One of the most impressive characteristics that early Christians demonstrated in their lives was a strong conviction for their new faith in Christ.  This first surfaced when they began to be persecuted by a man named Saul who had his own convictions concerning the law of Moses.  Since Christians were promoting Christ as the Messiah and teaching a new law (the gospel as opposed to Judaism), Saul did all he could to destroy the church, going door to door and hauling Christians, both men and women, off to prison (Acts 8:3).  We are told how Christians responded to this in Acts 8:4.

Acts 8:4 (ESV)
⁴ Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.

This demonstrates great conviction, doesn’t it?  They are forced to leave their houses and friends and go out to an unknown future, but they take the Word of God with them.  They did not decide to start living in isolation, keeping their faith to themselves to avoid persecution.  Instead, they openly proclaimed the soul-saving gospel to those who were lost because they were thoroughly convinced that Jesus was the Christ and the only hope for salvation.

This is a conviction that all true Christians still possess.  When it comes to Christ, we are not still trying to figure out if He could really be the one.  No, we know who and what Jesus is—the Son of the living God.  The world cannot change our minds on this.  The devil cannot talk us into wavering.  As Peter once said, “…we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:69).

This conviction that we have must extend to His body as well.  His body is the church.

Ephesians 1:22–23 (KJV )
²² And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,  ²³ Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

This church is the one that Jesus promised to build, and He only promised to build one of them (Matthew 16:18).  Paul put this in no uncertain terms.

Ephesians 4:4 (KJV)
⁴ There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

This one body is the church that wears the name of Christ (Romans 16:16).  From a local standpoint, it is organized according to the Bible pattern (Elders, deacons, and saints – Philippians 1:1), it does the work authorized by the scriptures (Ephesians 4:12), and worships in spirit and truth (John 4:24).  These are all things that Christians have convictions about because they are based upon the Word of God.  We are not still wondering about which church is the right church.  We are not rethinking vital subjects like worship, fellowship, or the work of the church.  We can say about these doctrinal issues the same thing we say about Christ Himself—“we believe and are sure.”

It is only when we have strong convictions regarding the truth that we can help others who are in doubt.  The religious world is in a state of chaos, partly because too many people have no real conviction about biblical truths.  The only ones who can help them are those who know the truth and are sure about it.  Are you one of them?

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.