In his studies he came across Psalm 31:1: In Thy righteousness deliver me. In August of 1513, a monk lectured on the Book of Psalms to seminary students, but his inner life was nothing but turmoil. Through the power of God’s Word, Augustine gained the faith to give his whole life to Jesus Christ at that moment. He didn’t read any further he didn’t have to. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Romans 13:13b-14). Thinking God had a message to him in the words of the children, he picked up a scroll laying nearby and began to read: not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. As he sat, he heard children playing a game and they called out to each other these words: “Take up and read! Take up and read!”ī.

He knew his life of sin and rebellion against God left him empty and feeling dead but he just couldn’t find the strength to make a final, real decision for Jesus Christ. In the summer of 386, a young man wept in the backyard of a friend. The importance and impact of Paul’s Letter to the Romans.