Amen Brother Beacon and Sister Dorine!! That all might hear your counsel! That all might seek Jesus for healing from sin that they may be set free from the law of sin and death which holds all in bondage until the new birth. This chapter contains a truth that will help many to understand what true conversion is and how to obtain the new birth wherein they will become a partaker of God's divine nature and witness to the power of grace to transform sinners into saints manifesting all of the fruits of the Spirit, not one missing.
The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is a blessing to understand. It reveals the true interpretation of Romans 7 which Satan has perverted to keep Laodiceans blind to their continual need of Jesus in order to do any good thing. In today's reading we find an important piece of information that confirms Romans seven is Paul telling of the days when he was convicted of sin, but knew not how to achieve victory over it. He was captive to the law of sin which was in his members (flesh). He prayed as did the paralytic to be delivered from his captivity. Now, it is true that one may have been converted yet fall back into sin, but this is not true of Saul's captivity as revealed in Romans 7. When one has been truly converted, he knows who it is that gives him the power to obey and to do good works, it is Jesus. Saul had not the least knowledge of a Savior from sin when he cried out "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death." Not only did he not know "who", but he was persecuting the followers of the only One who could help him.
What is it in today's reading that helps us to share the truth about Romans seven not being Paul's experience after conversion? It is the truth regarding how long it takes God to answer a prayer to be delivered from sin. When we know that God answers the prayer immediately, we can know when it was that Paul prayed to know who could deliver him from his own body (flesh) of death.
In some instances of healing, Jesus did not at once grant the blessing sought. But in the case of leprosy, no sooner was the appeal made than it was granted. When we pray for earthly blessings, the answer to our prayer may be delayed, or God may give us something other than we ask, but not so when we ask for deliverance from sin. It is His will to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life. Christ "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father." Galatians 1:4. And "this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." 1 John 5:14, 15. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.
In the healing of the paralytic at Capernaum, Christ again taught the same truth. It was to manifest His power to forgive sins that the miracle was performed. And the healing of the paralytic also illustrates other precious truths. It is full of hope and encouragement, and from its connection with the caviling Pharisees it has a lesson of warning as well.
Like the leper, this paralytic had lost all hope of recovery. His disease was the result of a life of sin, and his sufferings were embittered by remorse. He had long before appealed to the Pharisees and doctors, hoping for relief from mental suffering and physical pain. But they coldly pronounced him incurable, and abandoned him to the wrath of God. The Pharisees regarded affliction as an evidence of divine displeasure, and they held themselves aloof from the sick and the needy. Yet often these very ones who exalted themselves as holy were more guilty than the sufferers they condemned.
The palsied man was entirely helpless, and, seeing no prospect of aid from any quarter, he had sunk into despair. Then he heard of the wonderful works of Jesus. He was told that others as sinful and helpless as he had been healed; even lepers had been cleansed. And the friends who reported these things encouraged him to believe that he too might be cured if he could be carried to Jesus. But his hope fell when he remembered how the disease had been brought upon him. He feared that the pure Physician would not tolerate him in His presence.
Yet it was not physical restoration he desired so much as relief from the burden of sin. If he could see Jesus, and receive the assurance of forgiveness and peace with Heaven, he would be content to live or die, according to God's will. The cry of the dying man was, Oh that I might come into His presence!
He wanted to be delivered from sin more than being healed physically. Jesus healed him immediately from sin as well as from his physical affliction. So, when was Saul converted, on the road to Damascus. When did he then pray to know who could heal him from his captivity to sin? It would have been when he met the answer to his prayer and thus was converted. He had come to the point of full surrender and in response, Jesus revealed Himself in a most profound way. There was not one word of argument from the lips of Saul of Tarsus the Persecutor. He was set free from the law of sin which was in his flesh. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Romans 8:1,2.
The sermon and death of Stephen was the work of God working through Stephen to reveal grace to Saul. It was then that the Holy Spirit began to more powerfully to convict Saul of sin. As Jesus said, it was becoming harder and harder for Saul to kick against the pricks of the Holy Spirit who was convicting him of sin. He finally came to the point of praying to know who could deliver him from himself. It is then that God gives an immediate answer and Saul (Paul) was converted. Thus, we better understand that Romans 7 is Paul telling of his battle to overcome sin and self, he could not in and of himself. He needed a Savior whom he did not know was calling him to Himself. Romans seven is believed by millions of professing Christians to be the experience after conversion. It may be that one sins and does not know how to cease sinning, but this is not Paul after conversion. He did not experience what many do today when many think they are converted, but are not. Conversion brings power to not sin. This is revealed in Romans 8 which Paul explains is the Christian experience.