What Can Transform Saul?

“When [Saul] had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.

“So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied." [1]

The most powerful argument against the Christian Faith is Christians. The most powerful argument for the Christian Faith is Christians. Let’s face it! We Christians either attract people to the Faith, or we repel people. Far too many of us have proven more effective at repelling people from exploring the Faith than we have succeeded at attracting people to consider the Faith of Christ the Lord. Though we had no intention of offending, our actions have sometimes proved offensive to those outside of the Faith; and even we have been embarrassed at the impact of our actions at times.

As a young preacher, I conducted an extensive and an effective ministry itinerating throughout the United States. I am humbled to note that many who came to faith under my ministry are still serving Christ, honouring Him in a full-time capacity. I conducted a number of successful ministries in some morally dim regions of the United States. The Lord powerfully blessed my efforts, though I confess that I did not deserve such mercy. Despite what God did during those years, it is some glaring failures on my part which seem somehow to linger in my memory, plaguing my mind and leaving me feeling ill at ease. Something like that scenario must have disturbed the Apostle Paul.

We cannot speak of Paul without admitting that he was central to the spread of the Faith in those early years. Personally, and through his considerable influence on others, the accidental Apostle did more to advance the Faith of Christ the Lord than all the other Apostles combined. It is true that Paul did not do this alone or because of his great intellect; God deliberately chose this man and then equipped him to fulfil the divine will.

When the Saviour sent Ananias to Saul, the faithful servant at first demurred, arguing, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name” [ACTS 9:13-14]. The divine account informs us that the Risen Lord commanded, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” [ACTS 9:15-16].

Saul of Tarsus was a vicious and an unyielding opponent of the people known as Followers of the Way. This rabid rabbi made havoc in the vineyard of the Risen Saviour, hounding both men and women into jail, instigating violence against them, and even lending his considerable influence to see that they were killed. Doctor Luke gives us insight into Saul’s effectiveness in decimating the faithful when he writes, “Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” [ACTS 9:1-2]. Remember, this was immediately after Stephen, the first follower of Christ to seal his testimony with his own life, had been stoned.

This man’s testimony given in his latter years was that he had been “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor” [see 1 TIMOTHY 1:13 NASB]. In his defense, this man testified before a mob howling for his death, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished” [ACTS 22:3-5].