Conversion Saves You-Acts 9:1-43

Acts of the Apostles

What’s your conversion story? This is my magical supernatural mystical conversion and how I experienced God.

The Most Famous Conversion in History and in church history happened to one who seemed most unlikely to be converted. Saul’s conversion is the high point and most important event in Acts, as Luke gives three full versions of it from three slightly different angles. This monumental not only in Acts but also in church history, as it was the pivot on which the future of the church turned. The latter accounts are autobiographical in style–Paul’s speeches in defence before a hostile Jewish crowd (Ac 22:3-21), and before a bemused King Agrippa (Ac 26:9-18)–which supplements the basic third person account with Luke’s narrative in Acts 9. A Pharisaic persecutor of Christians becoming a Christian apologist and missionary is a paradox so profound that it requires multiple retellings, with each version bringing out further nuances of significance. The Book of Common Prayer says that we should always “have his wonderful conversion in remembrance.”

Paul was unique as was his conversion because:

  • by birth, a he was a Jew, by conviction, a Pharisee, by citizenship, a Roman, by education, a Greek, and then by grace, a Christian.

He then became a:

  • missionary, theologian, evangelist, church planter, pastor, teacher, preacher, leader, thinker, statesman, fighter, an organizer/administrator, and a lover all at the same time.

Paul’s commissioning to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Ac 9:5; 22:14-15; 26:17-18, 20; Rom 1:1, 5, 13; 11:13; 15:15-18; Gal 1:15-16; 2:2, 7-8; Eph 3:1-8; Col 1:24-29) is like the call of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekial. What happened to Saul is an instructive case study in Christian conversion, which shows Christianity to be a divine revelation. How is Paul’s conversion and commissioning applicable to Christians today?

  • We can and must experience a personal encounter with Christ.
  • Surrender to him in penitence and faith.
  • Receive his summons to service.

From persecutor to preacher evangelist. Saul of Tarsus (Ac 9:11; 22:3), later called Paul (Ac 13:9), was previously connected with the death of Stephen (Ac 7:58; 8:1) and then identified as the leader in a campaign of devastating persecution against the early church.Ac 9:1 continues from Ac 8:3 when Paul was vehemently and violently opposed to the Jesus movement (1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13-14, 11-23; Phil 3:5; Ac 22:4; 26:10). But on the road to Damascus, the arch-persecutor met the glorified Lord Jesus and was transformed (1 Cor 9:1; 15:8; Gal 1:15-16).By the end of the account in Acts 9 Saul is evangelizing in Damascus (Ac 9:19-22) without the direction or permission of the Jerusalem church, as was with Philip in Acts 8.This brought a period of peace for the church and led to a whole new phase of growth (Ac 9:31).Also Acts 9 connects to Acts 10 for recounting a crucial conversation narrative involving 2 visions leading to the future primary missionary to the

Gentiles and the conversion of a prominent Gentile, Cornelius. In meeting Jesus, Saul encountered a:

  • Divine contact (Ac 9:3). As with the Ethiopian salvation is always the sovereign will of God that comes about by God’s power, purpose and determination. God answered Stephen’s prayer. God sovereignly makes contact with the sinner who is the object of his divine grace and sovereign regenerating power–not always this dramatically, but always this sovereignly. Anyone and everyone’s salvation is always initiated by God.
  • Divine conviction (Ac 9:4; Jn 15:25). Repetition implies a rebuke: Martha, Martha; Jerusalem, Jerusalem; Simon, Simon; Saul, Saul.
  • Divine conversion (Ac 9:5; 22:8; 1 Ti 1:15; Phil 3:7-10). The 1st evidence of true conversion is submission (Ac 22:8), compliance, obedience.
  • Divine communion (Ac 9:9). For 3 days he communed with his Lord. It’s the blindness not of darkness but of the light. But he is stunned, helpless, friendless. He has friends who are now enemies, and enemies who don’t know they are to be friends. This is a magnificent picture of salvation in all it’s beauty and glory. It is sudden, unexpected, explosive, a miracle in a moment, but it must embody [1] that sovereign work, [2] that conviction of rejecting Christ as the great sin, [3] that conversion of submitting and saying, “Lord, what will you have me do?” And [4] the contemplation and communion that thinks deeply about this miracle.

In Acts “the Way” occurs 6x (Ac 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). It refers to both a type of behavior and to those who exhibit it (Ac 22:4; 24:14), and which means “the way of salvation” (Ac 16:7; 18:26). Damascus, a commercial center, was an important city 135 miles N-NE of Jerusalem, lying on the main routefrom Egypt to Mesopotamia. It was part of the league of cities known as the Decapolis and had a considerableJewish population.

  • Saul himself: his pre-conversion state in Jerusalem (9:1-2).
  • Saul and Jesus: his conversion on the Damascus Road (9:3-9).
  • Saul and Ananias: his welcome into the church in Damascus (9:10-25).
  • Saul and Barnabas: his introduction to the apostles in Jerusalem (9:26-31).

References:

  • Wright, N.T. Acts for Everyone, Part 1. Chapters 1-12. 2008.
  • Witherington III, Ben. The Acts of the Apostles. A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. 1998.Portents andPersecutions (5:17-42).
  • Stott, John. The Message of Acts. 1990.Through the Bible through the year, Daily reflections from Genesis to Revelation. 2006.
  • Peterson, David G. The Acts of the Apostles. The Pillar NT commentary. 2009. Conflict with the Authorities Again (5:17-42).
  • Osborne, Grant. Acts. Verse by Verse. 2019.
  • Marshall, I. Howard. Acts. Tyndale NT commentaries (TNTC). 1980.
  • Barclay, William. The Acts of the Apostles. The Daily Study Bible Series. 1976.
  • Fernando, Ajith. The Message of Jesus in Action. 2010.

Saul’s Conversion by Chat GPT (1/25/23):Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,As we read in the book of Acts, chapter 9, we see the incredible story of Saul’s conversion to Christianity. Saul, also known as Paul, was a devout Jew and a fierce persecutor of the early Christian church. He was on his way to Damascus to arrest and bring back to Jerusalem any followers of Jesus he found there, when he was struck by a bright light from heaven and heard the voice of Jesus asking him, “Why do you persecute me?”In that moment, Saul’s life was forever changed. He was blinded by the light and had to be led into Damascus by his companions. There, he met with a disciple named Ananias, who laid his hands on Saul and prayed for him. Saul’s sight was restored, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit.Saul, now Paul, became one of the greatest Christian missionaries and leaders of all time. He preached the gospel throughout the Roman Empire, establishing churches and spreading the word of Jesus Christ to all who would listen.This powerful story of conversion reminds us that no matter how far we may have strayed from the path of righteousness, there is always hope for redemption and forgiveness. Just as Saul, who was once an enemy of the church, became one of its greatest advocates, so too can we be transformed by the power of God’s love and grace.Let us remember the words of Paul himself, who wrote in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are offered the gift of salvation and the opportunity to live a new life in him. Let us all strive to follow in Paul’s footsteps, spreading the good news of the gospel to all we meet and living our lives as true followers of Jesus Christ.May God bless us all in our journey of faith. Amen.

  • 6:1-9:31. The Church begins to Expand.
  • 9:1-31. Saul as the Salient [main, principal, major, chief, important] Jewish Convert. Augustine said, “We owe the conversion of Paul to the prayer of Stephen.”
  • 9:1-19a. The Assaulting of Paul. Saul’s conversion and commissioning.
  • 9:19b-31. Saul’s Early Efforts.
  • 9:32-11:18. The Petrine Passages. The conversion of Cornelius.
  • Peter heals Aeneas and raises Tabitha (9:32-43).
  • Peter is sent for by Cornelius (10:1-8).
  • Peter receives a vision (10:9-23).
  • Peter preaches to Cornelius’ household (10:23b-48).
  • Peter justifies his actions (11:1-18).
  • 11:19-15:35. The Antioch Chronicles.
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