In dealing with the conversion of Paul, even though very briefly, we should be amazed at the brilliance of the beauty of God in saving Paul. The Scriptures do not give a lot of space to his conversion itself, but in terms of how it fits with the rest of Scripture we have enough to fill out hearts with awe and praise. The chief issue concerning all of life and for all eternity is the manifested glory of God. The very holiness of God has to do with His glory. He is bound to do all for the glory of His own name in all He does. The Gospel itself is the display of His glory. II Corinthians 4:4 speaks “of the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Then in verse 6, in the same context, the text speaks of “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” The Gospel is not about how wonderful and valuable human beings are to God; it speaks of the glory of God. We also have I Timothy 1:11, according to a more literal translation, saying “according to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.” Jesus Christ Himself is the shining forth of the glory of God (Heb 1:1-3) and the glory that shone forth in Him as the tabernacle of that glory was the glory of grace and truth (John 1:14-18).
When the light shone around Saul (later Paul) in Acts 9 this was nothing else but the glory of God shining. It took more than a mere suggestion to take this man who was breathing forth threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9:1) to go forth and begin writing in such a way that he would break out in praise in the middle of a sentence or paragraph. This man was such a converted man and a changed man that he was now willing to suffer and die so that Christ would be exalted in his body. He was stoned, given the lash, and suffered all kinds of persecution and yet he suffered it willingly. He did not do these things because of an intellectual idea that he had been exposed to, but because he saw the glory of the Lord. He did not go forth and shake the world because of a philosophical system, but because he was the temple of the Lord and he was filled with the Spirit.
Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” 15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized. (Acts 9:10-18).
Saul was in Damascus for at least three days because the text tells us that he went without food or drink for three days (Acts 9:9). What would a man do for three days after the glory of the Lord had shone around him and in him? We know that “immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God”” (Acts 9:17). Saul, the man who hated Christ and persecuted and murdered believers in Christ, had a revelation of Christ on the road to Damascus. He who was on his way to Damascus to persecute and perhaps murder believers in Christ within just a few days later began to preach this Jesus Christ as the Son of God in Damascus. He was so effective in preaching Christ in Damascus that the Jews plotted to kill him (Acts 9:23) and he had to escape the town by night being lowered in a basket through and opening in the wall. When the persecution was turned up on him within a very short time of his conversion, he did not cave in and turn back. Instead he went to Jerusalem where he spoke out boldly and in the name of the Lord. The Jews once again attempted to kill him (Acts 9:28-29).
Paul was not just a man who prayed a prayer and made a commitment, he was a man who was completely converted and totally changed. He was now a man who was a temple of the living God and the temple of the Holy Spirit. He was a man who was no longer his own and he followed Christ as His Lord and King. Paul was no longer the selfish and proud Pharisee, he was now a humble man who followed Christ. He was now a man who was willing to live and die for His Lord. By grace alone God took this man and turned him from his sin to Christ. By grace alone God took this man and gave him a new heart. By grace alone God washed this man’s sins away and filled Him with the Spirit of love. Paul was now constrained and compelled by the love of God in Him and all he did now was done from the strength of grace. No longer did this old Pharisee pray for the honor given him by other men, but now he prayed for the glory of God in others. No longer did this old Pharisee seek honor from others in his religious deeds, but now whether he ate, drank, or whatever he did he did to the glory of God. This man was a new creature in Christ on the inside and was indeed a new man. Therefore, his name was changed from Saul to Paul and he was now a chosen vessel to take the Gospel of the glory of God to the Gentiles.
When Ananias we told by the Lord to go to Saul and lay hands on him and be used so Saul would regain his sight, Ananias was hesitant. This is very understandable considering what Saul had been doing. But the Lord told him to go because Saul was a chosen instrument of His and that Saul would bear His name “before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Acts 9:15). While it is of interest to focus on Ananias and his willingness seen in obedience to lay down his life in his view to go to Saul, we can simply note that he went because he was told to by the Lord. We don’t have to understand completely and we don’t have to have all the troublesome circumstances removed, but we are to simply obey the Lord in trust. What we do want to do, however, is to focus on the logic of God. Saul, as he was at that time before he was renamed Paul, was not aware of the plans of God for him. He was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians and now he had met the Lord. He did not seek the Lord, but instead he was sought. He did not know what was going on, but Ananias was told that Saul was a chosen instrument of God. Before Saul knew anything about what he was called to do God had already chosen him to do it. Saul did not choose to do this, but he was chosen to do so.
What follows is the logic of God in how He makes men and women of God. Look at this vital text: “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16). Ananias did not want to go, but he was told to for Saul was a chosen instrument of God to bear the name of God to many people. What a blessed position to be an apostle bearing the name of God like that! But the text goes on to show how Saul was going to be prepared for his job and how he was going to be brought before many of these people. Verse 16 starts off with the word “for.” It is linking verse 15 with verse 16 and shows that verse 16 is how Saul is going to bear the name of God before these people. He was to be a chosen instrument of God to suffer in order to bear the name of God before these people. In order for Saul to carry out what he was called to do in verse 15 he was going to have to suffer according to verse 16. Suffering was the means he was given to carry out his call.
In Saul who was to become Paul in Acts 13 we find an amazing story of conversion. God took a Pharisee who was intent on destroying the Church through suffering and persecution and made him a man who through his own suffering was used of God to establish His Church throughout the known world. In His beautiful sovereignty God had this great persecutor of the Church hear the Gospel by a man that Saul was having put to death. In his faithfulness in death Stephen preached the Gospel to Saul who was then converted by God and whose own suffering was used to proclaim the Gospel to the known world. It was God who took this man and changed him by grace. This man who threw so many in jail was now forced to spend a lot of time in jail, but he also wrote a lot of the New Testament while in jail. This man who had others beaten for preaching the Gospel now endured beatings to preach the Gospel. Saul heard the Gospel through a man who was beaten and stoned, so he now knew the value of preaching the Gospel while suffering. He now understood that he had a priceless treasure in his body of clay and that it was the glory of God in the Gospel of Christ that was important.
The lessons from this are numerous. We can certainly see that God used suffering in the life of Saul/Paul to both temper and train him and also to display His glory through. The Gospel is the Gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ, yet it is this Gospel that was lived through and preached about in Paul. As Jesus learned obedience through suffering, so Saul/Paul learned obedience through suffering as well. As the glory of God shone forth through Christ on the cross as the Son of God suffered the wrath of the Father, so the glory of God shone forth as Paul suffered for the Gospel. Paul stated that he wanted to share in the fellowship of His sufferings (Phil 3:10), and the Lord granted that to him. As Jesus agonized in prayer in the Garden before He bowed in submission to the Father and yet for the joy set before Him He endured the cross, so Paul counted all things but rubbish to in order to gain Christ (Phil 3:8) and rejoiced in all things. The suffering he endured showed the extent of his conversion.
The glory of God shone through Christ as He suffered on the cross and the glory of God in Christ shone through Paul because it was Christ who was the life of Paul. Paul said that he had been crucified with Christ and that he no longer lived, but instead it was Christ who lived in him (Gal 2:20). In this we understand, then, how the glory of God works in the conversion of sinners. He changes sinners from living for self to where they die to self and it is Christ who lives in them. His glory is such that they behold that glory and are changed into that glory from one degree to another (II Cor 3:18). As sinners are changed more and more by beholding His glory, they become more and more like Him. As they suffer in their flesh it is His glory that shines through them more and more. Paul suffered so that the glory of God would shine through his crucified self. The same is true of us. Until self is crucified the glory of God will not shine through us no matter how much personality we have and no matter how well we speak and no matter how much we know. If we wish to see the glory of God shine through the Gospel, we must be willing to suffer so that the glory of God would shine through us. His glory will not shine through men who do church and preach for the honor of self. But instead we are to look to Saul and understand that God really converts sinners so that His glory would shine through them. That is, after all, the reason God converts sinners in the first place. If that is the reason for conversion, then it helps us to understand what must happen in conversion. Paul was truly a converted man since he was willing to suffer so much for the name of God and not self. In conversion he died to self and Christ was truly the life in him. The kingdom was in him and it must be in us too.
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