Monday June 26
Saul’s Conversion
“And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” Acts 9:5.
Although Saul’s persecution of the early church begins rather inconspicuously (as he only holds the coats of Stephen’s executioners), it quickly intensifies (see Acts 8:1-3; 9:1, 2, 13, 14, 21; 22:3-5). Several of the words Luke uses to describe Saul paint a picture of a wild, ferocious beast or a pillaging soldier bent on the destruction of his opponent. The word translated “ravaging” in Acts 8:3 (ESV), for example, is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Ps. 80:13) to describe the uncontrolled and destructive behavior of a wild boar. Saul’s crusade against the Christians was clearly not a half-hearted matter of convenience; it was a deliberate and sustained plan to exterminate the Christian faith.
Yes, it was not zeal for God's glory. It was zeal for Saul's glory. He was selfish and being used as a tool to accomplish Satan's purposes. And, Saul was not just holding the coats of Stephen's murderers. No, it was Saul who was eloquently condemning Stephen. This is why the coats were given to him. He played a major role in the death of Stephen, and for it was elected to the Sanhedrin.
The witnesses who had accused him were required to cast the first stones. These persons laid down their clothes at the feet of Saul, who had taken an active part in the disputation, and had consented to the prisoner’s death.
The martyrdom of Stephen made a deep impression upon all who witnessed it. It was a sore trial to the church, but resulted in the conversion of Saul. The faith, constancy, and glorification of the martyr could not be effaced from his memory. The signet of God upon his face, his words, that reached to the very soul of those who heard them, remained in the memory of the beholders, and testified to the truth of that which he had proclaimed.
There had been no legal sentence passed upon Stephen; but the Roman authorities were bribed by large sums of money to make no investigation of the case. Saul seemed to be imbued with a frenzied zeal at the scene of Stephen’s trial and death. He seemed to be angered at his own secret convictions that Stephen was honored of God at the very period when he was dishonored of men. He continued to persecute the church of God, hunting them down, seizing them in their houses, and delivering them up to the priests and rulers for imprisonment and death. His zeal in carrying forward the persecution was a terror to the Christians in Jerusalem. The Roman authorities made no special effort to stay the cruel work, and secretly aided the Jews in order to conciliate them, and to secure their favor.
Saul was greatly esteemed by the Jews for his zeal in persecuting the believers. After the death of Stephen, he was elected a member of the Sanhedrim council, in consideration of the part he had acted on that occasion. This learned and zealous rabbi was a mighty instrument in the hand of Satan to carry out his rebellion against the Son of God; but he was soon to be employed to build up the church he was now tearing down. A Mightier than Satan had selected Saul to take the place of the martyred Stephen, to preach and suffer for his name, and to spread far and wide the glad tidings of salvation through his blood. Life Sketches of Paul, pg 20.
Look at the three descriptions of Saul’s conversion (Acts 9:1-18, 22:6-21, and 26:12-19). What role did the grace of God have in this experience? In other words, how much did Saul deserve the goodness that the Lord showed toward him?
Saul deserved to die for killing Stephen. All deserve to die since all have sinned. Grace is the only power that can bring a sinner to repentance. We are saved by grace.
Saul’s conversion, from a human perspective, must have seemed impossible (hence the skepticism that many expressed when they first heard about it).
The only thing Saul deserved was punishment, but God extended grace to this fervent Jew instead. It is important to note, however, that Saul’s conversion did not happen in a vacuum, nor was it forced.
Amen! It was in response to Saul's prayer after he realized that when he wanted to do good, he did not. And when he did not want to sin, he did. He recognized there was no good thing in him, that he was in captivity to sin (read Romans seven). He came to realize he was not keeping the law from the heart, thus he was condemned. "When the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." Romans 7:9, 10.
No, there was no vacuum, nor did God hit him over the head. The Holy Spirit revealed who Saul was, a condemned murderer who was captive to the law if sin. What was Saul's prayer that led to his conversion? "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Romans 7:24.
The conversion of Saul is an important study. It will help to unmask the false gospel as we see that it is grace only that can transform a sinner into a saint. It was grace that led to the conversion of Saul. Let one of our Bible scholars explain how God revealed His grace to Saul before He met with Saul on the road to Damascus.
Saul was no atheist.
Amen! He believed in God. He wanted to serve God, but was not converted. He thought he was a great man of God, but in fact he was a great follower of Satan without knowing it until he was convicted of sin. We read about this experience in Romans seven where he tells us about coming to the understanding he was under condemnation for breaking the commandments of God.
He was a religious man, though gravely mistaken in his understanding of God. Jesus’ words to Saul, “it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.” Acts 26:14, indicate that the Spirit had been convicting Saul. In the ancient world, a “goad” was a stick with a sharp point used to prod oxen whenever they resisted plowing. Saul had resisted God’s prodding for some time, but finally on his way to Damascus, through a miraculous encounter with the risen Jesus, Saul chose to fight no longer.
Jesus revealed Himself to Saul because Saul had already made the decision to fight no longer. Kicking against the pricks had come to an end. He saw himself with no hope, not knowing he needed a Savior.
Think back about your own conversion experience. Maybe it wasn’t as dramatic as Saul’s (most aren’t), but in what similar ways were you the recipient of God’s grace? Why is it important never to forget what we have been given in Christ?
If we forget Christ, then we have no power to resist sin coming from without and sin coming from within. The only way we can resist the temptation to sin it be a partaker of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).