Christ Came To Save Sinners

Jesus Uses Sinners For His Purposes

Jesus called Paul to serve as an Apostle of His church. He had authority t establish churches, appoint leaders, teach doctrine, and eradicate false teachers. He was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He traveled the known world and established new testament churches everywhere he went. In addition to all of this, He wrote the majority of the New Testament. He was used mightily of God!

You may say that He was religiously geared and lived a life that prepared him to be so effective for the Lord. This is quite contrary to the facts. Paul confesses that He was a blasphemer, persecutor, and violent aggressor to the church. We find in the book of Acts that he set out to destroy the church and preserve traditional Judaism.

Saul’s Sin

8 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

And on that day a great persecution [a]began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

Saul’s mission was to leverage his entire being to stop the church from reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We too will encounter people that are very opposed to Jesus Christ because they do not know Him and are misguided regarding His mission. Many people will believe that He came to judge people so He can condemn them to eternal punishment. They don’t want to have anything to do with Him or His church.

Saul’s Conversion

9 Now [a]Saul, still breathing [b]threats and murder against the disciples 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 belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he was traveling, it happened that 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 are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” 7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the [c]voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he [d]could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen [e]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 Your [f]saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen [g]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.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared 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 got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened

WE see the incredible patience and love that Jesus has for Saul. For although he was persecuting the church, Jesus reached down and saved him. Granted it was in a spectacular way, but it got his attention and he realized who Jesus really is.

Jesus may not knock someone off of a horse and speak from heaven and blind someone to get their attention. He does however take the gospel that is shared by you and me and penetrate the person’s heart. They must do something with the gospel. Once they understand it they must receive it or reject it. This is not up to us, but we must share it.

Jesus will begin to work on their heart and situation to draw them unto himself. This is not up to us how this happens. We must continue to help them along the way. This may mean we have to have patience and compassion as they venture the pathway God takes them to lead them to Himself.

Saul Preaches

Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, 20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, [h]saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the [i]Christ.

When Jesus saved Paul Hie became a new person. He now knew truth and he began preaching truth. There is no doubt that Saul was changed. He went from persecuting Jesus to preaching Jesus. This is the power of Christ to transform people.

We must understand that Jesus has the power to do the impossible. He can change the heart of man, forgive him of sin, and give eternal life. God can save sinners and use them for His purpose. We see this in Saul’s life.

Jesus Shows Mercy To the Ignorant and Unbelieving

Mercy toward the ignorant

We see in Saul’s case that he acted in ignorance and unbelief. Jesus shows him mercy because of this. Jesus could have ended Saul’s life and been done with him, but he chose a path that is consistent with His character. He acted in love and saved Him.

We see in Saul’s case that he acted in ignorance and unbelief. Jesus shows him mercy because of this. Jesus could have ended Saul’s life and been done with him, but he chose a path that is consistent with His character. He acted in love and saved Him.

The reason Saul was acting the way he was acting was because he was ignorant. He thought that Jesus was another fad that was detracting from true religion. He saw Jesus as an opponent to his religious beliefs. He wanted to stop the spread of the gospel because he didn’t know the Savior of the gospel. All Saul knew was that there was this new religion that didn’t live up with what he believed so he was going to stop it. Saul was acting in ignorance.

There will be people in our lives that do not know the truth. They will behave in ignorance of the truth. They will behave in their natural flesh, with know knowledge of the truth. This is not always pretty. Most of the time it is quite ugly. We must understand that they are acting in ignorance of the truth. They cannot adhere to the truth because they don’t know it.

Mercy toward the unbeleiving

Saul did not believe that Jesus is the Son of God. He just thought he was another man claiming to be the Messiah. I am sure he knew that Jesus was crucified and probably believed he was still dead. He thought that those that believed in the resurrection were idiots. Jesus did not meet the expectation that he had of the Messiah. He was taught that the Messiah would be a strong military leader that was going to lead the nation of Israel to world dominance. How could a dead man be the Messiah.

When Jesus revealed Himself to Saul, Saul believed. This is the same way with a person that doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ. They just think it is for weak people that need a crutch for their life.

I find it interesting how Jesus doesn’t force people to believe in Him, but allows the circumstances of their ungodly decisions to drive them to a place that they need a crutch for their life. It is not really a crutch but a Savior!

Jesus Came To Save Sinners

Jesus did not come to condemn sinners, but to save them. I’m afraid people get the idea that Jesus is the ultimate condemner because of the way many church people behave toward sinners. Often times when a lost person is living in sin we tend to avoid them and at worse judge them. Jesus came to save that person and has commissioned the church to reach out to that person and guide them to salvation. It is our job as a church to point people to Jesus.

Jesus didn’t have to come to earth to judge people. He could have done that from the heavenlies. He came to earth to make a way for us to be redeemed from condemnation.

8 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. It doesn’t make sense that He would pay the penalty for our sins and then make us pay for them again. He gave His life so that we could be set free from the penalty of sin.

We need to let people know that Jesus is the Savior. We can have peace with God by receiving salvation that Jesus gives.

Jesus Is Glorified By Saving Sinners

Paul shares here that by Jesus saving him that He demonstrates perfect patience as an example of those who would believe.

This is a powerful statement. I know we sometimes shutter and make light of the spiritual gift of patience. This is because many people lack this gift and struggle with impatience. Here we see that patience is an example of Christ-likeness.

When we demonstrate patience with others, Christ receives glory. We need to realize that there are people in our sphere of influence that are not followers of Jesus Christ. We must care enough to demonstrate patience with them for the purpose of leading them to Jesus Christ.