Skip to content Get a Real Testimony! - Part B Jan 20 · 26 min ...more
Get a Real Testimony! - Part B
January 20, 2026 · 26 min
What happens when the gospel changes your life? Pastor Skip shares how one encounter with Jesus can transform even the most unlikely heart overnight.
Series Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast January 20, 2026 · 26 min · Connect with Skip Heitzig Podcast
What happens when the gospel changes your life? Pastor Skip shares how one encounter with Jesus can transform even the most unlikely heart overnight. ...more Show the full description Show less What happens when the gospel changes your life? Pastor Skip shares how one encounter with Jesus can transform even the most unlikely heart overnight.
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Skip Heitzig ministers to over 15,000 people as senior pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He reaches out to thousands across the nation and throughout the
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0:00 Welcome to connect with Skip Heitzig. We're so glad you've tuned in today. At connect with Skip, our passion is to help you grow in your relationship with Jesus through solid verse by verse bible teaching0:12 that's both clear and practical. Every message you hear is designed to strengthen your faith and help you live out God's truth wherever he's placed you. But did you know you can stay connected beyond0:24 the broadcast? When you sign up for pastor Skip's free weekly devotional, you'll receive biblical encouragement, exclusive content, and free resources to help you go deeper in God's word, all0:36 delivered straight to your inbox. It's quick, easy, and completely free,0:56 ographical sketch of Saul of Tarsus growing up and his educational background. As a toddler, he would have learned to recite the Shema. Have you heard of the Shema? Deuteronomy chapter1:08 6 verse 4. He learned it in Hebrew. So imagine little Saul as a toddler saying the words out loud,1:20 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is 1. He learned that as a toddler. At age 5, he would begin studying the scriptures. At age 6, he was sent to the1:32 synagogue to learn to read and write the scriptures. At age 10, Saul would already have memorized large portions of the oral law.1:44 That is not just the scriptures, the traditions of the elders. At age 12, he would be preparing for his bar mitzvah, which would take place at age 13. Bar mitzvah means son of the1:55 commandment. It was a rite of passage where you were now considered an adult member of the Jewish community. At age 15, he would have more rigorous study, where he would study the codified oral2:07 traditions, the Talmudic writings. And somewhere in those adolescent years, shortly after that, he was sent to Jerusalem for 5 to 6 years of rabbinical2:19 study. Heredity, nobility, pedigree. He's giving his background. A fourth word that would describe Saul of Tarsus is piety, because notice what he says.2:32 He says at the end of verse 5, not only a Hebrew of the Hebrews, but concerning the law, a Pharisee. Now, I know. I know that you, as a Western Christian2:44 in this modern era, you have read enough of your New Testament to know that Pharisees weren't great people. You're thinking, oh, that's why would he put that on his resume? Because2:55 Jesus spoke against the Pharisees, right? He called them whitewashed sepulchers. He called them hypocrites. However, the original word Pharisee, parashim, means to be separated. And when they3:07 started around 200 BC, they continued into the first century, they believed that they would give their whole life to studying and obeying3:18 the written law, as well as the oral law. They started off really good. They just evolved into a hypocritical group. According to Josephus, the Jewish3:30 historian, the Pharisees were the leading sect among the Jews, the most accurate interpreters of the law. As a Pharisee, he studied under a very3:43 particular mentor. Do you remember his name? It's given in Acts 22. Gamaliel was his mentor. Gamaliel is 1 of the most famous scholars in Jewish3:54 history, regarded even to this day. What Gamaliel taught him to do was to argue. There was an ancient4:06 form of discourse called the diatribe, question and answer format to learn how to think and talk on your feet very persuasively. He would have had to memorize4:18 large portions of the Old Testament, which would become very profitable as time went on in his ministry. So heredity, nobility, pedigree,4:29 piety. A fifth word that would describe him is intensity. This dude was intense. Look at verse 6. Concerning zeal4:41 if you want to talk about my zeal persecuting the church. Saul of Tarsus, as you know, was a zealous defender of Judaism.4:53 Now, why it's important to understand a little bit about Gamaliel is understanding that he sat under Gamaliel's mentorship helps you understand him. Because Gamaliel5:05 was hateful toward the Christians. He called Christians Christian heretics. And a very famous prayer uttered by Gamaliel goes this way. Let there be no hope to them who5:16 apostatize from the true religion, and let these heretics, how many soever they be, all perish in a moment. He prayed that concerning Christian5:28 heretics, those who left Judaism and turned to Christ as their Messiah. No wonder then we read about Saul in Acts chapter 8, verse 3, these words. Saul was going5:39 everywhere to devastate the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into jail. He learned that in part from5:51 Gamaliel. No wonder we read Acts chapter 9 about Saul breathing out threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. So this dude was so6:03 intense that he measured his religious zeal by his hatred. You know you're bad off when you're known more for what you're against than6:15 what you're for. A sixth word that would describe Saul of Tarsus is morality. Look at verse 6 again. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the6:26 righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless. That is, nobody could accuse me. I live by the book. I did everything the law demanded, not just the6:38 written law, but the oral law. So get this, Saul of Tarsus had a righteousness by rule keeping. How many people do you know who have a6:50 righteousness by rule keeping? I do my best, man. I try really hard. I work really hard at getting God to love me, doing all the right7:01 things. I'm a religious person, righteousness by rule keeping. This is why religious people are the hardest people to see converted,7:14 because they don't see that they have a need for anything. You share the gospel with them. Look, I've gone to church all my life. I've been baptized. I've been confirmed. I've gone through other sacraments.7:26 I try really hard in going to church regularly. It's all a righteousness by rule keeping. They have enough morality to keep them out of7:38 trouble, but not enough righteousness to get them into heaven. So morality. Now here's the question. Why is Paul rattling off7:50 all of the things he's done in his past? Because there's this group we talked about last week called the Judaizers. Remember the Judaizers? They mixed law and grace together. They were telling Gentiles, non Jews in8:02 Philippi, you have to go back and keep Jewish laws and Jewish rituals to be right before God. So go back to verse 3, where we studied last week.8:14 Paul says, we are the circumcision, true believers, true followers who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.8:26 Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. And then he lists all these things. As if to say,8:38 I can beat these silly arguers at their own religious game. Here's my background. Here's my pedigree. Which leads me to a question. What are you8:49 boasting in? What are you trusting in? What are you confident in to be right before God? Are you saying like so many people, well, was born in America. That's9:01 about as close to God as you can get. Or not only was I born in America, I was born in America by churchgoing parents, and I have a Christian education at a Christian school.9:14 Whatever it is you might boast in, if you're not boasting in Jesus Christ alone, it's a false boast. Those things aren't bad. All of those things are good things. But a good9:26 thing can become a bad thing if it keeps you from the best thing. All of those wonderful things that were part of his background and his resume actually kept him9:38 from a relationship with God. So shred your religious resume, and you'll see Paul doing that. Second, have a spiritual encounter.9:50 Look at verse 7. What's the first word in verse 7? Say it out loud. But. Now that's a word that denotes a change. It's a negative10:02 conjunction. Sorry to bring up English class here. So whenever you see the word, it denotes that he is pivoting and he is changing his thinking.10:14 So he's saying, this is who I used to be, but. These are the things I used to trust in, but. Here's a list of all the things I thought were important to me, but something has10:25 changed in my life. And that is, I got saved. You see, that little word in verse 7, but, takes us back 30 years10:37 from the writing of this letter to when he was going on the Damascus road from Jerusalem to Damascus to imprison believers. So here's this pompous10:49 religious man. On his way from Jerusalem to Damascus, he has an encounter with Jesus Christ. Alan Redpath used to put it this way. When God wants to do an impossible task, he11:01 takes an impossible person and crushes him. Listen to Paul's crushing. This is Acts chapter 9, the first few verses. Meanwhile, Saul11:13 that's Saul of Tarsus was uttering threats with every breath. He was eager to destroy the Lord's followers, and so he went to the high priest. He requested11:25 letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus asking their cooperation in the arrest of any followers of the way. That's what they used to first call Christians, the way. He wanted to bring11:37 them, both men and women, back to Jerusalem in chains. As he was nearing Damascus on this mission, a brilliant light from heaven suddenly beamed down upon them. And then11:49 he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom12:01 you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads that is of conviction. So he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what do you want me12:13 to do? And the Lord said to him, arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.12:20 This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. When you give to this ministry, you're helping reach thousands of people every day with God's life changing truth, encouraging them to know him and grow in his word.12:32 And to thank you for your support this month, we'll send you the making of a biblical leader, a practical guide to leading others by Robert L. Furrow. This practical guide featuring chapters by Skip and12:43 Lenya Heitzig offers biblical wisdom to help you lead yourself and others with Christ like integrity. Your gift today helps equip believers around the world to walk in truth and share the hope12:55 of Jesus. Request your copy when you give 50 dollars or more to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 8 0 0 9 2 2 18 88 or visit connect13:07 with skip dot com slash offer. Now here's more from pastor Skip.13:13 It was this episode that changed everything. Now he goes from persecutor to preacher. After this chapter, he goes from Mr.13:24 Prideful to Mr. Humble. He goes from religious man to righteous man, from self confident to saved. He had an encounter, a spiritual encounter, that was personal13:36 with Jesus Christ. In the passage that I just read from Acts chapter 9, he refers to Jesus as Lord, and he submits to Him. Lord, what do you want me to do? And the13:48 rest of his life, it's about doing what Jesus wants him to do. Here's why I love Paul's testimony. What happened to Paul happened instantly to him. I mean, he was14:00 1 way 1 day, but that day changed him, and he was completely different the next day. I know that for some people, coming to Christ is a process. They hear the14:12 gospel once. They listen to it. They may agree with something, but they marginalize it, pass it off. And then they hear it again and another time, and then they hear it again. And maybe 1 day it just sinks in. They go,14:23 I'm giving my life to Christ. But for other people, it's instantaneous. It's like an epiphany. For me, was an epiphany. When I heard the gospel,14:35 I thought, I'm in trouble. I need to do this. I need to receive Christ. Now, I didn't quite get that at first. I had a friend, the friend who really led me to Christ, Gino.14:47 1 day he was doing drugs. The very next day, less than 24 hours later, he's preaching Jesus to me. And I said, excuse me? Nobody can change that fast. And he14:59 said, well, I did. The night before, he went to a meeting, and he went forward, and he received Christ as his Savior. And he was forever changed to this day, changed. Saul15:11 had an encounter with Jesus. Now, this encounter was so unexpected and so transforming that I have been amused over the years. I've even collected stories of people trying to explain15:23 Saul's spiritual conversion. For example, Renan, French Renan, the French atheist, philosopher, said that this was a case of an uneasy15:35 conscience with unstrung nerves, fatigue from the journey. His eyes were inflamed by the hot sun, and a sudden stroke of fever produced an hallucination.15:48 Because it's so odd that this person would change so dramatically, it must be a hallucination. Others say a thunderstorm happened to hit at this very moment.16:01 And being so overwrought by guilt, he imagined that God spoke to him. But my favorite and the most popular explanation of Saul of Tarsus' spiritual16:13 conversion is that he had an epileptic fit. I still hear this. I still read this. It was a case of an epileptic seizure. I did a little research and16:24 discovered, according to medical sources, epileptics cannot remember anything that occurred during that fit. Yet Saul seems to have great detail about everything that happened, and he writes about it and tells about it.16:36 So I love how Spurgeon answered this argument. When people said, oh, it was an epileptic fit, he said, oh, blessed epilepsy if it affects a conversion like this.16:49 May God give us more people with epileptic fits that result in conversion to Christ. So shred your religious resume. Have a spiritual encounter.17:02 Number 3, to build your testimony, you need to learn how to count. Paul admits that he counted wrong for years. Look at verse 7. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted17:14 loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them17:25 as rubbish that I may gain Christ. Notice the words counted and count 3 times in 2 verses. The Greek word is17:37 Hegeomai. It is a term, a mathematical term, a term of accounting. An accounting term means to reckon, reason, or to count. So Paul is saying, you know17:48 what? I've learned how to count. 2 more words I want you to notice. Notice the word gain and the word loss in verse 7. What things were gain to me? These I have18:00 counted loss. Those 2 are accounting terms. They're from the business world. Gain and loss represent the profit column and the loss18:11 column in a set of accounting books. So the books are open. 1 column says profit, the other says loss. Gain, loss. Paul spent his whole18:23 life working on his spiritual religious resume, and he had all of these things in the profit column. Gain, gain. I was a Jew, born of a Jew, tribe of18:34 Benjamin, kept the law. All those things were in my prophet column. But, Paul says, but I've learned to count since then. And I see things differently.18:46 I had them in the wrong column all along. Those things that I put in this column are actually loss. So listen to verse 7 and 8 in a more modern translation, and I think it'll all come18:58 together for you. Paul writes this, The very credentials these people are waving around is something special I am tearing up and throwing out with the trash,19:11 along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my19:22 life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my master firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant, dog19:34 dung. I have dumped it all in the trash so that I can embrace Christ and be embraced by Him. So now he19:46 opens the books and looks at that prophet column, all those things listed, and he goes, you know what? I just made a discovery. I'm bankrupt before God. I've had them in the wrong19:57 column. They've actually kept me from a real authentic relationship with God. So I'm moving them from the gain column into the loss column. Something else I want you20:09 to look at. Look at verse 7. What things were gain to me, these I have what's the word? Counted. That's a past tense. I counted20:21 it. That was 30 years ago. He's going back to his conversion. 30 years ago, I made the estimation when I had an encounter with Christ. These things were in the wrong column. I have counted20:33 that 30 years ago. Now look at verse 8. Yet indeed I also what's the word? Count. Now that's present tense. I count all things loss for the excellency of the20:45 knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. Here's what he's saying. I made a choice 3020:57 years ago. I'm here to tell you I didn't I don't regret the choice that I made. Same choice 30 years later. Longevity is always the test of choice.21:08 19 73, I made a choice. Watching that Billy Graham broadcast, I made a choice to make Jesus my Lord. That was 19 73, many moons ago.21:21 Today, I'm here to say I made the right choice. I still follow the same Lord. Now look at another word as we bring this to a close.21:35 He said, all of those things I counted loss, I count them loss, and I count them as, verse 8, rubbish. Now, I want to be careful with21:47 this word, because it's a very strong Greek word. It's the word skubala, which means nothing to English readers. But if you were a21:58 Greek speaker 2000 years ago and you heard this word, you go, woah. Because it means, as you have heard in this translation I just read, and they put it mildly, dog dung.22:11 It literally means the excrement of animals, the stuff you sweep away from the stalls because it stinks. So Paul is saying, I made a choice 3022:23 years ago. I'm still choosing it. And I'm here to say trusting in anything else stinks. Trusting in your religious background stinks. Trusting in how you22:35 were raised, if that's what you're trusting in to be saved, stinks. You need your own personal encounter with Christ. Like John Dyer said he was a Welsh poet, theologian a man22:47 may go to heaven without health. A man may go to heaven without riches, without honors, without learning, and without friends. But he can never go to heaven without Christ. So he says,22:58 and be found in him, verse 9, a verse we'll look at next week, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness23:10 which is from God by faith. So here's the skinny. Your heritage may be wonderful. Your upbringing may23:22 be awesome. Your education is worth something. It's Okay. However, if you are relying on any of those things to go to heaven, they stink.23:35 I got a letter a few years ago that was an amazing letter. It was from Utah, the little town outside of Salt Lake City. And the man introduced himself23:46 as from the Mormon church, a leader in the Mormon church, a very influential and ardent follower in Mormonism. But he said, I would23:58 listen to your radio broadcast in the morning. And 1 day I decided I'd pull over on the side of the road, I'd listen to the whole thing. By the end of the broadcast, I realized that everything I had24:10 trusted in was wrong. And I prayed by the side of the road in my car after the radio broadcast, and I just wanted to write you to tell you I've received Jesus24:21 Christ as my Savior and my only means of salvation. So toss your24:33 resume, get saved, and learn how to count. I could even reduce it down to this. Lose your religion and choose your relationship.24:44 We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, remember that as our thanks for your gift of support today, we'll send you the Making of a Biblical Leader,24:56 a practical guide to leading others by Robert L. Furrow, featuring chapters by Skip and Lenya Heitzig. This resource will encourage you to grow in faith and lead others with wisdom and grace.25:08 When you give, you help keep this bible teaching ministry on the air, connecting more people with the truth of God's word and the hope found in Jesus. Give today at connect with skip dot com slash25:20 offer or call 8 0 0 9 2 2 18 88 and request your resource when you do. See you next time.25:49 Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.
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