The Conversion of Paul Concluded!
On the road to Damascus God forced Paul to believe by striking him down and blinding him. Instantly humbled, Paul obeyed the call and said, “Lord what wilt Thou have me do?” (Tyndale 1641) He had no preparation for what happened and trembled with fear and astonishment when the heavens open and he saw Jesus Christ, the very person he had been persecuting (Whyte 28). For three days he was blind, during which he fasted, prayed, and repented for what he had been doing to Christians. On the third day, Ananias baptized him and the Holy Spirit came down upon Paul (Gardner 513). After his conversion and baptism, Paul never fell into a single inconsistency but was a great witness for the church (Whyte 28).
Immediately after his baptism, Paul risked his life for Christ by preaching the word of God in the synagogues. He set himself in opposition to those of his former faith, who “gnashed their teeth in anger against him as though he was an apostate” (Lapide 28), and considered himself obligated to preach. Paul said that he would have committed a serious sin if he had not listened to God’s call and was never afraid to face an issue head on and deal with it. He became sensitive to God’s leading and despite his strong personality always did as God directed (Tyndale 1641). Paul received more abundant grace than the other apostles did in this way as God wanted to show that what He gives is His, not mans’ (Lapide 29).
He spent several days with the disciples, after his conversion, in Damascus learning as much as he could about Jesus and was fascinated with the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus (Brownrigg 403). He was filled with a great theological understanding along with a complete change in his perspective on Christ, which enabled him to baffle the Jews and prove that Jesus is the Christ (Gardner 513). Paul’s acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah was different from that of the other apostles, as he never got to see Jesus in the flesh. He became a Christian and apostle without ever having been a disciple and discovered that Christians were right in their recognition of the Messiah (Brownrigg 403). The extraordinary speed in the change of his heart and understanding of the Bible is amazing. However, the speed in which he began preaching the gospel provides the most dramatic evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in and through him (Gardner 513).
We have all been called like Paul, though probably not as drastically as he was, “to touch and change the lives” (Tyndale 1641) of other people and bring them to know Christ. We need to follow Paul’s example and deny ourselves daily and continually pray for forgiveness. Like Paul, we should spread the good news of Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection to everyone we meet and even when faced with opposition not to give up but hold strong to our faith. Paul said in Philippians 1:21,22 “For to me, living means opportunities for Christ, and dying – well, that’s better yet! But if living will give me more opportunities to win people to Christ, then I really don’t know which is better, to live or die.” Just as Paul was unafraid of dying or persecution while he spread the good news, we should not be afraid to speak about Christ and the gospel.
Works Cited
Brownrigg, Ronald. Who’s Who in the New Testament.
USA: Pillar Books, 1971.
Gardner, Paul D. Complete Who’s Who in the Bible, The.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1995.
Lapide, Cornelius A. Personality of St. Paul, The.
Boston, Ma: Daughters of St. Paul, 1979.
Life Application Living Bible.
Wheaton, Ill” Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 1988. Referred to as Tyndale
Whyte, Alexander. Bible Characters From the Old and New Testaments.
Grand Rapids Michigan: Kregael Publications, 1990.
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