The experience of Saul of Tarsus has to be the most ironic and dramatic change story in the New Testament.
Here’s a man with a clean conscience, doing the unconscionable.
Here’s a man with high religious standards performing terrorist acts.
Here’s a man who hates Jesus, but wants to please God.
Here’s the Christian’s worst nightmare, suddenly becoming a zealous Christian missionary.
He goes from radical persecutor of Jesus’ followers to relentless preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
How did it happen? He met Jesus. Have you?
While this story in the Bible tells us what happened to Saul, the central character is still Jesus Christ. If Jesus can take a man like Saul and reverse his engines, just imagine what he can do for you and me. Saul, as the apostle Paul, later wrote: 1 Timothy 2:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service;
13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;
14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
16 And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
You see, Jesus knew the heart of this man. Jesus knew that while Saul was working to destroy the church Jesus died for, he was actually acting out of ignorance and unbelief. His motives were amazingly sincere. This was no act of pride or selfish ambition. He was not at all motivated by desire for promotion or personal gain. Saul was not a dishonest man. He was a man of deep faith in God and radical loyalty to the cause he believed to be true. In fact, he loved truth, or he never would have come to know it. While racing down the wrong path, he fully believed he was doing the right thing. Saul was sincerely wrong.
That being said, the Christians he persecuted still suffered just the same. His sincerity did nothing to reduce the swelling of the whelps on the backs of those who were beaten because of him. His honesty did nothing to restore the lives of those he had put to death. His deep faith that he was pleasing God did not make it any easier on the church. If anything, that only made him a worse enemy. How do you reach someone who is fully convinced they are doing the right thing! Saul has heard sermons about Jesus. He was there with those that tried and stoned Stephen. Surely he heard the content of the gospel. That’s just the point! This Jesus who was crucified was being preached as the risen Messiah! To Saul this was preposterous! Even the evidence of the miracles seemed to have had no impact on Saul. He has one clear agenda: stamp out the faith in Jesus. Clear the world of all who claim that Jesus is the Christ.
Saul isn’t making any extra money doing this. He’s a zealous man on a mission, willing to sacrifice to see the followers of Jesus wiped off the face of the earth. Can you imagine what it would take to win a man like Saul to faith in Jesus?
The last thing that anyone expected was for Saul to become a Christian. In fact, the last thing Saul himself expected was to become a Christian. But God is full of surprises. God already has plans for this man, long before he ever believed in Jesus as the Christ. Look at Galatians 1:13 For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, and tried to destroy it;
14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
15 But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased
16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
What did this just say? When did God set Saul apart? Look again at verse 15: But when He who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased
16 to reveal His Son in me…
No one ever expected Saul to believe in Jesus… but Jesus did.
Listen to me. This same Jesus Christ knows you and me today! He knows what you are like. He knows where your heart is. He knows what road you are headed down and where it ends up. He knows. And if you have an honest, sincere heart that loves the truth, you can be certain he will make sure that you find him. But God’s word also teaches us that some will perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie
12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. 2 Thess. 2:10-12.
We live in a world that delights in wickedness and does not love the truth. I was just reading an article about partial birth abortion this week and I am just amazed that there could be any sane adult that could not see the truth that such an act is killing a baby. But if someone prefers a lie to truth they will believe the lie.
Again, it is so troubling to me to know that real thinking adults actually argue for the utter nonsense of homosexual marriage. This is plain refusal to acknowledge what is true and right. But again, if someone wants a lie to be true they will believe a lie.
What concerns me most about this is the words of Romans 1: 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.
When we consider the sins of Saul of Tarsus and compare them with, say, the sins of Ananias and Sapphira, which sins appear to be the worst? Which sinners would you expect God to strike dead in their tracks and which would you think God would be most likely to forgive and accept?
I think back at the Old Testament characters and Saul and David come to mind. Both served as kings of Israel. Both sinned and were rebuked for it. Saul’s sins actually seem smaller than David’s to me. Saul didn’t utterly destroy the Amalekites at one point and later under duress, he offered the sacrifice before Samuel arrived. For these God took the kingdom from him. David later committed adultery with Bathsheba, had her husband killed and tried to cover the whole thing with deception. Now in comparison, some might consider Saul’s character above David’s, but not God. Their true character surfaces later. When we see the reactions to God’s rebuke of these two men, perhaps we see a better picture of what God sees. David readily submitted to God’s accusation when confronted by the prophet Nathan, but Saul resisted God’s rebuke.
God knows if we will receive his correction or resist it. Jesus knew that when Saul of Tarsus finally got the picture, he would totally reverse directions to follow the truth of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God the rest of his life. It didn’t take long, and once he saw the light Saul never looked back, except to say, “Look at what the Lord has done for me! Here’s where I was, and here’s what Jesus did, and here’s where I stand with him today!”
Saul made one great flip flop… but the rest of his career is solid certainty.
When we look at Saul of Tarsus let us consider several questions:
1. How much of Saul’s heart and life was devoted to God before he became a Christian?
2. What stood in his way of recognizing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?
3. What evidence did the Lord supply to convince Saul to change?
4. How much of Saul’s heart and life was devoted to Jesus Christ after his conversion?
5. How did Saul demonstrate his devotion to Jesus?
For the sake of application, let’s ask these same questions of ourselves:
1. How much of my heart and life was devoted to God before I became a Christian?
2. What stood in my way of recognizing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?
3. What evidence did the Lord supply to convince me to change?
4. How much of my heart and life was devoted to Jesus Christ after my conversion?
5. How do I demonstrate my devotion to Jesus?
One thing about Saul, he told his story of conversion over and over as he shared the gospel of Jesus Christ. In his letters and before courts, we see how the conversion of Saul was used as a tool to convince others of the truth of the gospel. God can use your story too. On the handout, fill in the sections and share this with someone else as you also compare your conversion with the examples we have in the scripture.
Look at your life before you were baptized.
Consider the condition the Lord found you in and what he showed you to convince you to obey him.
Remember how you were inclined to serve God even before making your commitment to him and describe it.
Tell of your faith, repentance, confession and baptism and what they mean both scripturally and personally.
Describe your life after your conversion, any setbacks or victories. State your determination at this point in your faith.
If you will take this and share it with someone else and compare what the scriptures say and what the Lord has done and is doing in your life, you may just touch someone with the evidence they need to commit their lives to Christ too.
