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THE TRUE FACTS
OFMVOWN
ER
Part 2 covered the maln events leading up to my own conversion, includlng the part my
wife played in it, up to my complete unconditional surrender to God. lt covered my
change from the attitude of "get" to that of "give. " But 1was not yet actual/y converted–
not even to that initial experience most professlng Chrlstians believe to be the total of
conversion. We are sti/1 lar from answering in this series that overa/1 question:
"Conversion-sudden experience, or /ifelong process?"
1
t had been the bitterest pill 1 had
ever had to swallow: to admit my
wife was right in turning to what
1 had called "religious fanaticism."
lt
was hard to admit that having
had AMBlTlON aroused early in me–
generating SELF-CONFIDENCE-was
alJ SELF-CENTEREDNESS and there–
fore wrong. It was not easy to
give
up everything
my heart and whole
life had been set on.
Prepared In Advance
God prepared in advance the
apostle Paul by an education under
perhaps the greatest teacher . and
educator of his time-the learned
Gamaliel. Paul (his name had been
changed from Saul) started out with
an almost superhuman fanaticism lo
deslroy the new religion, Chrislian–
ity. He was as eager lo slamp out
Christianity as the most fanatical
members ofthe PLO are to wipe out
the nation oflsrael today.
Like Saul, 1 was applying my
energies in the wrong direction.
I
was striving for SELF-gain- SELF–
glory.
1
wanted to be recognized as
one of the "SUCCESSFUL" in the field
of business. 1 was living primari ly in
the GET phi losophy, which
J
have
shown originated with Satan the
devil.
1 had argued that "all these
The
PLAIN TRUTH June 1977
by
Herbert W. Armstrong
PART
churches can't be wrong- and they
get their religion FROM THE BmLE."
J
was shocked-dumbfounded- to
learn that in Protestan! Sunday
school
J
had been taught in most
basic doctrines the very OPPOSITE of
what the Bible actually SAvs.
I
had
to learn in this initial most intensive
and in-depth study where the real
fault lay. The Holy Bible is the
world's number-one seller. Millions
own Bibles who never read them.
Other millions read them-but DO
NOT BELIEVE WHAT THE BlBLE SAYS!
Adam and Eve were taught di–
rectly in person by God Himself.
But they DIO NOT BEUEVE WHAT HE
SAlO. They
did
believe Satan when
he carne along.
Jesus carne with His gospel mes–
sage- the ANNOUNCEMENT Of the
coming KINGDOM OF Goo which
wilJ restare the GOVERNMENT OF
GoD and bring PEACE to the earth.
But after
3~
years of CHRIST Him–
self preaching that message to lhou–
sands, only 120 aclually became
BELIEVERS(Acts 1:15).
People do believe what
other
books say. But the Bible is the very
written Word of God- actually Goo
speaking in print- and few indeed
believe
what God says.
They make
of it a mystic book which almost
NOBODY UNDERSTANDS- yet it is
plain and simple; it says what it
means and means what
it
says.
1 had studied hard, deeply, thor–
oughly. ) DlD NOT WANT lO believe
my wife was right.
I
was studying
with an unconverted, carnal mind–
a mind enabled lo understand PHYS–
ICAL things by the addition of the
HUMAN spirit to the human brain (as
in all humans)- but
l
NEEDED a sec–
ond Spirit to enter
with it
to UNDER–
STAND the things of God-His HoLY
SPlRlT. That's why it took
s1x
MONTHS of intensive, in-depth sludy
to come to see wbat my wife had
been able to see and understand in
7