Lessons from the Early Church
In the early days of Christianity, followers of Jesus faced brutal persecution. As we explore Acts 8 and 9, we discover how ordinary people endured extraordinary hardship simply because they chose to follow Christ. Their story teaches us powerful lessons about discipleship, persecution, and finding strength not in ourselves, but in Christ who lives within us.
What Was Life Like for Early Christians Under Persecution?
The book of Acts describes how Saul of Tarsus (later known as Paul) “made havoc of the church, entering every house and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3). This wasn’t just a theological disagreement—it was a violent assault on anyone who named Jesus as Lord.
Imagine your home, the place where you eat, sleep, laugh with family, and quietly worship, suddenly invaded. The door splinters open, men shout commands, and there stands Saul, perhaps someone you once respected, now your tormentor. Your children watch as you’re dragged into the street.
The very faith that gives you life is now the reason your life is in danger.
These weren’t just Bible characters on a page. They were real people with real families and real fears facing real dangers. Their only hope was Jesus himself.
How Far Did Saul Go to Persecute Christians?
Saul’s persecution wasn’t limited to Jerusalem. Acts 9:1-2 tells us he was “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so he could arrest any followers of “the Way” and bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Damascus was over 150 miles from Jerusalem, this wasn’t just a local campaign. Saul was obsessed with stamping out Christianity wherever it spread. As he later confessed in Acts 26:11, “I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.”
Why Were Christians Persecuted by Religious Leaders?
One crucial lesson from this passage is that sometimes the greatest attacks on faith come not from outsiders but from religious institutions themselves. Saul wasn’t an outsider, he was one of their own religious leaders.
Satan is crafty. Sometimes the biggest attack on your life won’t come from “out there” but from within religious circles, from people more concerned with rules than relationships, with following traditions than making transformations, with maintaining power than exalting Jesus.
This teaches us to be discerning. Anyone can call themselves a Christian, it’s just a label. But being a disciple is something entirely different.
What’s the Difference Between Being a “Christian” and Being a “Disciple”?
Interestingly, the word “Christian” appears only three times in the New Testament, and the first usage in Acts 11:26 suggests it was likely a label given by outsiders, possibly even a derogatory term meaning “little Christ follower.”
Jesus never said “Go make Christians.” He said “Go make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). And how do you recognize a disciple?
By bearing fruit (John 15:8)
By loving one another (John 13:35)
By denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus (Matthew 16:24)
One is a label, sometimes an easy one to wear.
The other is a lifestyle, a life of fruit-bearing, love, and self-denial. And that life is what comes under attack.
Saul wasn’t trying to stamp out people who merely identified as Christians. He was targeting those whose lives were radically different, lives that found their source not in religion but in relationship with Jesus.
How Did Early Christians Endure Such Persecution?
How did these ordinary people endure lashings, beatings, shame, and threats of death? What kept them from cursing the name of Jesus under pressure?
It couldn’t have been their own willpower. Human strength shatters under that kind of pressure. The answer is found in the simple phrase: “Yet not I, but Christ in me.”
It wasn’t their strength, it was His life, His strength, His Spirit giving them peace that surpassed understanding. Like Stephen, who could look up and see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father even while being stoned to death.
What Does This Mean for Us Today?
This passage teaches us several important truths:
True discipleship has a cost.
Jesus promised it: “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).
If your life truly reflects Christ, it will make some people uncomfortable, and sometimes angry.
Religion without Jesus is dangerous. Saul had all the religion one could ask for, yet he was an enemy of God. It’s a stark warning to ensure our faith is built on the bedrock of Jesus Christ, not on religious traditions or human leaders.
We endure not through our own strength but through Christ in us. These early Christians weren’t spiritual superheroes, they simply had the true Superhero living inside them.
Life Application
The most powerful truth we can take home is that we can do nothing in our own strength. Everything we accomplish comes through Christ who lives in us.
When you feel weak, remember He is strong.
When you feel lost, remember He is the way.
When the pain seems too much and you don’t want to get out of bed, remember His life is breathing through you.
Perhaps today you need to stop trying so hard in your own strength and let Jesus live His life through you. If God could transform Saul into Paul, He can transform you too.
Ask yourself these questions this week:
Am I trying to face life’s challenges in my own strength?
Does my life reflect true discipleship or am I just wearing the “Christian” label?
In what areas do I need to surrender control and say “Yet not I, but Christ in me”?
Let your life be a testimony not to your own goodness and strength, but to His. Because it’s only when we can truly say “It’s not me, it’s Him” that we can face whatever havoc comes our way, not just surviving, but thriving because Jesus lives inside us.