Saul’s Dramatic Conversion

In this passage we read of one of the greatest events in the history of Christianity: the dramatic conversion of a mighty sinner, Saul of Tarsus.

In the eighteenth century there lived in England two brilliant lawyers, Lord Littleton and Gilbert West. As they studied the New Testament, these lawyers came to the conclusion that Christianity rested on two mighty pillars: the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.

I am sure both of these men were members of the Anglican church, but they were unbelievers, so they decided to devote their energies to proving the falsehood of Christianity by disproving the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Gilbert West agreed to write a book refuting the resurrection of Christ, and Lord Littleton agreed to write one refuting the conversion of Saul.

After some time the lawyers met together and discussed their progress. Gilbert West said, “You know, this project is not going the way I had expected it to go.” And Lord Littleton said, “That is happening to me also. My research is not going the way I wanted it to go.”

Both men, however, persevered in their task and finally produced their books. What were their conclusions? On the basis of evidence found in the New Testament, Gilbert West proved the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and Lord Littleton proved the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. These brilliant lawyers, using all of their legal skills, could not refute the truth of Christianity. And as a result of their studies, both became believers in Christ.

In this study of that second great event of Christianity, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, I would like to examine three points: First, the almighty power of Christ; second, the arrogance of Saul; and third, the absolute surrender of Saul.

The Almighty Power of Christ

The great affirmation of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ is Lord. As Lord, Jesus Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He is seated at the Father’s right hand, and God the Father has placed all things under his feet–things in heaven and on earth, things visible and invisible, things rational and non-rational. And as Lord, Jesus Christ will destroy all his enemies, as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:25, “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” They have already been put under Christ’s feet by the Father, and now it is his business to see that they are under his feet in fact.

The Lord Jesus Christ subjugates human beings either by saving them or by judging them to eternal damnation. During this present time of grace, his main function is to save his elect sinners. All elect sinners shall indeed be saved by Christ the Almighty Conqueror.

According to the Bible, Saul of Tarsus was such an elect sinner. Saul, or Paul, as he was later called, writes about this in Galatians 1:13-15, “For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me . . .” And in Ephesians 1:4 Paul writes, “For he chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Paul was chosen before the creation of the world and set apart from birth by God.

In 1 Timothy 1:12-14 Paul writes, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” If you continue reading that passage, you will find that the God who chose Paul from all eternity and set him apart from birth also exercised his almighty power in time to conquer and convert him. God alone caused Paul’s absolute surrender to the mind and will of Jesus Christ.

I hope that we will all acknowledge that we are but men–weak and finite. But I hope we will also acknowledge that there is an almighty Christ. He alone is mighty to save us, mighty to conquer us, and mighty to put his feet on our heads, either in salvation or judgment. My exhortation and plea is that we will all surrender to this mighty Lord Jesus Christ.

The Arrogance of Saul

The second point I want to examine is the arrogance of Saul. When we examine his life, we can conclude that, in a worldly sense, Saul had many reasons to be arrogant. He was born in Tarsus, the capitol of the Roman province of Cilicia in southeast Asia Minor. Half a million people lived in Tarsus, which was located on the banks of the Cydnus River in a fertile valley. Tarsus was well-known for its agriculture and commerce and was the home of a great university, which Strabo tells us was equal or superior to the universities of Athens and Alexandria. A large Jewish population lived in Tarsus, and all those who were born within the walls of the city were considered Roman citizens.

Saul was one who was born a Roman citizen. He knew Hebrew and Greek and was well-versed in Greek literature and philosophy. Saul may have even studied at the university of Tarsus before coming to Jerusalem, where he studied under the brilliant scholar and famous rabbon, Gamaliel.

Saul of Tarsus was a brilliant student, as we read in Galatians 1:14, “I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.” Saul believed that salvation and righteousness were achieved by keeping the law as understood by the Judaism of his day. He was very proud of his heritage and his piety, and he had just reason to be proud, as we read in Philippians 3:4-6: “If anyone thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 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; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, perfect.” I am sure Saul thought God would be impressed with his brilliance, piety, and righteousness.

Arrogance Leads to Zeal

Saul demonstrated his arrogance by zealously persecuting the Christian church (Phil. 3:6). He was convinced that Jesus had been a blasphemer and that the members of the Sanhedrin had acted in great piety when they crucified Jesus for saying he was the Son of God. Saul knew the law said everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed by God, so he set out to persecute those who followed this “cursed” Jesus Christ. Even though the great Gamaliel counseled his followers to leave Christians alone, Saul continued to persecute them. Saul wanted to be more zealous for God than his own teacher.

Why was Saul so opposed to Christians? As we said, he was convinced Jesus was a “cursed blasphemer” and that his Jewish disciples were following a blasphemer. Saul was a student of the Old Testament, and I am sure he read in Numbers 25 how God honored and praised Phinehas, son of Eleazar, for the zeal he showed in killing an Israelite who committed sin with a Midianite woman. Saul may have also been influenced by the zeal shown by Elijah as he killed hundreds of prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18). Thinking such zealous actions would please God, Saul wanted to wipe Christians and the name of Jesus from the face of the earth.

Jesus warned his disciples about this kind of zeal in John 16:2-3, “They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” As far as Saul of Tarsus was concerned, he was worshiping, serving, and pleasing God by persecuting and destroying the church of Jesus Christ. But Jesus also said, “They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.” Zeal against Christians was grounded in ignorance of God.

Paul wrote about his zeal in the book of Acts, where the story of his conversion is recounted three times, in Acts 9, Acts 22, and Acts 26. For example, in Acts 26:9 we read, “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme,” to say, “Jesus is accursed,” in other words. “In my obsession against them I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”

This zeal for God is the reason Saul agreed to Stephen’s death and persecuted Christians in Jerusalem. In Acts 8:3 we read, “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” There the believers would be beaten, forced to blaspheme and even killed. Such was the cruel, zealous arrogance of Saul!

The Ignorance of Arrogance

Not only was Saul arrogant, but he was also ignorant. In fact, every unbeliever is ignorant, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:1-3, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us,” meaning himself as well as every unbeliever, “also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”

In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul again wrote of the blindness and ignorance of his former unbelieving state: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” This tells us why unbelievers will not believe in Jesus Christ. Satan has blinded their eyes, preventing them from seeing the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And in verse 6 he wrote, “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts.” Unless the Spirit of God comes and says, “Let there be light!” there will be no light. But when the mighty act of regeneration takes place, we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We begin to trust in him and believe in him. And what is the purpose of this light? Paul concluded, “to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” – the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

In the book of Romans we again read about the condition of Saul of Tarsus before God’s Christ apprehended him, conquered him, and subdued him. In Romans 5:6 Paul writes, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” This was Saul of Tarsus–spiritually powerless, ungodly, undiscerning, and not understanding anything about God. And in verse 8 Paul writes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And in Romans 5:10 he writes, “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son . . . .”

In 1 Timothy 1:16 Paul says he acted in ignorance. That is our problem also, if we are not Christians. We are ignorant, helpless, sinful, powerless, ungodly, blind and at enmity with God; yet, at the same time, we are arrogant! We may think we know something about God, but, in reality, we don’t. We may say that because we are such brilliant scholars, we cannot believe in Jesus Christ. But the truth is, unless we are regenerate, we are ignorant of the true God. We are blind, dead, and under the wrath of God.

Ignorant arrogance cannot save anyone. In Romans 10:2 Paul writes about his Jewish brethren: “For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God,” and I am sure Paul was remembering how zealous he himself had been. Paul continues, “But their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” In other words, the Jews did not believe in Jesus Christ and call upon his name for salvation because they were establishing their own works-righteousness. But they did not understand that in God’s eyes all are sinners and all human righteousness is like filthy rags. In other words, man’s “righteousness” stinks before God!

In his ignorant arrogance, Saul did not recognize God’s way of salvation in Jesus Christ. So he began to try zealously to stamp out Christianity. He began by persecuting the Christians of Jerusalem, and then began to go to foreign cities to persecute Christians there.

Arrogance Meets the Lord

Under the authority of the Sanhedrin Saul traveled to Damascus so that he could extradite Christians from there and bring them to Jerusalem. There he would put them in prison to be tried, beaten, forced to blaspheme, and even killed. The Bible tells us that as he traveled, Saul was breathing out threatenings and slaughter like a wild beast. Confident that his mission would succeed, Saul drew near to Damascus with papers from the temple authorities in his hand and the temple police as his escort.

Damascus is one of the oldest cities of the world. Abraham knew about it, as we read in the book of Genesis. One hundred and fifty miles northeast of Jerusalem, Damascus was the capital of the Roman province of Syria and home to a very large Jewish community in New Testament times. There were several synagogues in Damascus, and down the middle of the city ran a street called Straight Street, which is still there today.

Damascus was located on the south side of the Abana River. It was a city where people would come in caravans from various places and converge together to discuss the philosophies and new views they had gained from their travels. I am sure some people talked about Christianity and what was happening in Jerusalem. In fact, some people in Damascus had already become Christians, perhaps through their exposure to these caravan travelers. So Saul probably decided to go to Damascus as soon as he could to try to stamp out Christianity there before it had a chance to spread from Damascus to other parts of the world.

There was only one problem with Paul’s plan: Jesus is the Sovereign Lord of the universe, the conquering One under whose feet the Father has put everything, and no arrogance of a man, no arrogance of kingdoms, no arrogance of Satan and demons, and no force on earth or heaven can prevent him from accomplishing what he has purposed, which is to subjugate all things and put them under his feet. Read Revelation 19, beginning with verse 11. There you will see something about who Jesus Christ is–the King of kings and Lord of lords, full of power and authority. This same Jesus Christ is the One who said, “I will build my church,” and as the head of his church, he builds it and protects it.

Saul of Tarsus was coming to destroy the church of Jesus Christ, or, as we read in Acts 9, those “who belonged to the Way,” in Damascus. The church was known as the people of the Way because Jesus had once said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me,” and the Bible speaks often about the way of God, the way of truth, the way of life, the way of righteousness, the way of peace. Saul hated the people of the Way because to Saul the way of salvation lay only in keeping the law. Saul had no understanding of God giving the gift of divine righteousness through Jesus Christ.

Saul’s mission was to destroy the people of the Way. Escorted by the temple police and with papers from the high priest in hand, Saul neared the city of Damascus. Success was in sight.

But then something happened. Man proposes, God disposes. We just heard of the tragic crash of a plane traveling from New York to Geneva. All the people aboard died, including a young man who was going to work as a missionary in Switzerland. All of these people had plans but in a few minutes their plans changed. We all have our plans, but God’s plan wins.

The Absolute Surrender of Saul

The third point we want to consider is the absolute surrender of Saul caused by Christ the conqueror. In Acts 9:4 we read that “suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.” This bright, blinding light was brighter than the light of the midday sun, as we read elsewhere.

What was this light? It was the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ–the almighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ, the shekinah glory. Saul saw the light, was blinded by it, and fell to the ground. The conqueror was conquered, the hunter hunted down. Saul lay in the dust, defeated, blind, and helpless.

Then Saul heard a voice. Being trained in the rabbinic tradition, Saul knew that when one is faced with a light from heaven and when one hears a voice from heaven, it means God is speaking, either in rebuke or instruction. Such an occurrence is known as a theophany or Christophany–an appearance of God or Christ. Such an occurrence is a demonstration of the almighty power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The voice from heaven said in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” These words brought great confusion to Saul. Why? He knew it was God who was speaking to him, but Saul was persecuting Christians, not God. In fact, Saul thought his zealous efforts to destroy the church of Jesus Christ were acts of pious service and worship of God. Why would God say he was persecuting him?

In his confusion Saul cried out, “Who are you, Lord?” And I am sure he was thinking, “I thought I was pleasing you, serving you, and being zealous for you. Why are you not pleased? Why are you rebuking me? I am not persecuting you. I am persecuting Christians.”

Then the voice said, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” Suddenly light flooded Saul’s soul. The eyes of Saul’s heart were suddenly enlightened, and he understood who Jesus really was. Suddenly he realized that the apostles had been right, Stephen the martyr had been right, and all the disciples he had been persecuting were right.

Saul realized that Jesus of Nazareth was not a “cursed blasphemer”–he was God! Saul realized that Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified and buried, had indeed risen from the dead, was glorified and was now ruling in heaven as the Sovereign Lord. He realized that this Jesus of Nazareth, the Jesus of history, was the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Christ prophesied in the Old Testament, and he was confronting him at that very moment.

“Now I remember how Stephen said he saw Jesus, the Son of Man, in heaven,” Paul was probably thinking to himself. “Jesus is the one who knocked me down with his glory. Now I realize that every blow I gave to Christians was felt by Christ himself! Oh, how I mocked Jesus the Lord. Now I realize it was really Jesus I was persecuting–persecuting without a reason. Isn’t he the innocent one? But I was ignorant of all these things.”

In Acts 26:14 we read the voice then told Saul, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads,” meaning it is dangerous, painful, and destructive to resist the lordship of Christ. What Jesus was saying was, “I am your master, Saul, and you are my mule. If you submit to me, you will live, but if you resist, you will die. You must acknowledge my mastery over you, confess that I am Lord, and become my disciple.”

When Saul heard this, he surrendered to Christ immediately and completely. And in Acts 22:10 we read that Saul cried out, “What shall I do, Lord?” This was total surrender to the absolute mastery of Jesus Christ.

Do you remember how the angel told Philip, “Arise and go,” and Philip arose and went? That is the lordship of Jesus Christ. You cannot say “I am a Christian but I refuse to obey Jesus Christ.” If you refuse to obey him, Jesus Christ is not Lord of your life and you are not a Christian. It is that simple.

Saul cried out, “What shall I do, Lord?” and, in fact, he was confessing by that statement that Jesus was his Lord. Paul wrote about this later in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.”

Then the command came: “Get up! Go to the city. Wait for my orders.” That is the lordship of Christ. Paul was now answerable to a higher authority than the Sanhedrin. He was under the highest authority, the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. He recognized that he was now in the kingdom of God and under God’s rule, not that of the Sanhedrin.

The Conversion of Saul

Jesus saved this wild beast of a man, this violent enemy of the cross, Saul of Tarsus. He conquered him, regenerated him, opened his eyes and gave him a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone. In great mercy he sought him, found him, made him alive and brought him into his kingdom of life and peace. He gave him the gift of repentance and faith so that he could repent, trust in Jesus Christ alone, and make the good confession that “Jesus is Lord, Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus is the Righteous One, Jesus is the Holy One, Jesus is God/man, the Savior of the world.”

Who takes the initiative in our salvation? Jesus Christ. We are helpless sinners, ungodly enemies, blasphemers, violent people, and yet God in his great mercy takes the initiative to save some of us. Let us never think that we sought God and found him. We did not. He sought us and found us. Jesus will save every elect sinner, every elect enemy who is actively fighting against him with every weapon available. He is Lord, and he has a way of forcing us to surrender to his lordship.

Saul got up from the ground and tried to open his eyes but he could not see. This man who came so boldly to Damascus to arrest God’s people was now blind and helpless. He had to be led by others into the city to the house of Judas, where he stayed for three days. What do you think he did during that time? I am sure he was praying and fasting, reflecting on his life, repenting of his sins, and thinking about what had just happened. And as he sat, blind and meditating on the Old Testament scriptures in his mind, he came to this conclusion: The Old Testament had prophesied about a Messiah, and this Messiah is Jesus Christ. That was the theology Saul needed to know. His mind had been made new and he now saw all these things clearly.

This same Lord Jesus Christ then went to Ananias and told Ananias to do something for him. “That’s fine,” Ananias probably said. “Where do you want me to go, Lord?” “Straight Street,” the Lord replied. “That’s fine,” said Ananias. “I want you to speak to a person who is praying,” said the Lord. “That’s fine,” said Ananias. “He is from Tarsus,” said the Lord. “That’s fine,” said Ananias. “His name is Saul,” said the Lord.

What do you think Ananias said? “Oh, no, that is not fine, Lord! Don’t you see there is a problem with your request? I have heard of Saul of Tarsus. He’s been persecuting the saints in Jerusalem, and I heard that he came here by the authority of the Sanhedrin to bind us all up and drag us to Jerusalem. Why would I want to go to him?”

As we said before, Jesus Christ is Lord. He told Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Ananias obeyed the Lord. He went, laid his hands on Saul, and Saul was healed and filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately he was baptized, joined the church, and began to preach. What was his message? That Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior.

The conquering Lord had conquered Saul. Saul surrendered, was converted, and became an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ whom he had persecuted.

May We Surrender to Christ!

Saul is not unlike many of us in his opposition to Jesus Christ. Do you remember John Newton? He was a slave trader who spent his life in debauchery and wickedness–a violent man, a horrible sinner. But the same almighty Christ who saved Saul of Tarsus saved John Newton. He wrote about that experience in the hymn, “Amazing Grace.”

Not only did John Newton write “Amazing Grace,” but he also wrote his own epitaph: “John Newton, Clerk. Once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slavers in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.”

What about you? Are you opposing Jesus of Nazareth, as Saul of Tarsus did? Are you laboring to destroy the Christian faith, as John Newton did? Let me warn you: Jesus Christ is God and Lord, and he has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Let me tell you something else: He always wins. He wins by saving and by damning. He is the Conqueror.

But let me tell you one more thing: Jesus Christ is also the only Savior, and he will save you, if you repent and trust in him. Therefore, I ask you: Will you not surrender to him today? Will you not ask him to forgive all your sins?

May God have mercy on us and conquer us! May we confess to the mighty Lord Jesus Christ that we are arrogant, ignorant, blind, ungodly, helpless sinners at enmity with you. May the glory of God shine all around us, knock us down and cause our hearts to be enlightened that we may be delivered from our darkness, ignorance, and arrogance and confess Jesus is Lord. And, by surrendering, may we be saved forever and ever. Amen.