The Conversion of Saul
INTRODUCTION
Let us imagine for a moment that this is the week of Saul's arrival at Damascus. By this time, Saul had become the movement's ringleader to wipe out Christianity. A devout Hellenistic Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, Saul was a Pharisees and was taught by none other than Gamaliel, whom we have already met (Acts 5:34-40). Saul disagreed with his teacher, Gamaliel, on how the Christians should be dealt with; however, he sought the arrest, trial, conviction, and punishment (with imprisonment the norm and death the ideal, it would seem) of those in Jerusalem. His career as a persecutor of Christians seems to have begun with Stephen, but it quickly spread to all Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 7:58–8:3). Saul was not content to punish some and to drive the rest from the "holy city." He did not want to contain Christianity or merely drive it from Jerusalem; he wanted to rid the earth of Christianity and its followers. Thus, his opposition to Christ and His Church took on a "missionary" spirit. Saul went to other cities where he sought to arrest Christians and bring them back to Jeru-salem for a trial and punishment. Damascus, a city some 150 miles northeast of Jerusalem, was one such city. Word was out that Saul would soon arrive at Jerusalem looking for Christians.
Now, suppose you were a Christian and had just arrived in Da-mascus, and you had been able to learn the hiding place of a group of believers. Let us suppose further that the Church had gathered on this particular evening for a time of prayer, prompted by the news that Saul was soon to arrive, with all the necessary legal machinery (that is, the authorization of the chief priests and the Sanhedrin) to arrest and extradite the Christians who were in the city. What do you suppose the saints would have prayed at this special prayer meeting? We are given a little insight from the account in Acts 12 when Peter was imprisoned, and it appeared he would soon be exe-cuted, as James had already been, and as we would infer Herod pur-posed to do with Peter (Acts 12:1-4). No one seems to have prayed for Peter's miraculous escape on this occasion. At least we can say that no one had enough faith to believe it, even as Peter stood at the door, knocking to get in (12:12-17).
I very much doubt anyone prayed that this Saul might be saved. I can believe someone might have prayed that Saul is waylaid or "terminated" in some divine act or providential accident ("act of God"). I believe the saints who gathered to pray would have prayed for the protection of the Church in Damascus and the safety of indi-vidual saints, especially the leaders and the most visible Christians. No one, it would seem, was even thinking of what God was about to do. Ananias is not only surprised by his commission; he is resistant to it, at least initially.
There would likely be another group meeting the evening before Saul arrived in Damascus—those who did not believe in Jesus as their Messiah and eagerly sought the eradication of the Church in their city. Were these people as eager as Saul to destroy the Church? Did they send it to Saul? Or did they somewhat dread his arrival, knowing how zealous he was in his opposition to the Church? If he were viewed as a reactionary, a troublemaker, perhaps some unbelievers thought Saul was too much trouble. Nevertheless, there must have been those who intended to use Saul's coming to oppose the Church. They may have attempted to compile a list of known (and even sus-pected) Christians, along with addresses, to facilitate Saul's task.
What a shock Saul's conversion must have been to both groups! To the Church, Saul turned out to be a friend, a colleague-believer, and a flaming evangelist. They proclaimed Christ more clearly and powerfully than anyone had previously done in Damascus. The Church did not shrink or suffer from Saul's arrival but grew because of it. Moreover, the second group, who were waiting for Saul to come and help them deal with the followers of "the Way," discovered that Saul had joined them, perhaps bringing other opposition members along with him. Did they think their task would be a simple one? They found that Saul's arrival shut down their cause, and his conversion took the wind out of their sails. What can you say about Christianity when its most outspoken and zealous opponent suddenly claims to have seen the risen Christ and trusted in Him as the Messiah?
The importance of Saul's conversion can hardly be overesti-mated. Three times in the Book of Acts, it is reported, the first time in the third person ("he") by Luke (Acts 9:1-31), the second time in the first person ("I") by the apostle, as he spoke to his unbelieving Jewish brethren in defense of his ministry (Acts 22:1-21), and the third time, again in the first person, as his testimony to King Agrippa, Festus, and Bernice (Acts 26:1-23). This three-fold repetition indi-cates the importance of this event, especially in the themes Luke seeks to develop in the Book of Acts.
It is not just in the Book of Acts that the importance of Saul's conversion is evident. On various occasions in his epistles, Paul made either direct or indirect references to his former life of opposition and his radical conversion. Paul's theology, lifestyle, ministry, and methodology are rooted in his conversion. This text portrays one of the historical landmarks of the Church. "Luke attached great im-portance to the story of Saul's conversion as the turning point not simply in the career of the man, but an epoch in the history of apos-tolic Christianity. . . It is impossible to overestimate the worth to the student of Christianity of this event from every angle because we have in Paul's Epistles his emphasis on the actual appearance of Jesus to him as the fact that changed his whole life (1 Cor. 15:8; Gal. 1:16f.)."
Problems in the Passage
If this passage is profoundly important, it also poses its prob-lems. There are differences between the three accounts given to us in Acts. All of these should be expected and can be relatively easily explained. However, there is a more significant discrepancy between the accounts of Saul's conversion in Acts and that which Paul gave in Galatians 1. I. Howard Marshall summarizes the problem in these words:
"Nevertheless, we obtain a different impression of things from Galatians 1:16-24, according to which (1) Paul did not confer with men after his conversion nor go to the apostles in Jerusalem, but (2) departed to Arabia and then returned to Damascus; then (3) three years later he went to Jerusalem for a visit lasting a fortnight during which he saw only Peter and James, and at this time he was unknown by sight to the churches of Judea; after that (4) he went to Syria and Cilicia. This account is accompanied by an assertion of its truth which suggests that some people were contradicting it."
As I look at the problem, I believe several conclusions must be drawn. First, some problems appear to be serious. Second, we are not given enough information in the biblical text to solve them dogmati-cally. Third, these discrepancies may have been evident to the writ-ers, who did not see fit to remove or explain every problem. Fourth, there would be no problem if we had all the facts. Fifth, faith must take the text at face value, as it is written, and believe it is God's inspired, inerrant, authoritative word.
The Structure of the Passage
The passage which we are studying can be divided into these major segments:
o Saul's Arrest—Verses 1-9
o Convincing Ananias—Verses 10-16
o Ananias and Saul—Verses 17-19a
o Saul's Witness in Damascus—Verses 19b-25
o Saul's Witness in Jerusalem—Verses 26-30
o Peace Returns to the Land—Verse 31
Our Approach
We will begin this lesson by making some general observations concerning this account of Saul's conversion,1 "Luke evidently at-tached great importance to the story of Saul's conversion as the turning point not simply in the career of the man, but a period in the history of apostolic Christianity. . . It is impossible to over-estimate the worth to the student of Christianity of this event from every angle because we have in Paul’s Epistles his own em-phasis on the actual appearance of Jesus to him as the fact that changed his whole life (1 Cor. 15:8; Gal. 1:16f.).” 34, we will ex-amine the sequence of events leading up to Saul's conversion, the events surrounding his conversion, and the consequences of his con-version as depicted by Luke. We will next seek to learn how this de-scription of Saul's conversion fits into and contributes to the devel-opment of Luke's argument in Acts. We shall then identify the char-acteristics of Saul's conversion, typical of every conversion. We will also attempt to determine to what degree Saul's conversion was typ-ical and to what degree it was unique. Finally, we shall attempt to fo-cus on applying this passage to our own lives.
Overall Observations
The first thing we shall do is to make some observations on the passage as a whole to attempt to see the forest before we scrutinize the trees. Note the following impressions gained from a reflection on the passage as a whole.
(1) There is the considerable emphasis given to Saul's con-version in the Book of Acts. To put it differently, the account of Saul's conversion in Acts 9 is but the first of three accounts, the other two coming from the lips of Paul himself.
(2) While there is considerable emphasis on the conversion of Saul, there is very little detail given as to the precise time or the details of Saul's conversion. We do not know the exact time when Saul was saved. It would seem not to be there on the road to Damascus. Here, Saul was only told that it was Jesus whom he saw, who was speaking to him, and whom he was persecuting. The details of what was said and done when Ananias arrived are fuzzy. There is no attempt to establish some kind of pattern or formula for evange-lism here, at least as far as methodology is concerned.
(3) Saul's conversion experience was quick and dramatic in one sense, but it also involved a process of at least three days. Blaiklock concludes concerning the time of Saul’s conversion: “Probably the earliest acceptable date for the conversion on the Damascus road is AD 33. This would leave AD 33-46 for a visit to Arabia (Gal. 1. 17) and the restoration of the man after the shatter-ing experience he had known, and for the early ministry in Tarsus, Syria, Cilicia, and Antioch, which prepared mind and method for the major assault on the pagan world. The splendid deliberateness with which God forged His human tool is the great lesson of these years. Impatient men forget that God is not bound by time. His conversion was by far the most vital influence in Paul’s life. Ancestry, Pharisaic training, and Hellenistic education were fused into the character that the Holy Spirit formed and fashioned over the fourteen years of training. At length, the door opened in God’s good time, and the events of half a lifetime assumed final and complete significance.”
(4) More space is devoted to the process of getting Ananias to Saul than is devoted to getting Saul to Damascus and the home of Judas. It almost seems more complicated to convince Ana-nias that Saul is (or will be) a Christian than it is to convert Saul.
(5) There is a good deal of emphasis on the results of Saul's conversion. More is written of what Saul said and did be-cause he was saved than what he said and did result in his salva-tion.
(6) Little emphasis is placed on Saul's reception of the Holy Spirit, and nothing is said about what happened as Saul received the Spirit. In our text, Ananias was instructed to go to Saul and to lay hands on him so that he might receive his sight (9:12). The words which Ananias spoke to Saul indicate he was also to lay hands on him so that he would receive the Holy Spirit (9:17). Despite this, we are not told here that Saul did receive the Holy Spirit or what happened when he did. I do not question that he did receive the Spirit, but merely observe that this receiving of the Spirit (accompanied by the laying on of hands) was not something Luke wanted to emphasize. If Luke had any "ax to grind" on this issue, here would have been a great place to stress this matter, but he did not do so. This silence is instructive, in my opinion.
(7) Those saved by Saul's ministry were convinced by the power of the gospel message he preached and not by miraculous signs and wonders. Elsewhere in Acts, such as with the apostles, Stephen and Philip, the Gospel's message was underscored by signs and wonders that accompanied the message. Nothing is said in our text about any miracles being performed by Saul yet. We are simply told that the message itself was proclaimed powerfully and that peo-ple were amazed at the message and its miraculous impact on Saul's conduct.
(8) Saul was saved independently of the apostles. Ananias was used as God's instrument in the conversion of Saul, but even he had to be pushed to go to Saul. There is not so much a hint that any-one prayed for Saul's salvation or took the initiative to bring it about. It was God's initiative all the way. The apostles had nothing to do with Saul's conversion, and they were reluctant to believe it hap-pened or welcome him into their fellowship. Paul would make much more of this point in the first chapter of Galatians.
(9) On the road to Damascus, Saul did far more than see a bright light and hearing a voice from heaven. Saul saw and heard the resurrected Christ. When one looks at all the references to this event, it was, in fact, a personal appearance of the risen, glorified Jesus to Saul (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:1; 15:4-11).
(10) Saul's encounter with Christ was not only conversion but also a call to a particular ministry. Saul was told at the time of his conversion that God had chosen him to bear witness to the Gentiles, kings, and Jews (9:15).
(11) Saul's conversion was a watershed event that greatly affected the Church's history. Because three different accounts of Saul's conversion are recorded in Acts, we know this event had to play a crucial role in the expansion of the Church.
(12) The same Saul who played a role in Stephen's execution was to become, in considerable measure, his replacement. Saul, like Stephen, was a Hellenistic Jew. Saul, like Stephen, spoke with such power and authority that his opponents could not refute him. Saul, like Stephen, had a ministry that focused on the Hellenistic Jews. Like Stephen, the enemies of the Gospel attempted to kill Saul when they could not silence him through debate.
(13) As Stephen's death, instigated (or at least assisted) by Saul, resulted in intense and widespread persecution of the churches in Jerusalem and elsewhere, so Saul's conversion seems to have been directly related to the return of peace (cf. 9:31).
(14) There is an exciting symmetry or parallel between the conversion of Saul and the conversion of Cornelius.
"Conybeare and Howson {The Life and Times of Saint Paul, p. 77 (sic punct.)} remark on the symmetry with which Luke sets forth the two stories: 'The simultaneous preparation of the hearts of Ananias and Saul, and the simultaneous preparation of those of Peter and Cornelius,—the questioning and hesitation of Peter and the question-ing and hesitation of Ananias,—the one doubting whether he might make friends with the Gentiles, the other doubting whether he might approach the enemy of the Church,—the unhesitating obedience of each when the Divine will be made known,—the state of mind in which both the Pharisee and the centurion were found,—each waiting to see what the Lord would say to them,—this close analogy will not be for-gotten by those who reverently read the two consecutive chapters. . ' "136
Man Proposes—God Disposes or Saul's Intentions and God's Interruption (9:1-9)
Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disci-ples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2. and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any be-longing to the way, 137 both men and women, 138 he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 And it came about that as he journeyed, he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" 5 And he said, "Who art Thou, Lord?" 139 And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but rise, and enter the city, and it shall be told you what you must do." 7 And the men who traveled with him140 stood speechless, hearing the voice, but seeing no one.141 8 And Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.142 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
The arrival of Ananias (9:10-16)
10 Now, there was a certain disciple named Ananias at Damas-cus; the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” Moreover, he said, “Behold, here am I, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Thy saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon Thy name.”145 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
This account describes the two complementary divine visions Ananias and Saul received. Ananias’s vision was intended to direct him to the house of Judas and Saul. Saul’s vision prepared him for the arrival of Ananias, clearly indicating that he was the one God had appointed to reveal His will for him. There is more space devoted to convincing Ananias than to the conversion of Saul. It is difficult to estimate the amount of resistance Ananias would have had to this di-vine instruction to receive Saul as a brother in the Lord. Perhaps An-anias called a church meeting to discuss how they would deal with Saul’s arrival. He was a man of great respect and influence, and thus he realized that his actions would have broad ramifications. The ulti-mate issue was God’s ability to save—even the most committed unbe-liever. How humorous it seems to hear Ananias informing the Lord that Saul was an enemy who had caused many Christians great suf-fering and adversity, as though He was unaware of this! Rather than attempt to pacify Ananias or alleviate his apprehension, God told him that Saul would not only be a brother but he would also be His in-strument for bringing the Gospel to Gentiles. Now, this would have been a very bitter pill to swallow for many Jewish Christians. Never-theless, Ananias obeyed.
The Meeting of Ananias and Saul (9:17-19a)
17 And Ananias departed and entered the house and, after lay-ing his hands on him, said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who ap-peared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he arose and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened.
The words and actions of Ananias are evidence of his faith and obedience to the divine commission he was given, as outlined by Luke in the verses above. They are also very significant in what they con-vey to Saul. The words “Brother Saul” must not have come easily to Ananias. They were based, as I understand it, on what the Lord had revealed to Ananias and not on any confession or actions of Saul, for these seem to follow Ananias's initial actions and words. Saul was re-ceived as a true believer, as a brother.146 The laying on Ananias’s hands, however, was a distinct act of identification with Saul. The result was the restoration of Saul’s sight and, and it would seem, Saul’s reception of the Holy Spirit. Saul’s baptism followed, accompa-nied by his profession of faith, his “calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). After this, Saul broke his fast and was strengthened.
The Consequences of Saul’s Conversion (9:19b-25)
Now for several days, he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the syn-agogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jeru-salem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding147 the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.
23 And when many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted togeth-er to do away with him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. Fur-thermore, they were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a bas-ket.
The remaining verses of this account describe the results of Saul’s conversion, which are dramatic proof of his radical transfor-mation due to his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Da-mascus. The first evidence of Saul’s conversion was his immediate identification with the Church in Damascus. He who had wanted to kill these saints now wanted to fellowship with them. God undoubted-ly used Ananias to serve as Saul’s “first Barnabas.” Just as Barnabas would vouch for Saul with the apostles in Jerusalem, Ananias, a highly respected Jewish Christian, would vouch for Saul here.
The second evidence of Saul’s conversion was his bold procla-mation of his newly found faith in Jesus as the Messiah. This man who had formerly cringed at the preaching of the gospel148 was now proclaiming the same message. The man who, days before, was perse-cuting Christ was now preaching Christ. Saul proclaimed Jesus to be the “Son of God” (9:20), a designation understood to refer to Isra-el’s awaited Messiah.149
The results of Saul’s preaching were predictable, very much like the response Saul would have had (or did have) to the preaching of the Gospel before his conversion. Some were amazed, taking note of the dramatic turn-about in Saul’s faith and practice (9:21). But as Saul grew in strength and as his arguments were irrefutable, just as Stephen’s had been (Acts 6:10), his opponents realized that the only way to silence Saul was to kill him. They could not out-argue him. They could not prove him wrong from the Scriptures. They could only kill him, and they were determined to do it (9:23). When the plot be-came known to Saul, he made a successful, though undignified, escape from the city of Damascus. His disciples150 lowered him in a basket from the window of a room in the city's wall (9:25).
Saul’s Journey to Jerusalem(9:26-30)
26 And when he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, that He had talked to him, and how at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews, but they were attempting to put him to death. 30 But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
There may have been a long time between Saul’s conversion and his arrival at Jerusalem. This conclusion could be based upon Paul’s argument in Galatians 1 and 2, along with the expression, “when many days had elapsed” in Acts 9:23. Nevertheless, at some point in time, Saul did arrive in Jerusalem. One thing was sure; no matter how much time had passed, the apostles were not yet convinced of Saul’s con-version. They, not unlike Ananias, were very reluctant to have any-thing to do with this Christian killer. Due to the intervention of Bar-nabas, a man who would prove to be a lifetime friend of Paul, the apostles risked a meeting with him and then granted him the free-dom to associate with the saints in Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem, as in Damascus, Saul spoke out boldly, proclaiming Jesus to be the Christ, the promised Messiah. Like Stephen, Saul seemed to gravitate toward preaching to the Hellenistic Jews (9:29). Some of the Hellenistic Jews responded to the preaching of Saul as they had to Stephen’s preaching; they wanted to kill him (9:29). He was, indeed, Stephen’s replacement. As at Damascus, Saul eventually had to leave the city of Jerusalem to save his life. The Church sent him on his way to Tarsus by Way of Caesarea. Those whose lives Saul would gladly have taken in his unsaved days now sought to save his life by sending him away.
Peace Returns When Saul is Removed (9:31)
31 So the Church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
There is undoubtedly a connection between Saul and persecu-tion and Saul and peace. Saul seems to have been the instigator of the persecution of the Church, which began at the death of Stephen in Jerusalem and worked outward from there. With the conversion of Saul, persecution of the Church did not stop; for now, some of the Hellenistic Jews opposed his preaching (and, no doubt, the Church at large as well). It was only with the exit of Saul from the Holy Land, back to his native land (Tarsus), that peace again returned. As perse-cution was no longer needed to disperse the Church and the Gospel, peace was restored to the land. In peace, as in persecution, the Church was comforted and continued to increase.
Conclusion
The first question which must be asked about interpreting this text is this: “What is the meaning of this text in the context of the whole book?” Luke has included this account of Saul’s conversion to contribute to the argument he is seeking to develop. The argument of the Book of Acts is essentially this: The expansion of the Gospel through the Church as the Holy Spirit empowers it. The expansion is three-fold:
(1) The expansion from Christ to His apostles, to His Church
(2) The geographical expansion from Jerusalem to Rome
(3) The racial expansion from the Jews to the Gentiles.
Saul’s conversion was to play a crucial role in the expansion of the Gospel. Paul’s opposition resulted in the scattering of the Chris-tians from Jerusalem, thus taking the Gospel to Judea, Samaria, and beyond (Acts 8:1; 11:19-21). Saul's salvation resulted in the Gospel being preached to distant people and lands and in the extension of the Church to many key cities. In the process, Saul was to extend the Gospel's outreach significantly to the Gentiles. It was his preaching that resulted in the conversion of many Gentiles, and it was his writing (his epistles) to these saints which significantly strengthened them in their faith. Saul’s conversion is a watershed event, catapulting the Gospel to the Gentiles and distant places.
The conversion of Saul is essential in another way. It is one of the few accounts of a conversion that is described with some detail (although this detail is much less than we would prefer). The question must be asked as to whether or not Saul’s conversion has a more general application and relevance. In other words, “Is Saul’s conver-sion typical and illustrative of the conversion of every saint, or is it unique, the exceptional case, which has little correspondence to most converts?”
The longer I study Saul’s conversion, the more convinced I am that his conversion is typical. Granted, his experience is unique and dramatic. Few Christians will encounter the risen, glorified Lord as Saul did here. We would readily grant that every recorded conver-sion is unique, to some degree. That is because our Lord always con-fronts, convicts, and converts men and women individually in the light of their actions and beliefs. Jesus dealt with Nicodemus (John 3) very differently from the Samaritan woman (John 4). Nevertheless, conversion has vital elements that are to be present in any salvation experience. The common characteristics of conversion are those I would like to focus on in the conversion of Saul.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CONVERSION
(1) Saul’s salvation was the salvation of a sinner. One of the most dramatic revelations of Saul’s Damascus road experience was that he was not serving God but persecuting Him. The first words spoken to Saul were, “Saul, Saul, Why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4).
What a shock these words must have been to Saul, who, up to this point, seems to have prided himself on his faithfulness to Juda-ism! Until now, Jesus was the sinner, and Saul was the saint. Now that the Lord had identified Himself as Jesus, Saul recognized that he was the sinner. As Saul would later write, he realized that he was “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Saul was also blinded, which identified him with the blindness of the nation Israel, which the Old Testament prophets wrote (see above). In Saul’s account of his conversion to His Jewish brethren, he added that when Ananias arrived, he instructed him to “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (Acts 22:16). This expression, “calling on the name of the Lord” seems to be one used consistently in the Old Testament. It is the invitation for sinful Israelites to be saved by repenting and calling on the name of the Lord for salvation:
Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his Way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compas-sion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:6-7; cf. also Psalm 50:15; Joel 2:32; Jeremiah 29:12; 33:3-8).
Later, when Paul looked back on his past “devotion and deeds,” all done in the name of Judaism, he came to view his apparent “right-eous deeds” for what they were—dung:
1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those muti-lators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—4 though I have reasons for such confi-dence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; regarding the Law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the Church; as for le-galistic righteousness, faultless. 7 But whatever was to my consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything fit I now a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith (Philippians 3:1-9; cf. also Isaiah 64:6).
What Paul learned about himself on the road to Damascus, he came to understand and preach concerning all men. 151 Paul indeed believed that it was essential for men to begin with the understand-ing of their sin, for, in his Epistle to the Romans, he took the first two and one-half chapters to prove that “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Theologically, we know this as the doctrine of man’s total depravity.
There are no exceptions in this “all” of Romans 3:23, as Paul in-dicated in these Old Testament words, cited just before:
“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TO-GETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE” (Romans 3:10b-12).
This is a terrible revelation—that all are sinners, even the “best,” the most religious, and righteous! However, the Gospel is good news for sinners. It is also bad news for the self-righteous. This is why Jesus was so receptive to sinners and hard on the self-righteous. The good news of the Gospel is that Christ Jesus came to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Those who think themselves worthy of God’s blessings (as many Jews did on that day) are in trouble. Those who know themselves sinners and who call upon Jesus for salvation are saved:
For “WHOSOEVER WILL CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED” (Romans 10:13, citing Joel 2:32).
Lest anyone think they are “too sinful” to save, let me remind you that when Paul wrote that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” he quickly added, “among whom I am foremost of all.”
12 I thank Christ Jesus for our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his ser-vice. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and un-belief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustwor-thy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason, I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who believe in him and receive eternal life (1 Timothy 1:12-16).
If the worst sinner (Saul) was not too sinful to save, then you are not too sinful for God to save. No sinner is beyond the grace and the grasp of God.
(2) Saul’s salvation was exclusively the work of a sovereign God. Our text presents Saul as a man who was not only running from God but actively opposing Him. Saul was not “seeking God.” Saul was saved despite himself. This Paul knew and testified to. God chose Saul and had his destiny planned before He saved him. When God spoke to Ananias commanding him to go to the house where Saul was staying, he was to receive him as a brother; and he was told that he was called to suffer as God’s chosen vessel to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles, kings, and his fellow-Israelites. In Galatians 1, Saul wrote that God had called him “while he was still in his mother’s womb” (Galatians 1:15).
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:3-6).
Luke is emphatic in his representation of man’s salvation as hav-ing been ordained and orchestrated by God, as a manifestation of His sovereign grace:
Moreover, when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been ap-pointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48).
Special notes
1. 1Cf. compare with (used to refer a reader to another written work or another part of the same written work...
