Salvation of Saul and Sinners
Do you have a good testimony? If you are saved by Jesus, you have a good testimony! Usually we think of good testimonies, though, as only those where someone had a horrible past and God miraculously saved them. That’s what we see in our text for today. It actually is the most miraculous testimony that should give us much hope as we live our life for Jesus and share our faith in Jesus. Today we are going to see the salvation of Saul, and as we do we are going to see the beauty of our own salvation.
Hear what one commentator said about our text this morning.
“The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is one of the most remarkable facts recorded in the history of the Christian church. When we consider the man, the manner in which he was brought to the knowledge of the truth, the impression made on his own mind and heart by the vision he had on his way to Damascus, and the effect produced in all his subsequent life, we have a series of the most convincing evidences of the truth of the Christian religion. Armed with this history of Saul’s conversion and life, the feeblest believer need not fear the most powerful infidel. The ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles will ever remain an inexpungable fortress to defend Christianity and defeat its enemies.”[1]
Apart from personal salvation in Jesus, we are enemies of Jesus. (1-2)
Let’s consider the profile of this man Saul. We often think of him, at least I do, as a hardened sinner in the realm of Adolf Hitler. That’s not who he was, though. Saul sought to serve God with his life.
He was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a Jewish religious sect during biblical times known for their commitment to the meticulous observance of religious laws and traditions. They focused on interpreting and applying the Torah, the Jewish sacred scriptures, to daily life. Pharisees were influential in synagogue leadership, teaching, and guiding the community in matters of faith and practice. They were important religious figures who were devoted to God and His Word.
Saul sought to serve God but didn’t have a true relationship with God. That only comes through faith in Jesus. Jesus attacked the Pharisees. People think of Jesus as gentle and calm, but when it came to the Pharisees, He was far from it. He was harsh, yelled, was sarcastic, and called them names. It’s because they sought to worship God on the outside, but they didn’t worship Him truly in their heart, they led others away from true worship by adding more rules, and most importantly, they denied the salvation that the God they sought to worship offered them.
Every person, no matter how sincere in their beliefs or how devout they are in their religious practices, are enemies of God apart from salvation in Jesus. Hear what Paul later would say, thinking on this truth about who we are apart from Christ.
Colossians 1:21 – Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
Romans 5:10 – For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Every person must respond to Jesus. (3-7, 10)
No matter if you are a prodigal, following your flesh and the shifting sands of the culture, if you are religious and seeking to live for God but devoid of personal salvation in Jesus, or if you are a Christian saved by grace through faith in Jesus, every person must respond to Jesus.
We see two different responses in this text. One is from a nonbeliever, and one is from a believer. And it tells us so much about obedience to Jesus.
When Jesus calls out to Saul, he responds, “Who are you, Lord?” When God called out to Ananias, he responds, “Here I am, Lord.”
Saul doesn’t recognize the voice that is calling out to him, but here’s the thing…Jesus still calls out to him. It reminds me of what happened in the Garden of Eden shortly after Adam and Eve sinned. They ran and hid from God. But what did God do to them? He called out to them. He didn’t call out to them because He didn’t know where they were. He called out to them to draw them to Himself.
Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.”[2] We are fortunate to be able to hear so much from the Apostle Paul following his salvation. Later in Acts, we hear this salvation story recounted again, but we see something added about this calling from God. Paul is recounting his salvation experience to King Agrippa. I want you to hear what he says.
Acts 26:9-20 – 9 “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
Notice what Paul says in verse 14. He says that Jesus told him, “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” “An ox goad was a stick with a pointed piece of iron on its tip used to prod the oxen when plowing. The farmer would prick the animal to steer it in the right direction. Sometimes the animal would rebel by kicking out at the prick, and this would result in the prick being driven even further into its flesh. In essence, the more an ox rebelled, the more it suffered.”[3]
I had the privilege to work with some horses this week in some leadership training. They are much the same way. But there is a point when you can visibly see that they trust you. And at that point you don’t have to put any pressure on them and they will willingly follow wherever you go.
God was calling out to Saul even before Saul placed his faith in Him. But Saul was fighting against Him. What is your response to Jesus when He calls out to you?
Every person constantly responds to Jesus. In the moment, when you decide to follow your flesh, you are deciding to not follow Jesus. When you say, “I will think about placing my faith in Jesus,” you are deciding to not follow Him right now. We don’t have that option. We are either for Him or we are against Him. When you heed that still, small voice…when you live by faith…when you deny yourself and follow Jesus…You are following as He calls out.
Hear how Jesus describes it:
John 10:27-28 – 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Repentance must accompany salvation. (8-9)
When you truly encounter Jesus, you cannot leave the same. Repentance is a change of life direction, heart posture, and a change of mind. This is what happened with Saul. For someone as devout as Saul and so set in his ways, something really miraculous had to break through to him.
N.T. Wright says,
“There was a type of Jewish meditation that involved sustained contemplation of the great vision of the first chapter of the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the vision in which Ezekiel sees something like a great chariot, with whirling wheels and flashing lights. He describes, first, the four-faced angels who are carrying the chariot: they move this way and that, sparkling and glowing. Then he describes the wheels of the chariot, whirling and flashing, their rims full of eyes. Finally he describes the larger scene, with a dome above, a rainbow all around, and a throne, like a great jewel. And the point of meditating on this throne-chariot, for some Jews of Jesus' day who used this technique, was to see if, by devout prayer and fasting, holiness, devotion and contemplation, one might come even in this life to share in the climax of the vision (Ezekiel 1:26-28).”[4]
Imagine what Paul must have experienced in that moment. Paul, who was zealous for the glory of God, saw much the same of what Ezekiel saw, and when he saw God’s glory standing there speaking to Him, it was Jesus. Paul later talks of seeing God’s glory, and hear how he says it.
2 Corinthians 4:6 – “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”
This turned Paul’s whole world upside down, as it should ours.[5]
N.T. Wright says,
“The law and the prophets had been torn to pieces and put back together in a totally new way…Everything that Saul of Tarsus said and did from that moment on, and particularly everything that he wrote, flowed from that sudden, shocking seeing of Jesus.”[6]
In what ways has God turned your life around? What change of mind, change of heart, and change of life have you experienced? In what ways do you need to change your mind?
We must proclaim Jesus no matter the cost. (10-16)
Can you imagine being Ananias in this situation? It would be like a Jew being told to walk up to Hitler and touch him. What would you do if you were in his shoes…or sandals? You would probably do the same thing he did. “Um…you do know who that is right?” What was at stake for Ananias to be obedient to go up to Saul? His life was at stake. Was he obedient? Absolutely.
Through the obedience of one regular church member, the scales fell from Saul’s eyes. Ananias proclaimed to Saul no matter the cost, and Saul then immediately began proclaiming in the synagogue.
Hear some of what the Apostle Paul says:
Philippians 3:8-11 – 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
2 Corinthians 11:23-33 – 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food,[a] in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 – 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
Paul will be greeted in heaven with cheers from those he killed. That is the power of the grace of God.
The new life we have in Jesus must be made visible. (17-19a)
Fruit should always accompany salvation. The first fruit of salvation, the first visible expression of the new life that is given through Christ, is baptism. Another visible fruit is your witness. Paul immediately began proclaiming Christ.
Hear again Paul’s words to King Agrippa in Acts 26, after he says Jesus called him, “that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Him].”
Acts 26:19-20 – 19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
What do your deeds show? Are you kicking against the goads? God is calling out to you, for you to follow Him. Will you listen and follow? Is your faith visible? Is there a new life to show for it?
[1] Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible
[2] John 6:44
[3] https://www.gotquestions.org/kick-against-the-pricks.html
[4] N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone: Part 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), 138.
[5] The salvation of Saul is so important it is mentioned two other times in Acts (22:5-21; 26:9-18).
[6] N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone: Part 1, 140-1.
