came in, Jesse said, "I'm going to end with this song," and it's the perfect song to lead into today.

Our Study Through Biblical Characters

So we're going to look at the Apostle Paul. Let me remind you, we started with Joseph, and we had a lesson in steadfastness and forgiveness. We then looked at Daniel, and how to not just survive, but thrive in a hostile environment. Today we're going to look at Paul, and the lesson is this: God hates religion.

Tomorrow is our morning off. Thursday is Peter, and we're going to look at Peter, and if I say Peter, you tend to think of one specific event, or three similar events in his life. So we'll look at Peter, and then Friday we're going to look at a character that is, as far as I could tell in my study, I don't want to say research, because that makes it sound way more important than it is, but in my study, I couldn't find a book written on this guy. It's hard to even find a chapter written about this guy, yet he might be more of a character that you're going to role model than Joseph, Daniel, David, Peter, or Paul.

An Invitation to the Ladies

But today the focus is on Paul, so let me invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Acts, and it's Acts chapter 6. As you turn there, ladies, let me add my invitation, not that you need it, to Kevin's, to Sandy's presentation today.

I have the privilege of living with her, and watching her in her ministry, and it's very diverse. It's fun for me to watch. On Monday mornings, during the school year, she does a Bible study for a group of about 20 to 25 ladies that are older than she is. Several of them keep a rock real close, so there's something near her that's older than them. And so I have a chance to go in once or twice a year and teach these gals, and Sandy does an amazing job loving them.

Tuesday, she teaches in different environments, but it's a day for a lot of one-on-ones, and then Tuesday night has a study, right now in the Gospel of John, that has two gals in it, that are unbelievers when it started, and now struggling with the faith. Wednesday morning, at least last year, she worked at BSF, watching the kids, which I love, and then Thursday is her BSF day, and then sprinkled all through that are a lot of one-on-ones.

Plus at our campus in Tempe, the university campus, she teaches there to a larger group of gals, primarily college gals and post-college, but older as well. And you have the opportunity today to not just listen to her, but interact with her, and I know there's lots of distractions in the afternoon, but ladies, I really encourage you to take advantage of that. Today at 3:30 in Pacific View.

Stephen: Filled with the Spirit

In the book of Acts, and we are in chapter 6, and verse 8, we read this: "Stephen is full of grace and power, and performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men, from what was called the synagogue, these men," and you'll see it in verse, end of verse 9, "rose up and argued with Stephen. But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit," you see the larger case, capital S, it's the Holy Spirit, "in which he's speaking."

So let me give you the backdrop to this point. Jesus has said to the guys, "You're going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the remotest parts of the earth." And Peter's gone and preached a sermon, 3,000 people have responded, look at that tomorrow, and the church is born.

Opposition Arises Where the Church Spreads

And now the church is beginning to spread, and wherever there is a church, and a vibrant church, there will always be opposition. There will always be opposition. And that opposition arises, and we pick up the story, there's this man, Stephen, filled with the Spirit.

And the opposition comes from these men, primarily Jews, and what happens is, in verse 13, they put forward false witnesses. They can't do battle with them. They can't argue with them. He's filled with the Spirit.

It's that moment, there's nothing like it. Anybody I think who's spoken or taught for any period of time knows this, but there are those moments, at least I have them, they're almost like out-of-body experiences, where you're talking, and you're watching yourself.

Stephen in the Zone

You know how to express it. If you were an athlete, you'd say you were in the zone. You're shooting free throws, and the basket looks so big. Or if you're a golfer, you're putting, and that hole looks like it's a foot wide. You'll hear a quarterback talk about being in the zone. Peyton plays there a lot, where you see him, "Omaha, Omaha," and he gets up.

Last year was my first year not teaching on Sunday, so I got into NFL football. Sandy bought me the NFL package, and I got the red zone. I got into Peyton last year a lot. Have any of you seen the Book of Manning? It's awesome. It's about Archie and the boys. By the end of this hour, you want Archie to be your dad.

A Personal Super Bowl Story

When the Super Bowl came, Janet, who used to be the program director here, is now in Yakima. That morning, because she's a huge Seahawks fan, that morning she and I started texting back and forth about the game. My son-in-law is a big Bronco fan. They're from Denver. We're with all Denver people. And that first play, I just looked and said, "That can't possibly happen again. There has to be a fluke." But it was a great day for you all.

I don't remember what that has to do with this lesson. Oh, nothing. I told you it had nothing to do with the lesson.

Stephen Filled with the Spirit

Out of the zone. That's what it was. I've had a moment where you're talking and speaking, and all of a sudden it's almost autopilot. There'll be things that aren't on notes and you hadn't thought about that come out. It's the thing that afterwards people write you emails about, or they come in, or they ask you questions. And it's in the zone.

Well, here's what the Bible says. It's not in the zone. It's when you're filled with the Spirit and the Spirit's moving you. So Stephen is being moved by the Spirit. They can't cope with it.

False Witnesses Against Stephen

So in chapter 6, verse 13, they call in false witnesses. "This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that this Nazarene will destroy this place." That Jesus is going to destroy the temple and rebuild the temple. "And they fixed their gaze on him," verse 15, "all who were sitting in the council, and saw his face like the face of an angel."

Chapter 7, we pick up the talk, the communication that Stephen's given. It's one of those messages, and we talk about it all the time.

Genuine Leadership and Communication

Jesse and I had a great time yesterday. I love watching Jesse lead. He's got a spirit. There's something going on with him that in my mind, I don't know him from a post. But you see how genuine it is. We had a chance to chat yesterday down on the beach for maybe 15 minutes.

We were talking about books. When I mentioned Boys in the Boat, he and Bill had read that. I was telling him about a book that we read last year. When I was told we were going to read it and do it in a group and I was going to interview and we're going to have a discussion, I said, "That sounds really stupid to me." The book was How to Win Friends and Influence People. And I thought, "Really? That's not my gig."

I will tell you, if you have high school students, you should make it mandatory. If you're a parent of a high schooler, you've got to read this book with them or a junior higher. Because it's things like shake hands, look people in the eye, say you're welcome. It burns me up to go in and pay $8 for a mocha and I end up saying thank you. And what do they say back? "No problem." Well, of course it's no problem. You got a quarter in this coffee and I paid you $8.

Stephen's Bold Confrontation

Stephen never read the book. That's the point. Because you look in chapter 7, verse 51, here he is. Here's how he teaches. "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in the hearts and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit." Carnegie didn't put that in the book. He didn't start with "you stiff-necked people." The problem is you, the problem is me.

"You're doing just as your father did" and then he gives them a history lesson. They killed the prophets, you picked up the torch, you're doing the same thing.

Now in verse 54 of chapter 7, it says, "And when they heard this, they were cut to the quick." They became very angry. They became gnashing their teeth. And being

Stephen's Martyrdom and Saul's Introduction

Full of the Holy Spirit, Stephen gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Think of that for a moment. This is what he saw, and you will one day too. When you read this, you go, "Wow, that's amazing." He looked into heaven and he saw the glory of God and he saw Jesus.

"Behold, I see the heavens open up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." That's what you're going to see—absent from the body, present with the Lord. What a moment that will be.

But they cried out with a loud voice and covered their ears and rushed at him. You can see them in their childish way. He's preaching and they're going, "I can't hear you. I can't hear you." And they rush him. When they had driven him out of the city, they began to stone him.

Words have different meanings over the years. When they said Stephen was stoned, they don't mean Stephen sitting on the beach going, "Hey, wow, man, look at that sunset." In that day and age, stoning was a form of capital punishment.

The Stoning Process and Saul's Role

Here's where we want to get to: "The witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul." Here's what happened for this stoning. It would take place in different ways, but oftentimes, the guys who were going to do the stoning were a little bit above, even on a platform or higher above the victim. They would pick up these stones and not just launch them, but fire them down on them.

Any sort of robe or cloak would be an encumbrance. So they're taking those off and they walk over and there's a guy standing there and they're saying, "Hey, will you watch my coat? Will you watch my coat while I take care of this?" And his name was Saul. That's Paul.

They went on stoning Stephen and he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, don't hold this against them." And having said that, he died.

Saul's Campaign of Persecution

So we're introduced there to this guy, Saul. Turn over to Acts chapter 8 and we see him again in verse 1: "Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death." And on that day, as a result of this, there's a domino effect. Persecution began against the church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the region, all except the apostles.

Verse 3 of Acts chapter 8: "And Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house and dragging off men and women that he would put them in prison." He was an equal opportunity persecutor—guys and gals. You might circle or note the word "ravaging." It's a term that's used in secular Greek literature to describe a wild animal that's ripping apart its prey. That's Saul. Hearty agreement. Sick him. Go get him.

Chapter 9, we see that Saul is still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and said, "Can you give me some letters? Some letters of identification. Some letters of explanation that'll be from you, the high priest, to the synagogue in Damascus."

Saul's Mission to Damascus

Acts 9:2 tells us why: "So that if Saul finds any belonging to the way, men and women, he may bring them bound to Jerusalem." He said, "Listen, we've done a great job here at Jerusalem wiping out the church, persecuting the church. We might not be completely done, but we got a great start. You guys can take it from here. I want to go to Damascus. I want to find any who are Christians, and I want to destroy them."

One author writes this: "He hated the name of Jesus, so much so he became a self-avowed violent aggressor, persecuting and killing Christians in allegiance to the God of heaven." Shocking, though it may seem, we must never forget the pit from which he came. The better we understand the darkness of his past, the more we'll understand his gratitude for grace. That's true of you and me too.

Here's what Paul is in this position—he hates Jesus. What the author's saying is a great sentence: the better we understand the darkness of his past, the more we'll understand his gratitude for grace. The same is true of you and of me. The more you understand your darkness—here's a problem with people like you. You've been around so long, many of you. When we put up our hands and say, "We've been at Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center since 1812"—that's how long it's been. We've been here that long.

The Problem of Religious Confidence

All of a sudden you have this great lineage, this great heritage, this great religion. I don't know if we always see this. Paul is not looking for or seeking God. He's convinced he already has Him. He's killing the church, wiping out the church. He'd come into a room like this, and he'd look at you, and you got on your little badge, and that badge became a target, and he'd haul you off to prison.

Really important: he was in his mind a godly guy, a religious guy. That's why I titled this "God Hates Religion."

The Damascus Road Encounter

See what happens in Acts chapter 9, verse 3. Paul's traveling to Damascus to fulfill what is, in his mind, his purpose. On that road, there's suddenly a light from heaven, and it flashed around him, and he falls to the ground, and he heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"

Saul said, "Who are You, Lord?" He said, "I'm Jesus, the one who you're persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and it'll be told to you what you must do." So Saul got up and went into the city. His eyes are open but he can't see, and they're leading him by hand into Damascus, and he's there three days.

Chapter 9, verse 10: "Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias.'" "Here I am, Lord." The Lord said, "Get up and go to a street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for..."

a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying, and he's seen a vision. He's seen a man named Ananias come in and lay hands on him, so he may regain his sight." Acts chapter 9, verse 11.

But Ananias said, "Lord I've heard many things about this man, how much harm he did for your saints in Jerusalem, and he has an authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." Here's what Ananias is saying. He's going, "Are you sure you got the right guy? I've heard all about this guy. It's not just that he's one of those Jews. He's a Jew who aggressively persecutes the church. He wants to wipe us out."

But the Lord said to him, in Acts chapter 9, verse 15, "Go, he's my chosen instrument, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and the kings, and the sons of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for my sake." That becomes really Paul's mission statement - to make the name of Christ known before the Gentiles, and the kings, and the sons of Israel.

The Damascus Road Encounter

The story continues in Acts chapter 9, verse 17. "Ananias departs, and he enters the house, and after laying hands on him, he says, 'Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming has sent me, that you may regain your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.' And immediately, there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up, and he was baptized, and he took food, and was strengthened. Now for several days he's with the disciples who were at Damascus."

That's Paul's conversion. You've heard it - even non-biblical secular guys have the expression "a Damascus road experience." This is what happened. This is how Saul became Paul.

The Nature of True Conversion

Now, here's a big point: If your conversion is not identical to Paul's, you haven't been converted at all. I don't mean circumstantially - I mean substantially. Your conversion in terms of circumstance looks very different, but substantially, you were this, and now you're a follower of Christ. Many of you were, or maybe are, very religious people, but you've never encountered Jesus. That's what we want to learn from the Apostle Paul. He becomes a giant for the faith.

I remember early into my Christian life saying I identified with this guy. My personal conversion was radical.

My Own Damascus Road Experience

We were at breakfast this morning, and someone said, "I've got some questions - follow-up questions for you about your conversion. How old were you?" I said I was 30 at the time. They asked, "Well, that's kind of old. What happened at 30?"

Here's what happened to me. I had an experience. I had been drinking all day, and I was driving home, and these emergency lights came on behind me. I pulled over to let the vehicle by, and out came an officer - a female officer, Elizabeth. I learned something that night: Female officers named Elizabeth do not like to be called Babs. I didn't know that. You don't read that in a book.

I went in the next day to the office. They took you down - I don't know if you've ever been through this. This was my third time through this. I said to her, "Please don't put me in that cell. I hate it." But they fingerprint you, and I can still remember the stuff they use - the goo to get the ink off is terrible. She said, "Fine."

I'm sitting there, and my wife comes to pick me up, and she's eight and a half months pregnant. This was not how this was supposed to end. We're driving home, and I'm saying, "This is not good."

The Moment of Truth

I went to a friend the next day, and I told him what happened. Here's exactly what he said. He looked me right in the eye, and he said, "You need Jesus." I said, "Have you got anything else? Have you got something I can take - a pill, a class, snort something, shoot something? Is there something I can do? Have you got anything but Jesus?" He said no.

Three months later, there were a group of guys - I say group, three or four guys from my office - who went to a Bible study. I went to one of them, and I said, "Can I go to the Bible study?" He said, "What's for anyone?" So with the bar being that high, I was able to get in.

I walked in - unbeliever - into a group about the size of this one wing of the room. There's a guy by the name of Larry Wright. I don't know if any of you would know Larry. He later becomes my mentor and my hero and the most influential person in my life, other than my immediate family.

The Life-Changing Encounter

Larry was teaching that day in the Book of Romans, and it's as though - I don't know if you've ever had an experience like this - it's as though there was just Larry and me in the room. He's talking and it's like everything he said, somebody had fed him to say it about me.

I went back to the office and I grabbed the phone book. There were Wrights, W-R-I-G-H-T, and there were Larry Wrights and Lawrence Wrights and L Wrights. There's a column, so I went like this and called this number. I said, "Hello. Listen, my name's Tom Schrader. Today I was at a Bible study and I was taught by a guy named Larry Wright. I picked your name out of the phone book. Can you direct me to that Larry Wright?" The guy said, "That's me." I said, "Wow, I'd love to meet with you."

That was a Thursday. The next Tuesday we met and I said, "You're amazing. You've got some great stuff. But let me ask you some questions. Do you believe in Adam and Eve and Noah and floods and Jonah? You believe this

I don't remember what he said the rest of the time, but he gave me what we would call now the truth in love. He never wavered. He just told it like it was, but in love. And that was Tuesday. And I said to him, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to read your stuff, but I'm going to read the Quran and the Book of Mormon and some other stuff. I'd really never read a book in my life to speak of.

Mark Twain had a theory. He said, I never let school interfere with my education. And that was kind of my approach too. I love school for all the stuff around it. I loved college. If I could, I'd be like a 34th semester freshman right now. I mean, I loved college. I didn't study and I didn't go, but I loved all the stuff that went on.

So Larry said, read the Gospel of John. So that Tuesday night I read the Gospel of John and it might as well have been in the Greek. I didn't understand one thing it said. The next morning, Wednesday morning, I'm sitting in my car waiting for a client. And I saw this little book that Larry or somebody that Thursday had stuck in my hand. I don't know how it ended up in the car.

A Simple Gospel Presentation

And I opened it up and it said, number one, you're a sinner. And I thought, well, I got empirical data to support that. I don't need faith for that. Number two, Christ died. Now I knew that. That's a historic event. You can Wikipedia that one. Christ died.

But what this said was that Christ died for my sin. And I was familiar with that terminology. So I wasn't put off by it. But it had a new meaning. And it said this: If you believe this, not just mental assent, but you put your faith and trust in this reality that today you'll be saved.

And I remember praying right then, God, listen, 30 years I've had this life and I'm a sinner. There's no question about it that Jesus died. I totally believe. And now I believe He died for my sin. And according to this thing, I'm your kid.

I remember rolling down the window. We had roll down windows in those days. Rolling down the window and looking out and going, are there angels and bells? Nothing. And I went into Larry the next day and I said, Larry, here's what happened yesterday. And I told him and he hugged me. And I thought, oh, my gosh, they're huggers. We're going to hug every time we get together.

That started in my life a whole new venture. That's what happened to Saul. That's how Saul became Paul. And that's how you move in terms of designation from sinner to saint and destination from hell to heaven.

Paul's Religious Resume

In Philippians chapter 3, Paul writes this. He's talking about faith and salvation. He said, although myself, I may have confidence in the flesh. What he means is religion, working out your salvation. He said, and I don't mean this at all in a pejorative way. He says, literally, I was a super Jew.

If you're going to put confidence in the flesh, me much more. I was circumcised on the eighth day. Now, let me point out the obvious here. Paul didn't go, hey, mom, it's the eighth day, circumcision time. What he's saying is I was from a godly Jewish family, from the nation of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.

You want to talk about the law? I was a Pharisee. In terms of zeal, I was a persecutor of the church. I didn't just play church. Isn't that the accusation you have of some people, or maybe even they make it of you, you just play church? Paul said I didn't play church, I was a zealot. But you know what? Before the law I found blameless, but I got to tell you, that stuff isn't worth much. Not as it comes to trying to appease a holy God.

In fact, he says a little bit later in the book of Philippians, he said whatever those things were gained, I count them as loss. I thought those were big accomplishments, but they weren't, they were really loss.

The Toughest Group in the Room

So let me take these next few minutes and talk to the toughest group in the room, and that's those of you that think you're okay, but you aren't. There's some of you that are here, and you got here because your grandma brought you, or your mom brought you, or your spouse brought you, and you came not kicking and screaming outside, but inside you're going, you know, the cinnamon rolls are good, Tuesday night's spaghetti night, I'll go. But I don't buy any of this, this is all hooey to me. Okay, you're easy to deal with.

It's those of you that have been around this stuff so long. You're the church people. You start to hear a message like this, and you would go, well, he's not talking to me. How do you know? Well, I go to church. I don't just go to church, I serve.

And by serve, I don't just mean usher or choir. Here you go, here's the secret. One of the great places to hide from God is the choir. He ain't never going there. Okay, you got anything to do with Him? Get your robe on, get it off. You don't ever have time to hear the message. You're pretty sermon-proof. You've heard it all.

The Religious Resume of the Church Person

You don't just do that, you're teaching Sunday school, not just Sunday school, you're working with junior high. If you can earn your way to heaven, you're doing it because you're working with junior high. And beyond that, you give. And beyond give, I mean, you're tithing. When that plate goes by, it's not that you're throwing in ones and fives and tens, you're throwing in checks with zeros.

And it's not just church. You've got a quiet time. You're one of those. You're one of those that will come into a group and say, hey guys, how was your quiet time this morning? Not because you care about them, but what do you want them to say? How was yours? Oh, it was between me and the Lord. Well, why don't you keep it that way?

And you've got your quiet time, and you've memorized, not the book, not Daniel, not a Daniel story, you've memorized the book. Not just the first six chapters, but the tough stuff afterwards. And you're in precepts. You got all sorts of colored pencils.

You're marking stuff up and drawing arrows. Got a little king over here and a dollar sign there. You're in BSF, you're in all of this. That's Paul. Paul's saying, listen, if you want to play that game, I can play it. You want to play religion.

There's one of my guys that I like, another guy I've been introduced to after a few years of my faith by the name of Charles Spurgeon, one of the great preachers. There's all sorts of great stories about Spurgeon. He was kind of looked down on by the church guys because he smoked cigars and he promised his elders that if it became a problem, he'd quit. And they said, how will you know it's a problem? And he said, if I'm smoking two at a time.

A Pastor Converted Under His Own Preaching

Well, Spurgeon tells this story. This is my favorite Spurgeon story of a pastor on the other side of town who was converted under his own preaching. He's preaching and all of a sudden somebody stands up and said, I think our pastor's been converted. And someone else said, this is what we've been praying for.

Here's my point. That can be you at Cannon Beach. You could have started here with Archie and Evangeline 70 years ago and been here time after time after time and heard all these great speakers, all these amazing musicians. You could have gone to all of these kind of breakout sessions. You're all of this, but you've never come to Christ in repentance and faith. Maybe this is your day.

Paul Counts Religion as Loss

Paul says, listen, I played that religion game. If that's what you want to talk about, I've done all of that. But let me tell you something, Philippians chapter three, verse eight, more than all of this, I count all things as loss. All of these things that I've done, I count them in loss in view of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things. I count them but rubbish. I think that King James says dung.

He says, I take all that religion. Let's get out of his context and into yours. I take all of that religion, all of that church stuff, all of that. I'm not diminishing that. He's just saying that doesn't save me. That's not life. Jesus said, I've come that you might have life and have it abundantly. And you find life in me. And those personal terms, you can know me. And you have righteousness, not in yourself, but in me.

In another place, in the book of Romans, Paul writes this, I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it's the power of God for salvation to everyone. The gospel in a nutshell, first Corinthians 15. Christ died for our sin. It's a big deal.

Life is Full of Regrets

I have some, my life is a giant regret. When I meet somebody, I don't have any regrets. I'm thinking, you gotta be in denial. You gotta be stupid. And if you're one of those and you got no regrets, really? I mean, I regret picking out these shorts. I regret having oatmeal today. I regret a lot of stuff.

In the midst of all of this, one of the things I regret as a pastor are 22 years of Easter messages and Christmas messages where I was filled with frustration and anger. It drove me nuts. I mean, we would come to Easter and we would have thousands of people come to church and you'd think you'd be happy about it, but it just drove me crazy. We would do a service at five o'clock in the morning and we did seven or eight services, I don't remember, right through till noon.

And one year I was so frustrated that I said, I want to talk to those of you that are visitors. I don't understand why you come on this day. You pick the worst day of the year to come. Children's ministry's full, the parking lot, come next week, there's not even anybody here. Try this next week.

My Old Easter Message

I looked back on it and I told the guys at Easter this year, guys, don't waste this. My message used to be this. Christ died on the cross, historic fact, and He rose from the dead, and I believe that's a historic fact. And so every year I'd boil it down to this. If He really rose from the dead, that's a big deal. Nobody else has done that. If He did that, you better listen to everything else He's got to say. And here's what He said. I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father, but through me. Here's that message over and over again.

What Does a Dead Man Need?

Here's Ephesians chapter two. Paul's writing to a church, and let me get you the opening. He said, I'm an apostle by the will of God, chapter one, to the saints at Ephesus. He's writing to believers. He says in chapter two, verse one, you were dead. Let me ask you this. What does a dead man need?

The first dead guy I ever saw was my grandpa. Beardsley Funeral Home in Sheraton, Iowa. I'm like about 11 years old, and we go in, and there's my grandpa. They didn't have much. They're in a little room. You know, in those funeral homes, they had big rooms for people who were gonna have a lot of people come.

So my grandpa's in this little room, and we go in, and we're out on the porch, and my aunt said to my mom, didn't dad look good? And I thought, I better go back in there and check this out. And I went in, and I remember looking at him and thinking, you know what, he does look good. He had on a suit. He worked in a warehouse. He never wore a suit. He had a tie square. He had his glasses on. They did something that I rarely saw. They put a little smile on him. I couldn't argue with it. He looked really good.

But even as a young kid, I figured out he has one overriding problem, and that is he's dead. And at that moment, there was nothing he needed. I could walk by and throw $20 bills in there. It wasn't gonna make any difference. I could put a bottle of Jack Daniels in there. It wasn't gonna matter. I could, let's stay in his generation. I could parade the McGuire sisters by him. It wasn't gonna make any difference. There's only one thing a dead man needs, and that's life. And Jesus said, I've come that

You have life. That's what you were. You were dead. But God, in His richness and mercy—God, look at this. Some of you need to hear it, verse four: "Because of his great love with which he loved you."

I remember when I got this—not when I heard it, because when I heard it, I didn't fully get it. God loves me. Now, here you go. Big statement: There's nothing I can do today to make God love me more. There's nothing I can do today to cause God to love me less.

Understanding Conditional vs. Unconditional Love

So I don't work that way. We don't work that way. My love, as much as I want it to be unconditional, tends to be conditional. I love Sandy, and I want to say it's unconditional. But the reality is, when I met her, I went, "Wow." She said, "Want to go out with a cool guy?" And she said, "Sure, if you know any, send them over, and I'll go out with them."

But I got to—I mean, I looked at Sandy honestly, and I said, "Wow, this is a woman that takes care of herself, and she looks good." And I would have never gotten—and I understand how shallow this is. I'm not embarrassed by that. I'm a guy, and we're all shallow. I said, "Wow." And then I got to know her, and I'm going, "This is an amazing lady." She had come to Christ eight or nine years before in a testimony that was unbelievable. This is why we ended up together, I'm convinced. She hadn't had a date in eight years, so even I looked good to her at this point. That's exactly what happened. Could have been anybody at that point.

But I'm going, "I want to love her unconditionally." I say that I love her unconditionally, but I mean the best I can. My dad loved me. Didn't say it. Here's how my dad—and those of you that are my generation—here's how our dad said he loved you. He said, "You know what, you can stay here and eat here." That's what he meant by "I love you."

Learning Conditional Love Through Life

And here's what I learned early on. My sport was baseball. I don't look like it. I went out for basketball, but they already had one. So baseball was my sport, and I wasn't pretty. I don't look at it now. I'm all crippled up, but I was quick, and I had a great glove, and I could hit okay but not great.

And here's what I learned early on. My dad and I played catch every night from the time I was a little kid, and it was just his way of playing, and it was as close to connecting as we got. That's as deep as a conversation we had: "Was that a strike?" So we're playing catch, and he's throwing me balls, and I got good at it very quickly.

Here's what I noticed. If I went two for three, that was a very different ride home than if I went zero for three. If I went zero for three, there wasn't a lot of conversation. If I was two for three, he said, "Man, those were two great hits, and that one, you got down that baseline quick," and on the way home, he might swing by a friend's house and say, "You should have seen Tom today."

And that story is your story. You learn real quickly: conditional love. I had this training in school, and it seemed like to me that the teacher loved the kids who did well better than kids like me. Now, that's not to blame them. They've got a really tough job. I'm just saying we learn this all the time. You've got it. At life, at work, if you're the salesperson that's in the top five, you're treated very differently than the bottom five. And I understand it, because we can't have any deadwood around. I got it.

God's Radical, Unconditional Love

Now we come to God, and we think He's going to do the same thing. If I do good stuff, He'll love me more. If I do bad stuff, He'll love me less. And He says no. "He demonstrated his love for us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Here you go: "Being rich in mercy because of the love with which he loved us, even when we were dead, he made us alive."

Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9, you know them: "For by grace you've been saved through faith. It's not a result of yourself. It's not a result of your works, so that no one can boast." God hates religion. What is religion again? It's the efforts of a sinful man to reach up to a holy God. That's what Paul was doing when we started this story. "I'll wipe out the church in Jerusalem. I'll go to Damascus. I'll go on a mission. God send me anywhere."

Isn't this an amazing contrast? He's not going to Damascus looking for God. He's convinced he's God's guy.

God Changes Hearts, Not Personalities

Let me give you, by the way, a subplot of this. Not my notes. Popped into my head. When God then saves Paul, He doesn't change his personality. He just changes his jerseys. He becomes as driven and zealous for the faith as he was as a persecutor of the faith.

That's you. You're saved by grace. And you're saved for a reason. It's not the end of the story. You're saved because you're His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. Created for good works.

The Same Truth in Titus

Think about five more minutes. Here's the same story from the book of Titus. I've discovered over the years, we don't seem to go to the book of Titus for whatever reason very often. Paul writes it. And in it, here's what he says in Titus 3:3. It's the same idea: "For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved." But here's the same idea: "But the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love."

I had a chance a couple of years ago to speak to a group of ex-convicts. It was a little deceiving in that I expected I was going to see all tattooed, pierced guys that looked like they fell in a tackle box. But I saw some of that. But then I saw this sweet—I mean the nicest—at the door, this lady met me. She was the nicest, sweetest lady. "Oh, Mr. Schrader—I'm sorry, Pastor Schrader—we're so glad you're here. Can I get you anything?" And I said, "No, I'm fine. I'll go up front." And I said to somebody, "Is she a volunteer?" She goes, "No, she stole like a million dollars from somebody." Oh.

That's what we were. But He saved us. Look at this, Titus chapter 3, verse 4. It can't be any more clear: "Not on the basis..."

We are Christians, not based on what we do, but based on what I believe. What makes me a Christian is not what I do, but what I believe.

I was talking to a guy the other day who works at a big company in Phoenix. He said it's amazing the people at their work who are Buddhist, because they're very international. It's Intel, and there are people from all over the world working there. The largest construction project in the U.S. was this Intel plant. They have a mosque there, a temple there—very international.

He said he's got Buddhists, Muslims, and all sorts of religions represented there. He told me they're amazing—they're the ones who will lead the charge at work to rally around the family that's hurting. They're the ones doing Habitat for Humanity. He said that they, in many ways, feel like they're more Christian than we are.

Well, no. What makes us Christian is not that we feed hungry people or clothe naked people or build houses. What makes us Christians is that we believe Jesus died for our sin and rose from the dead. If we believe that, we're His.

Our Response to Salvation

Now, as a result of that belief, our lives should be different. Romans 12:1-2: "I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God."

I've been in Sports Illustrated three times. Once, following a golfer by the name of Bob Wynn. They were talking about these two kids—my brother and me—who were following the hawk. The second time was as a photographer. Now, I don't own a camera, but Iowa was in town and my friend works for AP. He said, "You want to get in the field?" I said yeah. He said, "Here you go, put this camera on and you got an AP thing and go down."

At the end of the first quarter, he said, "Are you taking any pictures?" I said no. He said, "Well, take some pictures." So I have a man crush on the Iowa head football coach, Kirk Ferentz. He's an amazing guy to me. I'm trying to get this picture of Kirk and I'm snapping pictures. He's chewing gum and chomping gum and ready to blow a bubble, and I'm there. I've been waiting 20 minutes for this picture. Just as he blows, this big lineman walks in front of me. So I got a picture of the back of a lineman. But I took a hundred pictures of Kirk.

I gave him the camera back and he called on Monday and said, "You're going to have a picture in Sports Illustrated this week." They wanted a picture because it's the time when they started announcing that—you know, they used to say "holding Iowa 15 yards." Then they started calling the number: "holding number 65." Kirk didn't like it. So they wanted a picture of Kirk frustrated. Well, in this game, we were behind 35 to nothing before you could say University of Iowa. I had a lot of frustrated pictures of Kirk.

The third time I was in Sports Illustrated was doing a chapel for the University of Arizona. I was teaching Romans chapter 12, verse 1: present your bodies a living sacrifice. Somebody was writing a story on the University of Arizona in preparation for their game with ASU. They said there was a young preacher who came in and encouraged the guys to, quote, "give their body to God." Yeah, I know it sounded as bad then as it does now, but that's Romans 12:1: "Present your bodies a living sacrifice."

Don't Be Conformed to This World

Verse 2 says, "Don't be conformed to this world." We're making a transition. I was that religious guy, I was that lost person. Now I belong to the King. He said don't be conformed to this world. One of the paraphrases, I think it's the Living Bible, says don't copy the behavior of the world. Another one says, I think it's Phillips, "Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold."

Here are these two verses based on The Message. I'm saved by what I believe, not how I behave. But because I believe this, I'm to behave this way. He said, "Here's what I want you to do, Romans 12:1-2. Take your ordinary life—sleeping, eating, going to work, walking around—place it before God. Embrace what God does for you is the best thing you can do."

How great is this? Verse 2 of Romans 12 in The Message: "Don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking." I'm not saved based on what I do, but what I believe.

God's Faithfulness in Salvation

In Philippians chapter 1, verse 6, Paul writes this: "I'm confident in this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue it till the day of Christ Jesus."

As you walk out of here and say, "I guess that worked at some point, but I've blown it so bad, I've screwed up so much, I've sinned, I've committed that sin that the church says is the worst," here's the picture: Because your salvation is not based on your works, but what God did, your salvation is not based on you holding on to Him, but Him holding on to you. It's not based on you hanging on and those arms begin to tremble and you say, "Oh God, give me strength." No, He said, "I'm confident of this, that He who began the good work will continue it till the day of Christ Jesus."

Let me remind you, as we close, our hope is rooted in the character of God and the promises of God, the sovereignty of God.

The Application

Here's the so what of this message today. Number one, when you're confronted with sin, religion's your flinch. When you begin to understand there's something missing and you're at that "I'm going to fix it before God," that's religion.

Number two, and I like the phrase, we must outsource our salvation. We're outsourcing things—we outsource our salvation. Jesus saves me.

Here you go: God will change you. I like that trifecta—with a transformed heart and an informed mind, now you'll lead a radical life. All of a sudden, by radical we mean it's counterintuitive.

Beyond saving you, God will use you. That's exactly what Bill's been teaching us each of the last two nights, and I'm sure he's going to the rest of our time. It's not just that God's going to move you into His kingdom, He's going to use you.

Paul's Conversion Through the Eyes of Major Ian Thomas

Let me close with this, one of my all-time favorites, Major Ian Thomas. It is his appraisal of Paul's conversion. He's writing as Paul, and he looks at conversion. We'll close with it.

There was a time when as Saul of Tarsus, I made my own independent evaluation of this man called Jesus of Nazareth. I investigated into His life to see if the leader of this Nazarene cult was worth following. I made my own independent evaluation of His worth. I was not unfair and I was not unkind. I applied to Him all the normal, natural standards by which any life is evaluated in any age.

I looked first into His ancestry and discovered there was a cloud over His birth right from the start. As I investigated, it became quite clear that He was the illegitimate son of a faithless woman who'd been taken in by a kind-hearted carpenter, raised as His own son. But He was an outcast from the beginning, and socially He was worth absolutely nothing.

Jesus Failed Every Worldly Standard

I investigated His professional standing, and I discovered that He was born of peasant stock, attended no school. He was raised as a simple carpenter in a village of no standing in Israel. And professionally, He was worth absolutely nothing.

As Saul of Tarsus, I investigated His theological and ecclesiastical background. I found that He sat at nobody's feet, that He had not been to seminary, that He had no theological training. In fact, He was reputed by all the ecclesiastical authorities of His day. He was nothing but a street preacher, a rabble-rouser. And as far as theological standing was concerned, He was worth absolutely nothing.

Furthermore, I looked into His financial standing. I found that He had no bank account, that He was born in a cave, laid in a borrowed manger, lived in other people's homes. He was an incorrigible scrounger, always borrowing things. He borrowed money to pay His taxes. He borrowed His clothes from other people. He rode around on a borrowed donkey. He died on a borrowed cross and was buried in a borrowed tomb. Financially, from the standpoint of the accumulation of world's goods, He was worth nothing.

The Great Reversal on the Damascus Road

So, as I investigated, I applied to Him the normal standard by which any life is evaluated. I discovered that this man, Jesus of Nazareth, was not worth following. He was worth nothing.

But, on the Damascus Road something happened. There, in a blinding flash of a moment, I looked into the face of a man and saw God. I discovered that He, who I thought to be nothing, was Lord of everything, and He was the God of glory, and that everything is made and upheld by the word of His power, that He is behind all things, and He's the very imprint and image of God.

There, I found He, who I thought to be nothing, was everything, and I, who I thought to be everything, was nothing. In that moment, I came to a tremendous reversal of all my values. Later, I learned that I, who was nothing, could be filled with Him who was everything, and that would make my life something.

Let me pray. Father, thank You for this awesome and amazing truth. Thank You that we are saved and salvation available to us, not on the basis of who we are, what we've done, but on the basis of Your grace and mercy. You are a great and holy God who saves us and saves us for a reason. Father, thank You that when we come to the realization that Your Son, Jesus, is everything and we are nothing, it's not that we have eternal life, but You make, not us, but our life worth something. Father, thank You for Your love. We pray to You in Christ's name. Amen.