A Man from Tarsus

There are many stories of people leaning on the Lord throughout the Bible, and this is a process that continues today as we place our faith in Him.  However, there is none more impressive to me than the story of Saul of Tarsus.  He was no doubt a wicked man who sought to destroy the church. Yet, God chose him to be the one who would preach the gospel to the Gentiles.  If you do not know the story of the Apostle Paul, formerly Saul, please join with me as we do a brief look into who he was.

Saul was brought up in the Jewish faith and was a Pharisee like his father (Acts 23:6), he was educated and had great zeal for the Jewish faith (Acts 22:3).  He held to the ridged standards of the Jewish faith and had every reason to believe that by following the Jewish laws he would be saved.  Look at his own words in Philippians 3:4-6 “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless”. It was this zeal that caused him to persecute the church and its believers.  Saul was not only present during the stoning of the first martyr, Stephen in Acts 7:57-8:1, but also gave approval of it.  He sought to destroy the church and participated in its persecution by “Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” Acts 8:3. Paul even had letters from the high priests allowing these actions. So how could God take someone who so obviously hated Him, and use him?  For that we need to look at the Saul’s conversion.

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.” Acts 9:1-9.

In these verses we see that even while Saul was planning on continuing his persecution of the Church, God had another plan for him and that was to reveal Himself to Saul. Here it is made clear to Saul that the God that he was persecuting, was actually the one that he was claiming to follow.  Saul was following the Mosaic Law, but this law does not leave room for grace. God had to humble Saul by taking away his sight in order for him to come to Christ.  Saul’s story continues in Acts 9:10-19.

“10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord,” he answered. 11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” 13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” 17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.”

I want to take a moment here and look at the disciple Ananias. Imagine for a moment if you were told that one of the greatest enemies to the Christian faith was coming to your town with the authority to arrest believers such as yourself.   Now imagine that you are told to go to this man.  Do you think that you would react as Ananias did?  After hearing what God wanted him to do, Ananias had the faith that God would protect him from Saul’s determination of destroying the Church, Ananias knew that God had greater plans for Saul.  This is the reaction that we should have when confronted with any non-believer.  We need to share the gospel with them without fear for we do not know what God has planned for that person.  While we might not get the joy of seeing them come to Christ in that moment, like Ananias did with Saul, we could be planting a seed that could eventually help that person see that they need Christ.

For Saul, having Ananias come and speak of what happened to him on the road to Damascus showed the great power of God.  This caused him to turn his zeal of persecuting the church into a zeal to grow the church.  He began to preach in the name of Jesus Christ which baffled those around him who had heard of his reputation “21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.” Acts 21-22. It is not just with Saul that we see this type of transformation, anyone who has become a born-again Christian has a transformation like this.  True we may not all be persecuting the church exactly like Saul, but we are working to destroy the church by not living to the full potential that God has for us, and this potential only comes when we humble ourselves before the Lord and accept that He is the only way to redeem ourselves to Him.  We cannot do this through religious efforts, good deeds, or charitable acts.  It can only be done by accepting the sacrifice that He made for us on the cross.

Now if we take a brief look at the rest of Saul’s story, we see that he is imprisoned, shipwrecked, stoned, bitten by a viper, and left for dead.  And yet he continues to preach the gospel with all joy.  This is important for the believer to understand, especially our brothers and sisters around the world who are facing imprisonment and other trials for continuing in the faith.  God does not promise that we will live an easy life if we follow Him, what he does promise is that we will live a joyful life.  Throughout all his trials, Paul never gave up the good fight, his desire was to continuously see the gospel spread to the ends of the earth. Each time he was imprisoned it allowed for others to hear of Christ.

As you can see, God’s power has the potency to transform any person’s life. This is a great reminder to all who believe they are too far from salvation to ever be saved. No matter your past, He can be your future, all it takes is for you to meet Christ right now in the present.

Seek the Truth and encourage one another,

Alex