The Conversion Of Saul (9:1-19)
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Consider the Profound transformation.
That of Saul of Tarsus, chief persecutor of the early church - Ac 8:1,3; 9:1-2
Later known as Paul the apostle (Ac 13:9),
who suffered much persecution for the cause of Christ
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.
Whose conversion stands as a powerful testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are three accounts of his conversion in The Book of Acts...
Ac 9:1-19 - where Luke describes it as it happened
Ac 22:6-16 - where Paul recounts his conversion before a large crowd
Ac 26:12-18 - where Paul defends himself before King Agrippa
Every time I read this story, I stand amazed at the great grace of God. I see the Lord take this man Saul, save him by grace, and transform him into the great Apostle to the Gentiles and I realize that there is hope for people like you and me to be used by the Lord.
The truth is, Saul was a very unlikely candidate for the service of the Lord. Here was a man who was feared and hated by Christians and one who did everything in his power to destroy the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, God reached down in grace and took this man from where he was and used him to change the world. God used him in such a great manner that Paul’s ministry is still reaping fruit today.
When we look at Paul, we may be tempted to think that he was some kind of super saint. We may feel that there is no possible way that the Lord could use us like He did Paul, or that God could even use us at all. I suppose that we all feel inferior and unworthy to be used of the Lord in His work, but I am here today to tell you that Jesus can and will use you if you will make yourself available.
I. Grace for your Past (v. 1)
a. According to Paul’s own testimony, he was guilty of doing every thing in his power to put Christianity to death.
Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Paul was a murderer, he was a rebel against the Lord Jesus. Religiously, he was a man to be envied, but internally, he was as wicked as any man who had ever walked the face of the earth.
Paul was a wicked man, but this proved to be no obstacle to the grace and saving power of the Lord. When Paul received Jesus into his heart, he was changed forever by the grace of God!
Regardless of what you did before you received Jesus as your Savior, it matters no more. When He saved your soul, He washed your past away forever!
There are 3 records of your past deeds in the world today.
there is the record you carry in your mind.
there is the record carried by all those who knew what you were before.
the record carried by Satan, and he will throw your past back in your face all the time
Though I may remember my past, my friends and family may remember my past, and Satan surely remembers my past, God has forgotten my past and it is no obstacle to Him using me now or in the future!
Throughout the Bible, God used people in spite of, and after their greatest of failures.
“Shadow of what was to come, but the substance belongs to Christ” Col 2:17
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Paul and Moses
Both were chosen from birth for a special divine purpose
Both had Kings who tried to kill them
Both escaped death through a woven basket
Both received the top education the world had to offer:
Both murdered someone immediately before their conversions
Both were rejected by their brethren as a deliverers and saviors
Both talked to God after seeing a bright light in the wilderness
Both asked God, “who are you” and God replied, "I AM"
Both were law givers who wrote major sections of scripture
Both rejected earthly riches, position, and prestige for heavenly treasures
Fellow Hebrews rejected the message of truth and salvation
Both performed spectacular and extraordinary miracles
Moses was a murderer, yet God used him for His glory.
You can be used also for God’s glory.
From "The Conversion of Saul" we find...
The overwhelming power of Jesus to save sinners. We see the nature of this conversion power revealed in The Book of Acts
For example...
When was Saul saved?
Was it on the road to Damascus, when the Lord appeared to him?Was it in Damascus, at some point after he arrived there?How was Saul saved?
Through saying a sinner's prayer? By being baptized?
[Such questions can be answered by a careful consideration of Biblical evidence. Let's begin with a review of the evidence provided by all three accounts of Saul's conversion...]
A HARMONY OF SAUL'S CONVERSION
ON HIS WAY TO DAMASCUS...
To persecute more Christians - Ac 9:1-2; 22:4-5; 26:9-11
When a light shone around him from heaven - Ac 9:3; 22:6; 26:12-13
When a voice began to speak to him in Hebrew...
Identifying itself as the voice of Jesus - Ac 9:4-5; 22:7-9; 26:14-15Jesus then tells Saul...
Why He has appeared to him - Ac 26:16-18
To go on to Damascus, where...
He will be told "what you must do" - Ac 9:6
He will be told "all things which are appointed for you to do" - Ac 22:10
SAUL ARRIVES IN DAMASCUS...
Led by the hand, having been blinded by the light - Ac 9:8; 22:11
For three days, he neither eats nor drinks - Ac 9:9
THE LORD SENDS ANANIAS TO SAUL...
The Lord appears to Ananias in a vision, and tells him to go to Saul - Ac 9:10-16
Ananias goes to Saul, and...
Restores his sight - Ac 9:17-18; 22:12-13
Tells him why the Lord appeared to him, how he will be a witness of what he has seen - Ac 22:14-15
Tells him to be baptized and wash away his sins, calling upon the name of the Lord - Ac 22:16
After which Paul breaks his fast and spends some days with the disciples - Ac 9:18-19
["The Conversion Of Saul" is a powerful testimony to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What other reasonable explanation can be given for the drastic change from chief persecutor to chief proclaimer of the Christian faith? But Saul's conversion is also valuable for insights regarding the process of conversion. With that in mind, allow me to share...]
SOME OBSERVATIONS
WHEN SAUL WAS SAVED...
Some state that Saul was saved on the road to Damascus
When the Lord appeared to him. That his conversion took place at that moment. Saul was not saved until after he arrived in Damascus
Note that while on the road, the Lord said it would be in Damascus where he would be told "what you must do" - Ac 9:6
In Damascus, Ananias told him to "wash away your sins" - Ac 22:16
Up to that point, Saul was still in his sins!In other words, he was still not saved!-- While in one sense he was "converted" on the road (his view of Jesus certainly changed), conversion in the sense of salvation did not occur until after he arrived in Damascus
HOW SAUL WAS SAVED...
From Ananias' statement in Ac 22:16 (to wash away his sins), we learn that:
Saul had not been saved by the vision on the road to Damascus. Saul had not been saved by prayers and fasting for three days - cf. Ac 9:9,11
Saul was saved when his sins were "washed away" - Ac 22:16
Which occurred after spending three days in Damascus. Which occurred when he called upon the name of the Lord —- This concurs with what Peter said about salvation in
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
BAPTISM AND CALLING UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD...
After quoting Joel who wrote of calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved, Peter told the crowd at Pentecost to be baptized.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ananias commanded Saul to be baptized, "calling upon the name of the Lord" - Ac 22:16
Don’t let the baptism concern you…
The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Notice the figure of baptism.
Baptism is not the figure of putting away sin.
It is a figure of a clear conscience with God by faith.
In the act of baptism, in faith we are...
"Calling upon the name of the Lord"
Again in front of the church to align ourselves in the company of faith.
CONCLUSION
From the conversion of Saul we learn that one is not saved by...
Visions of the Lord (who could have a vision more impressive than Saul's?)Saying the sinner's prayer (Saul had been praying and fasting for three days!)In keeping with what is taught elsewhere, one is saved when...
Fasting and Prayer
Baptism
Paul later wrote in Romans 6 that baptism is efficacious because in baptism...
We are baptized (buried) into Christ's death - Ro 6:3-4
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
notice the “like as”
We are united with Christ in the likeness of His death
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
“likeness of his death”
“likeness of his resurrection”
Our Spiritual death is in the likeness of his physical death our spiritual resurrection is in the likeness of his physical resurrection. And therefore this outward display is an demonstration of what has happened at salvation.
We are crucified with Christ, and our body of sin is done away
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
We die to sin, and are therefore freed from sin
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Such baptism is conditioned upon our faith and God's working - Ac 8:36-37; Col 2:12
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
This is why the Transformation is so all encompassing. This is why we should not consider it normal for people to continue in lives of blatant sin after they are born again. The transformation of Paul was no longer the effort of his anger, or discipline. It was in the tranformative power of life and death.